Journal of Political Strategy

Identity Analysis of the Taliban After Their Return to Power Within the Framework of Manuel Castells’ Theory of Resistance Identity


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 September 2026
Journal of Political Strategy

Document Type : Original Independent Original Article

Authors

Parsa Bagheri 1
Ali Shiyari 2

1 Tabriz university

2 Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Tabriz

Abstract
The Taliban, as a fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan, has played a pivotal role in the country’s civil war. However, unlike other Islamist groups in Afghanistan, this movement experienced rapid growth and expansion. This study seeks to examine the intellectual roots and ideological foundations of the Taliban movement by employing a descriptive–analytical method within the theoretical framework of resistance identity as proposed by Manuel Castells.

The analysis demonstrates that the ideological foundations of the Taliban are derived from two principal factors: ethnic and religious elements. Among these, the ethnic factor has played a particularly significant role in shaping the Taliban’s identity as an ethno-religious movement. In this context, the Taliban can be understood as striving to resist and preserve its ethnic and religious identity components and foundations against competing identities. Consequently, many of the group’s regressive behaviors toward others can be interpreted and explained within the framework of Castells’ theory of resistance identity.

Keywords

Taliban
Pashtunism
Salafism
Fundamentalism
Deobandism
Subjects

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