Introduction

Despite the poor quality of teaching during this period, the gradual rise of sociology as a discipline in Afghanistan’s higher education system is considered an important achievement. The decisive role of Sayed Askar Mousavi, Ph.D. in Anthropology from Oxford University and Senior Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education, in strengthening and expanding the field of sociology in Afghanistan should not be overlooked. Through his cooperation and efforts, the first professor of sociology, Sayed Nooroddin Alavi, who holds a master’s degree from Tehran University and has research experience in various fields of social sciences, was recruited to the Faculty of Social Sciences at Kabul University in 2004. From that date until 2013, positive transformations occurred in this discipline, and it is important to highlight a few of them:

Currently, most of these professors, now holding doctoral and master’s degrees, are engaged in research and teaching at their respective universities. Among them, Dr. Omid Afghan and Ahmad Hamid Qaderi are the founders of the Afghanistan Sociology Association. Presently, sociology departments are officially active in ten public universities across the country, operating under the supervision of the Department of Sociology at Kabul Education University at the graduate level, with their curriculum approved by the Ministry of Higher Education. It is important to note that after the establishment of a postgraduate program in “Philosophy and Sociology” and “History” at Kabul University in 1984 (suspended during the First Taliban regime), no public universities offered postgraduate programs until 2022. That year, the Department of Sociology at Kabul Education University successfully launched a postgraduate program through tireless efforts. With the emergence of the first generation of private universities in Afghanistan during President Karzai’s administration—Kateb, Khatam al-Nabiyin, Ibn Sina, and Gharjistan—sociology programs were added at the undergraduate level. Unfortunately, most did not perform as expected due to an unprepared context. Only Kateb University initiated a postgraduate program in sociology in 2013 and remains the sole private institution offering it. Permanent professors at Kateb include Dr. Amanullah Fasihi and Dr. Amena Akhlaqi. Other notable sociologists—Dr. Amin Rashadat (Gharjistan), Dr. Seyed Nooroddin Alavi (Kabul University), Dr. Awaz Ali Saadat (Gharjistan), Dr. Omid Afghan (Kabul Education), Dr. Gulab Shah Amani (Bamyan), and adjunct faculty—help shape the field. Alongside them, scholars such as Dr. Sayed Hassan Alavi (Vira), Professor Ahmad Rasool Rasool, Professor Khaled Habibi, Professor Faisal Amin, Professor Barialay Fitrat, and Professor Javad Sultani—each with at least a postgraduate degree—represent the first educated generation of Afghan sociologists, emerging in the 1990s of the solar Hijri calendar. In 2019, Dr. Seyed Askar Mousavi, Dr. Sayed Hassan Alavi (Vira), Dr. Sayed Nooroddin Alavi, Dr. Omid Afghan, and Leila Jazayeri founded the Afghanistan Sociology Association. Its leadership council includes founding and other members—Dr. Mohammad Amin Rashadat, Ahmad Hamid Qaderi, Dr. Sabera Etebar, Professor Ramzan Hosaini, Khalil Yousefi, Ahmad Zubair Zahid, Elham Neda, Reza Rezaei, and Adiba Ahmadi. Official sociology in Afghanistan is therefore primarily a 21st-century phenomenon.