Youth Protest Movements in Afghanistan: Seeking Voice and Agency

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan’s new political order provided space for increased political participation, more education, and antiregime personal expression, some of which took the form of protest movements. Especially after the 2014 presidential election, high-profile youth protest movements became a notable element on the political scene, though none has yet proved sustainable. Mobilization for the protest movements was energized by an increased awareness of citizens’ rights and of deficits in government responsibilities. Widespread perceptions of injustice, a rapid deterioration in economic and security conditions after 2014, unemployment, and perceptions of marginalization and exclusion from governmental and donor policymaking were among the key drivers of the protests. The protest movements were largely spontaneous and typically emerged in response to specific government failures rather than as advocacy efforts for new policies and programs. They were mainly led by educated youth, who felt marginalized in the traditional seniority-based patterns of decision making in Afghanistan. Lacking access to power and resources and working outside traditional political networks, however, the youth leaders feared their grassroots movements were susceptible to being hijacked by established elites, such as jihadi leaders and government officials, who might then use the movements as bargaining chips to advance their own factional interests.