Afghanistan
Continuity and the Persistence of Tradition, Culture and Identity
On 8–9 November 2024, The Institute of Ismaili Studies hosted a two-day conference at the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. Centre and online, bringing together scholars and researchers to explore Afghanistan’s enduring cultural and intellectual legacy. Through the themes of continuity, resilience, and transformation, the conference examined how Afghanistan’s diverse traditions and identities have persisted and evolved across time, offering new insights into the country’s historical and contemporary narratives.
Keynote Address by Nancy Lindisfarne
Afghanistan: Remembering the Past and the Reality of Climate Change Today
Keynote Address, Day 1
Afghanistan: Remembering the Past and the Reality of Climate Change Today
Nancy Lindisfarne
In this keynote address, Dr Nancy Lindisfarne reflects on her anthropological fieldwork in northwestern Afghanistan between 1968 and 1972. She explores how communities cooperated and the role of class divisions in shaping social dynamics. Her talk concludes with a powerful consideration of the immense challenges Afghanistan faces today due to climate change.
Speaker bio
Nancy Lindisfarne
Nancy Lindisfarne is an anthropologist, painter, and printmaker, and she has won prizes for her short fiction. She did graduate work at SOAS University of London, where she taught for many years. She has done fieldwork in the Middle East – in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and Syria – and in South Wales and New England, and has published widely on gender issues, practised Islam, and climate jobs.
Her books include Bartered Brides: Politics, Gender and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society (Cambridge University Press, 1991/ 2006) and, with Richard Tapper, Afghan Village Voices: Stories from a Tribal Community (Bloomsbury, 2020). Her latest book, written with Jonathan Neale, is Why Men? A Human History of Violence and Inequality (Hurst, 2023). She and Richard Tapper are presently working on a photo ethnography, The Piruzai of Afghanistan, which they hope to see published in 2025.
