Going beyond the headlines on April 13, 2019The reason one generally prefers to write articles on social science issues, since the focus on current affairs, headlines, and tickers makes us to miss the broader picture. A lot of commentary is focused on “he said/she said” and just a narrow focus on current happenings, without seeing the same in the larger context. Recently, […]
Judicial reforms on April 3, 2019Brining about reforms in a challenging task in any country in the world. Pakistan has struggled to bring out judicial reforms just like other developing countries. Provision of accessible, fair and reliable justice system is a basic right of citizens. Therefore, it is important to have a look at issues confronting judicial reforms. Other than […]
Education issues on March 26, 2019It is time to visit the status of education, particularly since the 18th amendment has made it the state’s responsibility to provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 5-16 years. We review some literature (National Education Policy Framework 2018, ASER 2019, World Bank 2013, IGC Pakistan 2010, I-SAPS, Naviwala 2016) […]
Discourse on Imperialism on March 21, 2019There was an earlier discussion on the role of finance capital in the context of industrialisation in Pakistan. We considered it worthwhile to revisit the finance capital in the larger discourse on imperialism by referring to some literature (Gronow 2016, Lorimer Resistance Books 1999, www.massline.org) in this article. Lenin by building up on Marx’s work […]
The Need for Industrial Policy on March 16, 2019There is plenty of discourse on economic issues these days. One aspect that needs attention is the revival of industry in Pakistan. The common perception is that Pakistan has somehow missed the bus in this regard. However, there is no way to transform economic development unless there is industrialisation. We refer to some literature (Sayeed […]
Women’s labour force participation on March 12, 2019According to the World Bank statistics, labour force participation for women over the age of 15 in Pakistan was only 25.12 percent in 2018. As an urban woman, I am aware of some challenges that urban women face when they enter the labour force; there are also many trials for rural women. It is worth […]
IMF bailout and structural reforms in Pakistan on February 15, 2019It seems Pakistan’s talks with the IMF are back on track again. There is no conclusive end in sight, yet there has been some contact by the both sides again. It seems PTI government wants to get another bailout package from the IMF, yet they do not want too harsh conditions to be imposed, particularly […]
Need to get out of ‘low-skills trap’ on January 28, 2019When I was doing research on the textiles sector in Pakistan more than a decade ago, lack of adequately skilled labour and low human capital came up again and again. I developed an interest in skills development since then and it is worthwhile to explore this issue again. In addition to low skills, there is […]
Authoritarianism and Fascism in India and Bangladesh on January 10, 2019Iconic feminist poet, writer and translator, Fehmida Riaz’s famous poem on how India has just turned out like Pakistan is becoming even more relevant as the time passes. The recent Hindutva attacks on award-winning actor Naseer ud din Shah are a testimony to it. Generally, being a Pakistani; one tends to focus on one’s own […]
Need of dynamism in cultural institutions on December 31, 2018“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form (Heart Sutra, ancient Buddhist text). There is need to transcend doing “art for art’s sake”. In our cultural institutions landscape, “form” of culture is there, the “spirit” often missing. It does not take too much ingenuity to transform our cultural institutions into dynamic lived places that speak the language […]