AFGHANS: Their History and Culture

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Print Resources

Books

The Dupree and Michener books listed below are classics. There is no lack of books and articles on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and books on the Taliban are coming off the press every day. The others mentioned are the most respected of the very recent books on Afghanistan.

DuPree, Louis. Afghanistan. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973, 1978, 1980.

The most comprehensive source of information on Afghanistan up to the Soviet occupation. Very readable (Dupree had a sense of humor), it includes sections on geography, people, ancient history, and modern developments, with excellent photos, drawings, and charts. Now out of print, but used copies are available.

Michener, James A. Caravans. New York: Random House, 1963.

A wonderful adventure story that gives a vivid picture of the Afghanistan of the 1940s, including government efforts to modernize and life among the nomads.

Borovik, Artem. The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist's Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan. New York: Grove Press, 2001.

Fascinating account of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, from the point of view of the Soviets. Borovik was a widely respected Russian journalist.

Frederiksen, Birthe. Caravans and Trade in Afghanistan. Copenhagen: Rhodos, 1995.

Goodson, Larry P. Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 2001.

A thoughtful discussion of the reasons behind Afghanistan's inability to form a centralized nation after the withdrawal of the Soviets. Includes an analysis of the effects of the civil war on the country's people and economy.

Olesen, Asta. Afghan Craftsmen. Copenhagen: Rhodos, 1994.

Pedersen, Gorm. Afghan Nomads in Transition. Copenhagen: Rhodos, 1994.

Rashid, Ahmed. Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.

A thorough, widely praised discussion of the Taliban, including the history of the Taliban movement, the Taliban interpretation of Islam, women and children in Taliban society, drugs and opium and the Taliban, bin Laden, and a discussion of the Taliban in the context of the need for oil pipelines across Afghanistan, a topic that has been somewhat overcome by events but is still fascinating.

Articles

The following articles address cultural and adjustment challenges concerning Afghan refugees in the United States. Most of Dr. Lipson's research focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area Afghan community, but her cultural insights are widely applicable. The last article addresses Pashtun culture in general.

Lipson, J. (1993). Afghan Refugees in California: Mental Health Issues. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 14, 411-423.

Lipson, J. and Omidian, P. (1993). Health Among San Francisco Bay Area Afghans: A Community Assessment. The Afghanistan Studies Journal 4, 71-86.

Lipson, J. & Miller, S. (1994). Changing Roles of Afghan Refugee Women in the U.S. Health Care for Women International 15, 171-180.

Lipson, J., Omidian, P. and Paul, S. (1995). Afghan Health Education Project: A Community Survey. Public Health Nursing 12, 143-150.

Lipson, J., Hosseini, T., Kabir, S., Omidian, P. and Edmonston, F. (1995). Health Issues Among Afghan Women in California. Health Care for Women International, 16, 279-286.

Lipson, J. and Omidian, P. (1996). Health and the Transnational Connection: Afghan Refugees in the United States. Refugee Issues Papers 4, 2-17. Council of Refugee Issues, American Anthropological Association.

Lipson, J. and Omidian, P. (1996). Afghans. In Refugees in the 1990's, D. Haines (ed.), (pp. 63-80). Greenwood Press.

Lipson, J.G. and Omidian, P. (1997). Afghan refugee issues in the U.S. Social Environment. Western Journal of Nursing Research 19(1): 110-126.

Meleis, A., Lipson, J. and Dallalfar, A., (1997). The Reluctant Immigrant: Experiences Among Middle Eastern Immigrant Groups in Northern California. Beyond Boundaries: Selected Papers on Refugee Issues: V Council on Refugee Issues, American Anthropological Association. pp. 214-230.

Mghir, R., and Raskin, A. (1999). The psychological effects of the war in Afghanistan on young Afghan refugees from different ethnic backgrounds. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 45(1): 29-36.

Omidian, P. and Lipson, J. (1992) Elderly Afghan refugees: Tradition and transition in Northern California. In Refugee Issues Papers, American Anthropological Association 1, 27-39.

Omidian, P. and Lipson, J. (1996). Ethnic coalitions and public health: Delights and dilemmas with the Afghan Health Education Project in Northern California. Human Organization 55(3): 355-360.

Younos, M. Farid (1998). Parents' Reflections on Afghan Language Maintenance in the United States: A Participatory Research. Doctoral dissertation, University of San Francisco.

Hilton, I., The Pashtun Code. The New Yorker, December 3, 2001, pp. 59-71. top

Online Resources

The Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Omaha at Nebraska serves as the only institutional base in the United States specifically and exclusively concerned with Afghanistan affairs. The Center conducts research, information exchange, and consultation activities and provides a focal point for the gathering together of notable Afghan specialists and significant source materials. The UNO Library has what many consider to be the finest collection of Afghan primary and secondary materials in North America.

The New York Times runs excellent stories on current events in Afghanistan and background pieces describing the geography and people of Afghanistan. For previous coverage, slide shows and timelines, go to http://www.nytimes.com/attacks. For a collection of interactive maps and diagrams, go to http://www.nytimes.com/graphics. Click on 'U.S. Response'

The Washington Post also has a superb set of graphics and maps of Afghanistan, available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/graphics/ attack/index.html. Pull down the 'Hostile Region' menu.

The Afghan Network is an online gathering place for Afghans and a resource for non-Afghans on history and culture. Visit: http://www.afghan-network.net/.

Other Online Resources

Adams, R., & Burt, M. (2002). Research on Reading Development of Adult English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. For a comprehensive review of the research that has been conducted on reading development among adult English language learners in the United States in the last 20 years go to: http://www.cal.org/ncle/readingbib/. Annotations detail the types of studies, target population characteristics, settings, findings, and implications for practice.

Newcomer programs help acclimate students to schooling in the United States, develop academic English skills, and teach some subject matter content. To use the searchable Web database of newcomer programs throughout the U.S., go to: www.cal.org/newcomerdb. top