The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and the “Decolonization” of the Afghan State

Afghanistan is not traditionally seen as a ‘decolonized’ state, given that it was never formally part of any empire. But this did not stop Afghan leaders from employing the rhetoric of decolonization and anti-colonialism in justifying their domestic and international politics. This paper specifically explores how the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan employed the language and rationale of decolonization to justify their rule. A communist organization that was outlawed until it suddenly came to power in a military coup in April 1978, the PDPA claimed that it was ending imperial legacies within Afghanistan and directing Afghans on the path of self-determination. The PDPA framed their policies in terms of decolonial processes, but their rhetoric of decolonization was increasingly complicated by their growing ties with the Soviet Union. ‘Decolonization’, for the PDPA, became increasingly framed in terms of a Cold War battle against US imperialism, as well as changing domestic political processes. Studying the PDPA’s policies and rhetoric, this paper provides a novel way of understanding the shifting meaning of ‘decolonization’ and the ways that different agents could use the rhetoric of imperialism and end of empire for different political means.