Television and the Afghan Culture Wars: Brought to You by Foreigners, Warlords, and Activists

Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) - The City University of New York (CUNY)

Portrayed in Western discourse as tribal and traditional, Afghans have in fact intensely debated womens rights, democracy, modernity, and Islam as part of their nation building in the post-9/11 era. In her new book, Television and the Afghan Culture Wars, Wazhmah Osman places television at the heart of these public and politically charged clashes while revealing how the medium also provides war-weary Afghans with a semblance of open discussion and healing. After four decades of gender and sectarian violence, she argues, the internationally funded media sector has the potential to bring about justice, national integration, and peace.