With the narrative of justifying imperialist intervention in the name of women’s rights called into question by 20 years of disastrous U.S. occupation in Afghanistan, the space is open for rethinking what it means to take up the fight for women’s emancipation with a staunchly anti-imperialist perspective.

Contrary to the claims of bourgeois historians, demands for social reforms in Afghanistan — particularly in the realm of women’s rights — predate both the U.S. and Soviet occupations.