Richard Tapper is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at SOAS University of London. He was trained in anthropology at Cambridge University and SOAS, where he taught from 1967 until 2004. He has done field research in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey. His books include Pasture and Politics (1979), Frontier Nomads of Iran (1997), Islam and Democracy in Iran (2006), edited volumes on Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan (1983/2000), Islam in Modern Turkey (1991), The New Iranian Cinema (2002), The Nomadic Peoples of Iran (2002) and the co-edited A Taste of Thyme (2001), and Technology, Tradition and Survival (2006). His most recent book is Afghan Village Voices: Stories from a Tribal Community (2020).

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‘The Future of Afghan Culture? Reflections of an Anthropologist’

A brief reflection on changes and continuities in ‘Afghan culture’ before, during and after over four decades of revolution, war, occupation, reconstruction and an uncertain future.

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An illustrated discussion, from an anthropologist’s perspective, of how the idea of ‘culture’ has been used in recent years by a variety of writers and experts (both Afghan and outsiders) in their writings on Afghanistan. I shall also introduce my recent Afghan Village Voices as a contribution to the discussion, and argue that, although it derives from field research nearly half a century ago, the content of the book continues to have relevance for the future of Afghanistan.