1st Edition
Re-Interrogating Civil Society in South Asia Critical Perspectives from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Preface and Acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Dissemination of Civil Society in South Asia: Introductory Considerations
Peter B. Andersen, Rubya Mehdi, Amit Prakash and Yasir Sharif
Part I: Multifaceted and Local Civil Societies in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
Chapter 2: Building Civil Society in Colonial India during the Long Nineteenth Century
James Jaffe
Chapter 3: Civil Society in India: What Is It and Where Is It Going?
Sumona DasGupta
Chapter 4: Clearing Misconceptions about Civil Society in Pakistan
Shafqat Munir Ahmad
Chapter 5: Civil Society, Human Rights and Political Antagonism in Bangladesh
Morten Koch Andersen
Part II: Civil Society’s Multiple Hues and Roles
Chapter 6: Thieves and Khoji’s in a Non-State, Collectivist System of Justice under Transformation: An Example from a Village of Southern Punjab, Pakistan
Rubya Mehdi
Chapter 7: Dilemmas Facing Civil Society Institutions in Pakistan: A Case for Organized Labour
Charles W. Amjad-Ali and Karamat Ali
Chapter 8: Bureaucratic Empowerment as a Tool for Reproduction of Inequalities
Anna Romanowicz
Chapter 9: Entertaining the Possibility of Society’s Radical Transformation: A Personal View of Women Front (1974–1976)
Fauzia Rafique
Chapter 10: The Women’s Action Forum, Pakistan: Ideology and Functioning
Rubina Saigol
Chapter 11: Madrasas and Religious Maslaks as a Case of Skewed Civil Society in Pakistan
Yasir Sharif and Peter B. Andersen
Chapter 12: Striving for Space in Pakistan under COVID-19
Sohail Akbar Warraich
Part III: Civil Mobilization among Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities
Chapter 13: The Organization of the Writers’ Community as a Linguistic Minority: The Santal Tribe
Peter B. Andersen, Kumkum Bhattacharya, Ranjit K. Bhattacharya and Boro Baski
Chapter 14: Imagining Santal Rationality as Empowerment
Marine Carrin
Chapter 15: Santals: Language, Lyricism, Emotions and Identity
Kumkum Bhattacharya and Ranjit K. Bhattacharya
Index
Biography
Peter B. Andersen is Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rubya Mehdi is Senior Researcher at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and has been Visiting Professor at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
Amit Prakash is Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
‘Coming at a critical time when civil society in South Asia is facing multi-faceted challenges, this anthology is useful in many respects. While tracing the past milestones and analyzing the present malaise, this brilliantly conceived and executed volume provides insights into what possibly could be done to keep the role of civil society intact and ensure its relevance in future.’
Syed Jaffar Ahmed, Institute of Historical and Social Research, Karachi, Pakistan
‘As the world in general and South Asia in particular descend into deeper political and social turmoil, questions pertaining to the complexity, the real and perceived roles, and the multiple dimensions of what has come to be known as Civil Society take on heightened significance. This book is a very timely and perceptive study of this vibrant phenomenon as it has come to distinctively evolve in South Asia. From its western philosophical roots and constructs as well as its colonial antecedents, the authors astutely analyze the fascinating development of Civil Society into something organic, multifarious, contested, persecuted, defiant and emancipatory.’
Osama Siddique, Author of Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien Justice (2013)
‘This edited volume is an example of uniformly excellent scholarship, adopts a varied set of approaches to dissect the nature and impact of civil society in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Its thorough coverage of various types of civil society by well-established experts is a must-read for scholars and students with an interest in civil society studies in South Asia.’
Ashok Swain, Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden
