Social Order within and beyond the shadow of hierarchy : governance patterns in Afghanistan

In this paper I argue that governance can be referred back to the basic sociological categories of social order, institutions and power. More specifically, governance as an analytical concept refers to the ordering function of institutions that limits the role of self-help in social interaction. Since social order clearly predates the state the empirically relevant question is if governance outputs require some kind of functional equivalent to the state or if governance can be observed devoid of statehood in this functional sense. I discuss this question on the basis of evidence from different patterns of local governance (or: governance zones) observed in Afghanistan which are defined by various degrees of state involvement and governance effects. I find that social control is the only functional equivalent to the hieratical state in enforcing institutional rules against the self-interest of actors. Social control devoid of state protection is, however, limited in its geographical and social scope