A01=Rasul Bakhsh Rais
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Asian studies
Author_Rasul Bakhsh Rais
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=GTB
Category=GTM
Category=HBJF
Category=HRH
Category=JP
Category=NHF
Category=QRP
Civil society
Constitutionalism
COP=United States
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Democracy
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Islam
Islamic radicalism
Islamic revivalism
Language_English
Military regime
Modernism
Muslim nationalism
Nation building
PA=Available
Pakistan
Political Islam
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
softlaunch
Product details
- ISBN 9781498553971
- Weight: 354g
- Dimensions: 150 x 221mm
- Publication Date: 13 Sep 2019
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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Imagining Pakistan argues that the creation of Pakistan is a result of Muslim modernism in the Subcontinent, as it defined the struggle for identity, nationalism, and empowerment of Muslim communities. This modernist movement represented the ideals of inclusivity, equal rights, a liberal constitutional framework, and a shared sense of political community among diverse ethnic and regional groups. However, while this modernity was the ideal of Pakistan’s founders, it faced resistance from Islamists obsessed with recovering a past legacy of lost Muslim glory. A major threat to political modernism also came from the military that wanted to create a strong and secure Pakistan through ‘controlled’ democracy. Multiple interventions by the military and deviations from the foundational republican ideas left Pakistan in the rough sea of power struggles, causing institutional decay and creating space for the rise of radical Islam. Imagining Pakistan analyzes the institutional imbalance between the military and the civilian groups, the idea of the security state, and the Islamist social forces and movements that have been engaged in the politics of Islamic revival. It argues that Pakistan’s stability, security and progress will depend on pursuing the path of political modernity. Although the restoration of parliamentary democracy and the resilience of the Pakistani society are hopeful signs, resolving the critical issues that Pakistan faces today will require consolidation of democracy, better leadership, and a moderate and modernist vision of both, the state and the society.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais is professor of political science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
