The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 marked a turning point in international politics and human rights debates. Following the withdrawal of international forces and the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Taliban re-established an authoritarian theocracy that systematically curtailed women’s and girls’ rights.
Since then, the United Nations (UN) has faced a profound dilemma: while it does not formally recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, it continues to cooperate with them in practice to deliver humanitarian aid and maintain basic governance functions. This duality reveals a deep tension between legal non-recognition and pragmatic engagement—especially in light of the UN’s feminist commitments embedded in CEDAW (1979) and the Women, Peace and Security agenda (UNSCR 1325). The UN’s interactions with the Taliban challenge the coherence of these normative frameworks and raise critical questions about how far feminist principles can be upheld in contexts of repression.
My thesis asks: What does the UN’s engagement with the Taliban reveal about the practical limits and tensions of its normative commitments to women’s rights in the context of an emerging process of recognition?
Recognition here is not viewed as a binary or strictly legal act, but as a performative and discursive process shaped through diplomatic language, routines, and institutional practices. Drawing on Gëzim Visoka’s critical recognition theory and practice-oriented approaches from Frost, Lechner, and Brandom, the analysis explores how recognition takes shape through meaning-making processes. Four sensitizing concepts—recognition, representation, de facto authorities, and engagement (following Antje Wiener)—guide the interpretive framework.
Empirically, the study analyzes two key UN statements: Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks on Afghanistan (May 2023) and a press conference by Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo (July 2024). Through these texts, the thesis identifies verbal and non-verbal practices that illustrate how the UN navigates the boundary between normative fidelity and operational necessity.
Table of Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theory
- 2.1 The declarative and the constituting recognition of states
- 2.2 A critical approach to recognition
- 3 Methodology
- 3.1 Language-games in IR
- 3.2 Robert Brandom's Inferentialism and Normative Commitments
- 3.3 The interplay of language-games and inferentialism
- 4 Method
- 4.1 Sensitizing reading
- 4.2 Practice and discourse formations
- 4.3 The interplay of sensitizing reading and practice/discourse formations
- 4.4 The empirical material
- 5 The UN's feminist agenda
- 5.1 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- 5.2 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
- 5.3 The Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS)
- 5.4 Interim conclusion
- 6 The Taliban
- 6.1 Implementing UNSCR 1325 in Afghanistan
- 6.2 Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
- 7 Analysis
- 7.1 Sensitizing concepts
- 7.2 Analyzing the UN discourse on recognition
- 7.3 Analysis of António Guterres' remarks at press encounter on Afghanistan
- 7.4 Analysis of the press conference by Rosemary DiCarlo after Doha III
- 8 Discussion
- 9 Conclusion
- 10 References
- Appendix
- A. Transcript of Secretary-General's António Guterres' opening remarks at press encounter on Afghanistan in Doha, May 2nd 2023
- B. Transcript of Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo's remarks at the press conference during Doha III on July 1st 2024
Objective & Thematic Focuses
This Master's thesis investigates the complex and often contradictory engagement of the United Nations (UN) with the Taliban as the de facto government of Afghanistan. It aims to reveal what this engagement signifies regarding the practical limits and tensions of the UN's normative commitments to women's rights in the context of an emerging process of recognition.
- Analysis of the UN's normative framework on gender equality and human rights, including the UDHR, CEDAW, and the WPS agenda.
- Examination of the Taliban's governance structure and their policies restricting women's rights, including the concept of "Gender Apartheid".
- Conceptualization of recognition as a multidimensional process involving performative, discursive, and practical diplomatic interactions.
- Application of theoretical tools such as language-games, inferentialism, and normative commitments in International Relations.
- Investigation of key sensitizing concepts: recognition, representation, de facto authorities, and engagement.
- Exploration of the dissonance between the UN's official non-recognition of the Taliban and its practical, ongoing engagement.
Excerpt from the Book
The declarative and the constituting recognition of states
According to Charles Tilly, “[s]tates have been the world's largest and most powerful or-ganizations for more than five thousand years” (Tilly 1995, 1) and while gaining relevance over the time, states have changed. Today, they no longer "[...] [occupy] a minority of the earth's inhabited space" (ibid., 2) and compete with cities as other forms of communities. They have superseded terra nullius completely and since then “[...] the creation of new states in the future [...] can only be accomplished as a result of the diminution or disappear-ance of existing states, and the need for careful regulation thus arises” (Shaw 2018, 157). This circumstance gave rise to discussing the question of what actually constitutes a state.
In the course of these discussions that intensified in the 1950s after World War II, and in the course of first attempts to decolonize the world, statehood had become a term of interna-tional law (IL) (Shikova 2023, 74), and states became a subject to law. As there was no general definition of “state” existing, IL had adopted four criteria of statehood from the first article of the Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States from 1933: "The state as a person of IL should possess the following qualifications: a) a perma-nent population; b) a defined territory; c) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.” (“The Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States” 1933). In this context, state recognition has quickly become highly relevant at least since the found-ing of the United Nations: "International recognition plays a vital role in the political, security, legal, economic and socio-cul-tural development of states [...] [and] enables states protection under international law, access to multilateral bodies and the possibility to develop diplomatic and trade relations with other states." (Visoka 2022, 134).
In their fundamental role in declarative theory, the four criteria from the Montevideo Con-vention on Rights and Duties of States from 1933 enable entities to declare themselves as states without being recognized by other states as such if the criteria are met, and against the background of the topic of this work, these criteria play an important role as they are still valid. They form the foundation of this declaratory approach which “[...] maintains that recognition is merely an acceptance by states of an already existing situation” (Shaw 2018, 330).
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the core dilemma of the UN's engagement with the Taliban, highlighting the paradox between the UN's commitment to women's rights and its practical interaction with an unrecognized, rights-violating regime in Afghanistan.
2 Theory: This section lays out the theoretical foundations for understanding state recognition, critically examining both declarative and constitutive theories, and introducing Gëzim Visoka's critical approach to recognition to address their shortcomings.
3 Methodology: This chapter details the research methodology, which combines Frost and Lechner's concept of language-games in International Relations with Robert Brandom's normative pragmatism, focusing on how meaning and normative change are generated.
4 Method: This chapter outlines the specific analytical tools, including Antje Wiener's sensitizing reading and Andreas Reckwitz's practice/discourse formations, to investigate how recognition is implicitly produced through verbal and non-verbal acts within the UN-Taliban engagement.
5 The UN's feminist agenda: This chapter traces the historical development of the UN's normative framework for women's rights, highlighting key documents and initiatives such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
6 The Taliban: This chapter provides an overview of the Taliban's origins, ideological character, and their impact on Afghan women's rights, detailing the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and the establishment of a "Gender Apartheid" regime after their 2021 takeover.
7 Analysis: This chapter applies the sensitizing concepts of recognition, representation, engagement, and de facto authorities to UN statements regarding the Taliban, examining how these concepts are reframed and how normative meanings are constituted.
8 Discussion: This chapter critically discusses the central findings, illustrating how UN representatives reshape key normative concepts like representation and engagement, leading to an implicit recognition of the Taliban despite formal denials.
9 Conclusion: This chapter concludes that the UN's engagement with the Taliban reveals the practical limits and tensions of its women's rights commitments, demonstrating a process of normative change and pragmatic recognition.
Keywords
Recognition, Taliban, United Nations, Afghanistan, Women's Rights, Gender Equality, Normative Commitments, International Relations, De Facto Authorities, Engagement, Feminist Agenda, Language-games, Inferentialism, Humanitarian Aid, WPS Agenda.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this work fundamentally about?
This thesis fundamentally examines the United Nations' engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, analyzing the tension between the UN's stated normative commitments to women's rights and its practical interactions, which implicitly contribute to the Taliban's recognition.
What are the central thematic areas?
The central thematic areas include international recognition theory (declarative, constitutive, critical), the UN's feminist agenda (UDHR, CEDAW, WPS), the Taliban's regime and its impact on women's rights, and methodological approaches like language-games and inferentialism.
What is the primary goal or research question?
The primary goal is to answer the research question: "What does the UN's engagement with the Taliban reveal about the practical limits and tensions of its normative commitments to women's rights in the light of an emerging process of recognition?"
Which scientific method is used?
The scientific method used is a combination of Antje Wiener's sensitizing reading and Andreas Reckwitz's concept of practice/discourse formations, guided by sensitizing concepts such as recognition, representation, engagement, and de facto authorities.
What is covered in the main part?
The main part of the thesis involves an in-depth analysis of transcripts from UN press encounters with Secretary-General António Guterres and Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, examining how their verbal and non-verbal practices reshape the meaning of core normative concepts in the context of UN-Taliban engagement.
Which keywords characterize the work?
The work is characterized by keywords such as Recognition, Taliban, United Nations, Afghanistan, Women's Rights, Gender Equality, Normative Commitments, International Relations, De Facto Authorities, Engagement, Feminist Agenda, Language-games, Inferentialism, Humanitarian Aid, and WPS Agenda.
Why is the UN's engagement with the Taliban considered paradoxical?
The UN's engagement is seen as paradoxical because it officially denies recognizing the Taliban as the legitimate government while simultaneously engaging with them in practical ways that implicitly grant them authority and contribute to their political recognition, often at odds with the UN's core human rights and gender equality principles.
What is meant by "Gender Apartheid" in Afghanistan?
In Afghanistan, "Gender Apartheid" refers to the systemic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls by the Taliban regime, which involves the comprehensive rollback of their rights in education, employment, public life, and freedom of movement, analogous to racial apartheid.
How does the thesis conceptualize "recognition" beyond legal definitions?
The thesis conceptualizes recognition as a dynamic, multidimensional process that unfolds through performative, discursive, and practical diplomatic interactions and everyday acts, rather than solely as a formal legal declaration, emphasizing its social and political construction within inferential networks.
What are the practical implications of using terms like "de facto authorities" by the UN?
The use of "de facto authorities" by the UN, while intended to withhold formal legitimacy, practically elevates the Taliban to the status of responsible actors in international discourse, allowing for engagement but implicitly granting them a norm-constituting role and influence, thereby reshaping normative boundaries.
- Citation du texte
- Benjamin Ruttke (Auteur), 2025, The Politics of Recognition. The Case of the UN in dealing with the Recognition of the Taliban as the Legitimate Government of Afghanistan, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1696181
