Podcast appearances and mentions of aasim sajjad akhtar

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Best podcasts about aasim sajjad akhtar

Latest podcast episodes about aasim sajjad akhtar

The Pakistan Experience
Electoral Politics, Revolution PTI Supporters and the Left - Aasim Sajjad Akhtar - #TPE 336

The Pakistan Experience

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2024 97:31


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar comes back on The Pakistan Experience to break down electoral politics and discuss what a Revolution will look like. On this deep dive podcast, we discuss Voters, the Politics of Mainstream Parties, Digitization, Elite Status Quo, Uniting Dissenting Voices, Nationalization, Left vs Right Politics and Elections. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar is a teacher, left wing politician and columnist based in Pakistan. Akhtar is associate professor of political economy at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is deputy general secretary of Awami Workers Party. The Pakistan Experience is an independently produced podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan through conversations. Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience To support the channel: Jazzcash/Easypaisa - 0325 -2982912 Patreon.com/thepakistanexperience And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. Instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh Facebook.com/Shehzadghias/ Twitter.com/shehzad89 Chapters 0:00 Introduction 2:00 Electoral Politics and Understanding Voters 12:37 How Progressives and the Left can impact Politics 19:17 Politics of Mainstream Parties in Pakistan 31:50 PTI Supporters and Digitization 38:50 What does a Revolution look like and Elite Status Quo 46:54 How to unite all these dissenting voices 1:04:30 What does a New System Look Like 1:09:00 Nationalization 1:16:00 Left vs Right Politics and Global Trends 1:29:00 Audience Questions

New Books Network
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

New Books in Science, Technology, and Society
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books in Science, Technology, and Society

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

New Books in Sociology
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books in Sociology

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

New Books in Political Science
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books in Political Science

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

New Books in Critical Theory
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books in Critical Theory

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

New Books in South Asian Studies
Asim Sajjad Akhter, "The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons" (Pluto Press, 2022)

New Books in South Asian Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2022 36:32


The collapse of neoliberal hegemony in the western world following the financial crash of 2007-8 and subsequent rise of right-wing authoritarian personalities has been described as a crisis of 'the political' in western societies. But the crisis must be seen as global, rather than focusing on the west alone. Pakistan is experiencing rapid financialisation and rapacious capture of natural resources, overseen by the country's military establishment and state bureaucracy. Under their watch, trading and manufacturing interests, property developers and a plethora of mafias have monopolised the provision of basic needs like housing, water and food, whilst also feeding conspicuous consumption by a captive middle-class. In The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons (Pluto Press, 2022), Aasim Sajjad Akhtar explores neoliberal Pakistan, looking at digital technology in enhancing mass surveillance, commodification, and atomisation, as well as resistance to the state and capital. Presenting a new interpretation of our global political-economic moment, he argues for an emancipatory political horizon embodied by the 'classless' subject. Iqra Shagufta Cheema teaches and writes in the areas of postmodernist postcolonial literatures, transnational feminisms, gender and sexuality studies, and film studies. They can be reached via email at IqraSCheema@gmail.com or Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

This Is Hell!
TIH2022 05 31 Aasim

This Is Hell!

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2022 85:19


Political scholar Aasim Sajjad Akhtar talks to Chuck about his Catlyst Journal article "Breaking Afghanistan." We also have a new Rotten History, and your weekly Hangover Cure. https://catalyst-journal.com/2022/03/breaking-afghanistan

political hangover cure aasim sajjad akhtar
Jamhoor Radio
S1E3.b: Aasim Sajjad Akhtar on Building a Political Society & Social Movements in Pakistan

Jamhoor Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2020 23:27 Transcription Available


In the second part of our interview with Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, we discuss the Left's response to religious extremism and the climate crisis, as well as the role of national and social movements. In doing so, Aasim speaks to the role of class consciousness, the importance of both movements as well as organizations, and the longer-term project of building a political society.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)

Jamhoor Radio
S1E3.a: Aasim Sajjad Akhtar on the evolution of Leftist thought in Pakistan

Jamhoor Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2020 28:41 Transcription Available


In our third episode, we interview Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, a Leftist politician, academic and columnist based in Pakistan, who has served as the president of the Awami Workers Party's Punjab Executive Committee. In the first part of our interview, Aasim speaks about how Pakistani Left's approach has evolved over the years, especially in breaking away from a political imagination rooted in the Cold War. He also discusses the role of the military and imperialism.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)

Puliyabaazi Hindi Podcast
Ep. 44: दास्ताँ-ए-बलोचिस्तान

Puliyabaazi Hindi Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 21, 2019 64:12


