Learning from the Swat Pathans: political leadership in Afghanistan, 1978-97

The conflict in Afghanistan, now two decades old, has generated considerabl e attention from journalists, policy analysts, and political scientists, bu t the literature on the conflict includes few references to the work of Fre drik Earth on political leadership among the Swat Pakhtuns of neighboring P akistan. Here I explore the relevance of Earth's work to an analysis of the war in Afghanistan. In particular, I examine Barth's "methodological indiv idualism" and compare his approach with alternative approaches advanced by three of his principal critics: Talal Asad, Akbar S. Ahmed, and Michael Mee ker.