IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2024-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The experimented society: interventions, social science, and the failure of post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili

Abstract

This paper critically examines the shortcomings of post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, arguing that an overemphasis on measurable results and causal inference led to overly narrow, community-driven development interventions that failed to appreciate the complex political realities of the country.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, 2024. "The experimented society: interventions, social science, and the failure of post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2024-43, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-43
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2024-43-experimented-society-interventions-social-science-failure-post-conflict-reconstruction-Afghanistan.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrews, Matt & Pritchett, Lant & Woolcock, Michael, 2013. "Escaping Capability Traps Through Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 234-244.
    2. Benjamin Crost & Joseph Felter & Patrick Johnston, 2014. "Aid under Fire: Development Projects and Civil Conflict," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1833-1856, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joanna Buckley & Neil McCulloch & Nick Travis, 2017. "Donor-supported approaches to improving extractives governance: Lessons from Nigeria and Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series 033, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Vincent A. Floreani & Gladys López-Acevedo & Martín Rama, 2021. "Conflict and Poverty in Afghanistan’s Transition," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(10), pages 1776-1790, October.
    3. Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Langlotz, Sarah, 2019. "The effects of foreign aid on refugee flows," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 127-147.
    4. Catherine Long, 2017. "Delegated Service Authority: Institutional Evolution of PEPFAR Health-Based Program Implementing Units in Tanzania," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8(3), pages 303-312, September.
    5. Askarov, Zohid & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Spatial aid spillovers during transition," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 79-95.
    6. Benjamin Crost & Joseph H Felter, 2020. "Export Crops and Civil Conflict," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1484-1520.
    7. Gauri Kartini Shastry & Daniel L Tortorice, 2021. "Effective Foreign Aid: Evidence from Gavi’s Vaccine Program," Working Papers 2102, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    8. Anke Hoeffler & Patricia Justino, 2024. "Aid and fragile states," Chapters, in: Raj M. Desai & Shantayanan Devarajan & Jennifer L. Tobin (ed.), Handbook of Aid and Development, chapter 14, pages 225-246, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Fetzer, Thiemo & Vanden Eynde, Oliver & Wright, Austin L, 2024. "Team production on the battlefield: Evidence from NATO in Afghanistan," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1500, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    10. Aurore Gary & Mathilde Maurel, 2015. "Donors’ Policy Consistency and Economic Growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(4), pages 511-551, November.
    11. Crost, Benjamin & Felter, Joseph H. & Johnston, Patrick B., 2016. "Conditional cash transfers, civil conflict and insurgent influence: Experimental evidence from the Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 171-182.
    12. Matt Andrews, 2018. "Overcoming the limits of institutional reform in Uganda," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 159-182, March.
    13. Jeremy Streatfeild, 2017. "Does This Road Go on Forever? Modelling Sustainability of Infrastructure in Developing Countries," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 9(2), pages 69-81, December.
    14. Lant Pritchett & Salimah Samji & Jeffrey S. Hammer, 2012. "It's All about MeE: Using Structured Experiential Learning ('e') to Crawl the Design Space," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-104, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Matt Andrews, 2014. "Can One Retell a Mozambican Reform Story Through Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-094, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Matt Andrews, 2013. "Who Really Leads Development?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-092, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    17. Matt Andrews, 2014. "An Ends-Means Approach to Looking at Governance," CID Working Papers 281, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    18. Andrews, Matt, 2014. "An Ends-Means Approach to Looking at Governance," Working Paper Series rwp14-022, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    19. Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben & Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben, 2012. "Winning hearts and minds through development ? evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6129, The World Bank.
    20. Pritish Behuria & Tom Goodfellow, 2016. "The political settlement and ‘deals environment’ in Rwanda: Unpacking two decades of economic growth," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-057-16, GDI, The University of Manchester.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.