Ethnicity and politics in Afghanistan: an analysis of the 2014 presidential election

Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic country and the nature of this diversity is important in understanding the 2014 presidential electoral process and the central role of ethnicity within it. Drawing on research conducted for her Master’s thesis, Rabia Nasimi writes that the concept of ethnic identification is a social construct with both fixed and fluid components, and discusses how ethnicity manifested itself in the eyes of political campaigners working for the two main candidates in 2014.