Thread by @a_a_jackson

You guys: I defended my PhD Friday. Grateful it went ahead (v Skype) - and unbelievably grateful it's finally *done*

Inspired by @dbyman & @azelin I thought I’d tweet out some pieces/authors that made thesis thinking/writing worthwhile, bearable and occasionally even fun

In solitary depths of PhDing, there was no greater relief than finding something that pointed the way out of some conundrum or dark hole I was stuck in

I know the world is falling apart, but recommending good reads seems vaguely helpful? Plus JSTOR is open access now so...

First up! On finding a process/techniques: @strickvl rec’d this excellent how-to-do-a-PhD book bookdepository.com/Authoring-PhD-… (also on Kindle)

@strickvl's PhD blog posts are also full of amazing advice alexstrick.com/blog?tag=phdto…

I’m not sure what I would have done w/o @strickvl & @felixkuehn’s work incisive analysis on the Taliban (like this: ahrc.ukri.org/documents/proj…)

Moreover, the work they’ve devoted to making primary sources accessible through @FirstDraftPub is an invaluable gift to scholars/analysts

I'd be remiss not to mention @anamarjona & @Ras_Karya They got me excited about insurgent governance to begin with. So many echoes of their work in my own work on the Taliban (but even divergences or my disagreements spurred new thinking)

If I have to choose just one work...

Its this edited volume. Its a goldmine of theoretical and empirical insights. Like the gateway drug for studying insurgency cambridge.org/core/books/reb…

As I was working through the Taliban’s evolution, I became increasingly curious about the performative aspects of insurgency.

The main focus of most studies is insurgent violence. Rightly so.

But acting like a state becomes at some point almost as important as waging war.

This often manifests in darkly, distractingly absurd ways

(why are Talibs mimicking govt electricity bills down to the detail? Is there a Talib copyshop? ... Srsly tho: why all the effort?)

But as any student of Foucault knows, real power lies in subtler forms of coercion...

Insurgent control isn’t black/white. It's not even necessarily about controlling territory. Color-coded maps provide the illusion of sound analysis but that's not how the real war is waged.

@judithverweijen @KasperHoffmann2 nail this on the head: academic.oup.com/afraf/article-…

I can’t believe I hadn’t read this earlier. @jmurtazashvili blows apart many myths about ‘ungoverned spaces’ (imo not a thing) and customary authority in war. Nuanced, rigorously researched, applicable far beyond Afghanistan

cambridge.org/core/books/inf…

Huge sigh of relief when I read @steven_metz on why people join insurgencies.

It strains the bounds of typology b/c its messy, complicated Much like the thing it describes. (Which is probably why it's more useful most other typologies I've read...)

smallwarsjournal.com/print/12195

It’s important to have fierce role models in the academic wilderness. And no one is fiercer than the Notorious Nancy Hatch Dupree. So sharp, so much fun to read, so much love and respect for her subject and for Afghanistan.

This is one of my favorites: afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/a…

NHD also helped establish @ackuafghanistan -- which is an absolute gift to scholars

I spent many hours (procrastinating?) trawling through the catalog. Many vital docs, primary sources I couldn’t find or didn’t even know existed are opensource here acku.edu.af

I used negotiation theory to describe how Talibs and civilians bargain with each other. I built a framework from scratch, so it’s a bit of a patchwork quilt of behavioral theory -- snippets from Ury, Lewiski, Fisher, etc.

But this was monumental: courses.washington.edu/pbafhall/514/5…

In a world full of quantitative work on civil wars, qualitative work can feel passé. During times of doubt (usually at academic confs), @stephenwalt reassured me that I was on the right path.

Also one of the best academic burns I’ve ever read... belfercenter.org/sites/default/…

But, ideally, quantitative + qualitative work should complement each other.

Praise be for these two rigorous, well-grounded pieces, which confirmed/deepened my thinking and raised new questions (thx @renardsexton & @jaylyall_red5!)

1) cambridge.org/core/journals/…

2) journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

The point of my PhD is meant to be that civilians – underestimated, ignored as they are – shape the conduct and outcome of civil wars.

The people I talked to obviously schooled me more than any book so when stuck, I went back to their voices. But…

I also turned to civilian accounts of other wars (who, again, taught more than much else of what I read).

This is the best books about war that I have ever, will ever read bookdepository.com/Woman-Berlin-A… Also on Kindle

(But trust me, you’ll want to skip Anthony Beevor’s introduction.)

Last one: Bernard Fall. Street without Joy is a revelation. I felt like I was reading about the Taliban (oh, the irony)

And Fall's own story is extraordinary (I don't know this guy, but he damn well better hurry up and publish his bio of Fall)

smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/rethi…