Shattered Futures

This thesis explores how the Taliban's ban on education for women in Afghanistan not only serves as a form of oppression against women but also as a broader political measure to exert control over Afghan society as a whole. Both the justifications used by the Taliban to implement this ban and the lived experiences of women in Afghanistan under this policy are analysed using a feminist framework. This thesis employs Critical Discourse Analysis and Narrative Analysis to highlight both the Taliban's strategies of legitimation and the experiences of Afghan women. By examining these two perspectives, the short- and long-term social and cultural implications of this specific ban are revealed. The central argument of this thesis is that this ban on education is not merely one of the many policies the Taliban use to control and oppress women, but one of the most crucial policies implemented that will allow the Taliban to control Afghan society to the fullest.