Home Economics and Connectivity: Exploring Inclusive Development in Afghanistan through Lessons from South Korea

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Published Oct 31, 2025
https://doi.org/10.63476/atjss.v2i2.121
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Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): Al-Taqwa Journal of Social Science

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Maiwand Safi
PhD Scholar of Connectivity, South Asian University, India
Shreya Singh Kasana
Center for Korean Studies, SIS, JNU, New Delhi, India
Joohee Choi
MA in International Relations, JNU, New, India

Abstract

Connectivity is the defining theme of the contemporary world and is crucial in shaping inclusive and sustainable development. Likewise, home economics in Afghanistan includes household production, resource management, and informal economic activity, which is central to survival and community resilience. However, its role in national development is often overlooked. This research is more exploratory rather than normative. It encourages more investigation into the facilitative role of connectivity - both infrastructural and digital- in transforming home economics from subsistence-level activity into a viable catalyst of sustainable economic growth. By examining how connectivity either facilitates or hinders the development of the home economy in Afghanistan. It locates connectivity as the crucial force behind economic inclusion. In the underdeveloped countries like Afghanistan, home economics has functioned in disconnected settings. However, its ability to alleviate poverty and support long- term development and household resilience heavily depends on consistent access to transportation, electricity, and internet infrastructure. This study utilizes the broader theoretical framework of connectivity and, relying on qualitative analysis, draws its sources from secondary data, development literature, and comparative insights. It examines how limited infrastructure in Afghanistan disrupts household-level economic participation, access to markets, and integration with institutional structures. Home economics provides a lens to reveal the broader national consequences of these deficits illustrating that without strategic investments in connectivity, even the most basic forms of local productivity cannot scale or sustain. To put this relationship in context, this paper examines South Korea’s post-war rural development (한국 발전 모델), where targeted infrastructure enabled widespread household economic growth (새마을운동). Ultimately, it concludes with recommendations, arguing in Afghanistan, sustainable development needs the integration of connectivity and home economics. They should be treated as interdependent pillars of inclusive national progress.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Safi, M., Kasana, S. S., & Joohee Choi. (2025). Home Economics and Connectivity: Exploring Inclusive Development in Afghanistan through Lessons from South Korea . ATJSS, 1(1), 467–490. https://doi.org/10.63476/atjss.v2i2.121

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