बलोचिस्तान आजकल भारत में एक बहुचर्चित विषय हो गया है | प्रधानमंत्री मोदी ने तीन साल पहले अपने स्वतंत्रता दिवस भाषण में इसका उल्लेख किया | इससे पहले पाकिस्तान ने भारत के एक नागरिक कुलभूषण जाधव को ईरान से कब्ज़े में ले लिया और आरोप लगाया कि भारत की ख़ुफ़िया एजेंसी R&AW बलोचिस्तान में आतंकवादी गतिविधियों को बढ़ावा दे रही है | तो इस बार की पुलियाबाज़ी बलोचिस्तान पर तिलक देवाशर के साथ | देवाशर जी Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum के लेखक है और पाकिस्तान मामलों पर पिछले चार दशकों से काम कर रहे है | उनसे हमने चर्चा की इन सवालों पर: बलोचिस्तान के बारे में सबसे पहले तो यह समझना ज़रूरी है कि आज यह तीन देशों में विभाजित है - यह कैसे हुआ? रही बात सिर्फ़ पाकिस्तानी बलोचिस्तान की तो उसमें भी कई भाषायें, कई जनजातियाँ, कई धर्म है | इसकी क्या कहानी है? क्या इन जनजातियों की भिन्नता के बीच “बलोच एक क़ौम” की भावना आज कमज़ोर हुई है या पहले से और मज़बूत? आज़ादी के वक़्त कलात रियासत का अंग्रेज़ों के साथ क्या arrangement था? ११ अगस्त को कलात किस तरह आज़ाद हुआ और फिर पाकिस्तान का हिस्सा बन गया? पाकिस्तानी बलोचिस्तान की पाकिस्तानी राष्ट्र से आज की तारीख़ में क्या शिकायत है? बलोचिस्तान में पाँचवी बग़ावत चल रही है। हर नयी बग़ावत पिछली बग़ावत से ज़्यादा व्यापक और प्रभावशाली रही है। ऐसा क्यों? आज एक बड़ा मामला है गुमशुदगी का - कई बलोच कार्यकर्ता गुमशुदा हो जाते है एकाएक। यह मानवाधिकार उल्लंघन कैसे और क्यों लगातार जारी है? बलोचिस्तान और कश्मीर में चल रही insurgency में क्या मूलभूत समानताएँ है और क्या मूलभूत फ़र्क़ है? पाकिस्तान की तरफ़ से हमेशा कहा जाता है कि भारत बलोचिस्तान में अस्थिरता का एक बड़ा कारण है। इसमें कितनी सच्चाई है? In this week’s episode, we discuss the political history, present, and future of Balochistan. The Baloch people are spread across three modern nation-states - a handiwork of the British rule. In two of them - Iran and Pakistan - they are an oppressed minority. Pakistani Balochistan itself occupies 44 per cent of Pakistan’s area but accounts for less than 5 per cent of its population. Politically, the idea of the Baloch nation has been at loggerheads with the idea of Pakistan even before the latter’s independence. That struggle continues to this day. What are the roots of this insurgency and what is its likely future? Tilak Devasher, a former R&AW senior official and author of Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum joins us in this Puliyabaazi to uncover the politics of Balochistan and its troublesome relationship with the Pakistani State. Reading List: Pakistan: The Balochistan Conundrum, Tilak Devasher A slice of south India in Balochistan, Karthik Venkatesh, Livemint Pakistan: Courting the Abyss, Tilak Devasher Balochistan versus Pakistan, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, EPW Puliyabaazi is on these platforms: Twitter: https://twitter.com/puliyabaazi Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/puliyabaazi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puliyabaazi/ Subscribe & listen to the podcast on iTunes , Google Podcasts , Castbox , AudioBoom  or any other podcast app.

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer
JMD on NBN: Aasim Sajjad Akhtar's The Politics of Common Sense

The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2018 56:19


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate

Exchanges: A Cambridge UP Podcast
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, "The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

Exchanges: A Cambridge UP Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 59:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar's The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan(Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar's book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right's appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar's contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar's book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise.

New Books in South Asian Studies
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, "The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

New Books in South Asian Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 59:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan(Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar’s book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right’s appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar’s contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar’s book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books Network
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, “The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan” (Cambridge UP, 2018)

New Books Network

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 58:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar’s book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right’s appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar’s contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar’s book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books in Islamic Studies
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, "The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

New Books in Islamic Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 59:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan(Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar’s book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right’s appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar’s contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar’s book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books in Middle Eastern Studies
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, "The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

New Books in Middle Eastern Studies

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 59:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan(Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar’s book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right’s appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar’s contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar’s book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Books in Political Science
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, “The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan” (Cambridge UP, 2018)

New Books in Political Science

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2018 58:04


Aasim Sajjad Akhtar’s The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2018) is an incisive study of continuity as well as change in Pakistan that has moved the country towards religious conservatism and increased authoritarianism. Akhtar, a political scientist and self-confessed left-wing activist, documents the development of political power in Pakistan that with the military dictatorship in the 1980s of General Zia ul-Haq ended an era of more liberal and left-wing politics and put the country on a path of right-wing religious ultra-conservatism from which it has yet to deviate. In tracking that development, Akhtar’s book makes a significant contribution by focussing not only on its ideological but also its economic aspects as well as the religious right’s appeal to urban shopkeepers and traders. He projects the religious right as a vehicle for subordinate classes to access the state and claim a stake in status quo politics. Akhtar’s contribution with this book is also his analysis of the waning of counter-hegemonic and transformative politics in Pakistan. Akhtar notes that the perceived benefits of carving out a stake in a patronage-based system far outstrip the cost and risk of efforts to transform the system. It is that cost-benefit analysis that has given Pakistan politics resilience and undergird a system in which religion is the ultimate source of legitimacy at the expense of any opposition to class and state power. In looking at how subordinate classes cope through the politics of common sense, Akhtar’s book represents a significant and innovative addition to the study not only of Pakistan but of an era in which religious, nationalist and populist forces are on the rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices