New Perspectives on Pakistan: Visions for the Future

by Saeed Shafqat

This multi-author volume is an outgrowth of papers presented at the international conference on Pakistan organized by the Southern Asian Institute, Center of Pakistan Studies and American Institute of Pakistan Studies, at Columbia University from April 11-13, 2003. The papers included in this
volume have several distinguishing features. First, they examine the history, society and culture of Pakistan from multiple angles. Second, a number of papers offer important and significant shifts from the dominant discourses of Pakistan Studies and set the tone for alternative ways to analyze
issues confronting Pakistani society and the state. For example, Islamization, federalism and democratization are seen not merely as a state-sponsored project, but examined on the ground as a contestation between vying interests of individuals, groups, communities and even competing external
influences. Third, the volume is inter-disciplinary in spirit and content and brings together the theoretical insights and empirical research on Pakistan in an unprecedented manner. Finally, the volume draws attention to how imperatives of security, challenges of democratization and globalization
are leading to radical transformations in Pakistan as the military regime realigns itself in the global arena.

428 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008