Public Lecture Explores Suicide and Sacrifice in Afghanistan

Is it brainwashing and malevolence that drives ordinary people to become suicide bombers? Or are there more factors at play? Professor David B. Edwards delved deeper into these questions at his public lecture at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q).

Edwards, a professor of anthropology at Williams College in the United States, spoke about his latest book, Caravan of Martyrs: Sacrifice and Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan. The lecture was open to the public and took place on Wednesday, October 18 at GU-Q’s Education City campus.

Caravan of Martyrs explores the rise of suicide bombing in the context of cultural beliefs and rituals of sacrifice in Afghanistan. In the book, Edwards traces this violent form of self-destruction back to its origins in the 1980s. From the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to today’s social media age, the researcher explains how martyrdom has been exploited for political gain.

“I have been conducting research on Afghanistan since the beginning of the war there forty years ago, and I have witnessed the transformation of Afghan culture that war has brought about,” said Edwards. “In Caravan of Martyrs: Sacrifice and Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan, I trace one aspect of this transformation: the changing attitude towards violence and the way in which violence is deployed. More specifically, I examine how sacrifice, a ritual act that in traditional society is associated with expressing gratitude and seeking reconciliation between rival factions, is turned into the foundation for a cult and culture of martyrdom.”

Edwards, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, has a number of research interests including Afghanistan, Islam, political violence, and humanitarianism and post-conflict societies. His expertise has been featured in media including the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, the BBC, and Reuters. Caravan of Martyrs is his third book on Afghanistan.