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Reordering Local Governance under Taliban Rule [Non-paper]

Abstract

This policy brief examines how local governance in Afghanistan has been reshaped since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, focussing on the dismantling of Community Development Councils (CDCs). It analyses how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has reconfigured local authority by sidelining donor-supported mechanisms and advancing religiously legitimised structures, particularly ulema shuras (councils of religious scholars) at the provincial level. While the Taliban have long maintained an ambivalent relationship with local and customary governance—alternately incorporating and bypassing such structures—the removal of the CDCs highlights a broader shift towards centralised, ideologically framed control at the community level. Rather than mapping the full landscape of local governance actors in Afghanistan, this brief uses the trajectory of the CDCs as an analytical entry point to examine broader shifts in how the Taliban are reordering authority, participation, and donor engagement at the community level.

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@misc{Schmeidl2026,
  Title = {Reordering Local Governance under Taliban Rule},
  Author = {Schmeidl, Susanne and Mielke, Katja and Schetter, Conrad},
  Editor = {},
  Year = {2026},
  Abstract = {This policy brief examines how local governance in Afghanistan has been reshaped since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, focussing on the dismantling of Community Development Councils (CDCs). It analyses how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has reconfigured local authority by sidelining donor-supported mechanisms and advancing religiously legitimised structures, particularly ulema shuras (councils of religious scholars) at the provincial level. While the Taliban have long maintained an ambivalent relationship with local and customary governance—alternately incorporating and bypassing such structures—the removal of the CDCs highlights a broader shift towards centralised, ideologically framed control at the community level. Rather than mapping the full landscape of local governance actors in Afghanistan, this brief uses the trajectory of the CDCs as an analytical entry point to examine broader shifts in how the Taliban are reordering authority, participation, and donor engagement at the community level.},
}

RIS

TY  - RPRT
AU  - Schmeidl, Susanne
AU  - Mielke, Katja
AU  - Schetter, Conrad
TI  - Reordering Local Governance under Taliban Rule
PY  - 2026
AB  - This policy brief examines how local governance in Afghanistan has been reshaped since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, focussing on the dismantling of Community Development Councils (CDCs). It analyses how the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has reconfigured local authority by sidelining donor-supported mechanisms and advancing religiously legitimised structures, particularly ulema shuras (councils of religious scholars) at the provincial level. While the Taliban have long maintained an ambivalent relationship with local and customary governance—alternately incorporating and bypassing such structures—the removal of the CDCs highlights a broader shift towards centralised, ideologically framed control at the community level. Rather than mapping the full landscape of local governance actors in Afghanistan, this brief uses the trajectory of the CDCs as an analytical entry point to examine broader shifts in how the Taliban are reordering authority, participation, and donor engagement at the community level.
ER  -