GROWING QAWM: AN EVIDENCE-DRIVEN DECLARATIVE MODEL OF AFGHAN POWER STRUCTURES

Armando Geller () and Scott Moss ()
Additional contact information
Armando Geller: Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Aytoun Building, Aytoun Street, Manchester, M1 3GH, UK
Scott Moss: Centre for Policy Modelling, Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, Aytoun Building, Aytoun Street, Manchester, M1 3GH, UK

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), 2008, vol. 11, issue 02, pages 321-335

Abstract: By means of evidence-driven and declaratively implemented social simulation, we grow qawm — solidarity networks in Afghanistan. The study of qawm lends insight into the structural and processual dynamics of Afghan society. In particular, we concentrate on the evolution of power structures. An agent-based computational model is presented whose ontology borrows from neopatrimonialism, a notion of power prevalent in contemporary conflicts. In this model, agents' structural arrangement, behavior and cognition are informed by qualitative data derived from case studies on Afghanistan. The simulation results suggest that the emergence of qawm and, hence, the fragmentation of Afghan society are systemic and lead to a constant drain of resources. Cross-validation between the simulated network and a target system network reveals that qawm exhibit small world characteristics.

Keywords: Afghanistan; evidence-driven social simulation; power structures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?type=pdf&id=pii:S0219525908001659 (application/pdf)
http://www.worldscinet.com/cgi-bin/details.cgi?typ ... ii:S0219525908001659 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:acsxxx:v:11:y:2008:i:02:p:321-335

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

Access Statistics for this article

Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) is edited by Frank Schweitzer

More articles in Advances in Complex Systems (ACS) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Series data maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().