Trust is the coin of the realm: lessons from the money men in afghanistan

Trust is the coin of the realm: lessons from the money men in afghanistan

Thompson, Edwina

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This book offers original insights into why current efforts to build a durable peace are failing in Afghanistan and border areas of Pakistan. Competition for trust emerges at the centre of the challenge, as the external reform agenda is contrasted with the indigenous money-dealing business. The modest 'money-men' of the local bazaars persist against all odds through war, international interference and state collapse, offering a powerful lesson to those seeking alasting solution tothe problems of the region. Following a new US administration entering office, and revision of strategies for international support to Afghanistan, this book fills an urgent gap in the debate on how to make a 'bottom-up' approach to state-building work. Academic, press and policy accounts suggest the current 'top-down' paradigm is inappropriate to the task; none, however, appears to offer the kind of rigorous insights necessary to understand why.Based on extensive field and archival research into the workings of 'hawala' - an ancient financial system operating throughout the Muslim world which is accused of bankrolling the bulk of today's terrorist operations, but is centralto development in fragile states - this book shines a rare light on local-level institutions in Afghanistan and tribally controlled areas of neighbouring Pakistan.Important dynamics emerge around the legitimacy of externally-imposed change in complex humanitarian and stabilisation environments; the bargain of foreignaid and financial regulation; and the challenge of how to reconcile broad models of state-building with specific and unique contexts. Parties with the strongest hand are proven to be those typically considered to lie at the margins: they are most able to accrue legitimacy and, by association, the trust of the local population.The book indicates that the future reconstruction of Afghanistan hinges on whether the international community can engage genuinely with indigenous socio-economic networks like those of the 'money-men', for it is trust that emerges ultimately as the 'coin of the realm', not only in the money bazaar, but also against the backdrop of counter-insurgency and state-building efforts within the region. INDICE: METHOD & THEORY Introduction Importance of the study Definition of key terms Scope and method Challenges and limitations Legitimacy and the State-building Project The problem The popular response The way forward Implications LEGACIES Islam, Terrorism and the Origins of Hawala Conventional wisdomEtymology of hawala World commerce Role of Islam Hawala and the Politics of Survival Empire and state regulation The bazaar The Indian trade diaspora and 'family firm' Conventional wisdom unraveled LINKAGES Ritual and Rationality Warand migration Ethnicity Stereotypes and social organisation Rationality Conclusion Globalisation and the Money Dealer Global connections Global financial systems Black holes and the borderless world LEGITIMACY Informal Economy Revisited Opium harvests: contemporary linkages with the trade Black money: the money dealer's perspective Effects of war Conclusion Symbols and Substance of Liberal Reform What they want: transformation How they engage: the bargain Symbolic reconstruction and regulatory ritualism Conclusion Concluding Remarks Bibliography Appendices Index

  • ISBN: 978-0-19-906298-0
  • Editorial: Oxford University
  • Encuadernacion: Rústica
  • Páginas: 350
  • Fecha Publicación: 25/08/2011
  • Nº Volúmenes: 1
  • Idioma: Inglés