Pakistan and Its Diaspora: Multidisciplinary Approaches [Hardcover]

Contributors offer an in-depth look at the dynamics of cultural and political change in Pakistan and the Pakistani Diaspora. Moving past static viewpoints, this volume demonstrates the multidirectional nature of the flow of ideas and people that create the social landscape experienced by Pakistanis globally.Introduction: 'Reflections and representations: Shifting gazes and the curse of truths', by Stephen Lyon and Marta Bolgonani The Public Sphere: Kashmir Religious Leadership Women Conclusion: 'Being Pakistani Beyond Europe and South Asia', by Marta Bolognani and Stephen Lyon

Provides innovative engagement with issues of politics, culture, and society informing Pakistani identity within and outside Pakistan. Pakistan can no longer be studied and evaluated as a contained national territorial identity; it is produced in multiple spaces - public and private, within and outside the national state. Each production has its unique history and ramifying implications and multiple imaginations of Pakistani identity are evolving and taking shape. The confrontation of religious leaders or the 'fighting mullhas' with the Pakistan state alongside accommodations of Islamic welfare organizations in the UK bring to light the arduous task of developing a Pakistani identity that is Islamic and modern simultaneously. - Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies and Professor of History, Arizona State University An important collection of intellectually stimulating, research-driven works. The authors highlight the dialectic relationship that exists between Pakistanis and those of Pakistani origin and bring forth the histories, local socio-political dynamics, and transnational connections that play a role in shaping their lives and informing their actions. Examining themes that are both common and relevant, the work is grounded in rigorous scholarship and deftly sidesteps the all too common trap of essentialism by presenting nuanced and complex accounts that are all³°