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Narmin Butt
Iraq
العراق
I collected observational data from over 700 neighborhoods across five provinces in Iraq. Using local governmental records, I tracked reconstruction efforts specifically funded by the Iraqi government, intentionally excluding projects funded by the UN, NGOs, or other external organizations.
The focus of my data collection was on two types of reconstruction projects that were under the control of subdistrict politicians: (1) the reconstruction of alleys destroyed by Daesh and (2) the creation of safety patrols. Alongside these efforts, I gathered additional neighborhood-level data, including the ethnicity and religious sect of the residents, the level of destruction in each neighborhood (based on local government records), and the perceived density of collaborators, as reported by subdistrict elites. The perception of collaborator density was categorized as either high or low based on the opinions of local elites
Afghanistan
افغانستان
Hawala Ledger
Before the Taliban takeover, I collected data in Kabul using various Islamic ledgers that the Taliban had maintained to record the collaboration of civilians and political elites in the city. These ledgers contained detailed information, including names, ethnicity, province of origin, and the capacity in which individuals collaborated with the Taliban. This data provided invaluable insights into the network of relationships between the Taliban and different societal actors in Kabul. It also revealed the depth of the Taliban's influence across various sectors and regions, offering a unique perspective on how political and social collaboration was structured under their regime. The rich detail in these records allowed for a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of collaboration, which would have been difficult to capture through conventional methods of data collection.
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