ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the state policies with regard to the governance of cultural diversity under different administrations. It analyses empirical cases to show how they have followed a “melting pot” model of cultural assimilation to homogenise the country, how cultural diversity has been mediated by the state, what were the models of national integration in Afghanistan, how has state marginalised minorities, what explains the shifts in state policies with regard to minorities, how has cultural diversity been subverted discursively and politically in Afghanistan, and how the discourse of minority and majority is constructed. The chapter examines six policies of the state in Afghanistan, which had a substantial impact on the homogenisation of the country. These are enforcement of Pashtun ethnonym, the Afghan as national identity over the rest of population, displacement and resettlement of different ethnic groups with the aim of diluting the culture and density of ethnic groups, promotion and enforcement of one language, ethno-majoritarianism, lack of access to mother language education for minorities in Afghanistan, and finally recognition of Islam as the official religion of the state.
