Roma left us!

by Hussain Bux Mallah

Many ethnographers believe that a critical analysis of one’s own position in society and with respect to one’s research subjects is a good place to start work. My work at the Collective on social exclusion and marginalization spurred me to examine my own family’s narrative about its past and its position in the hierarchy of occupational and kinship groups in its surroundings.

Hamza Alavi can lead you out of crisis

by Hassan Zaib Abbasi

Hamza Alavi (1921 - 2003) Photo Credit: http://tinyurl.com/qf4b2hb

Commentators in electronic and print media churn out analysis after analysis: dissecting events, building their theses, and offering speculative explanations of political happenings. One need only catch a glimpse of a television channel and it becomes clear that Pakistan is in crisis. Not because the state faces imminent danger of collapse but because of the frequency of seemingly unexplainable events whose true meaning always remains just slightly out of grasp despite, or perhaps because of, the efforts of numerous “analysts”.

Enumerating success: designing the Benazir Income Support Programme

by Azmat Budhani

Benazir Bhutto, clipboard and pen

Copyright: Dawn archive; Source: http://bit.ly/1xpE2L3

The appointment of the energetic Marvi Memon as Chairperson has signalled a welcome revival of interest in the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) at the highest levels of government.  BISP was partly an upshot of the slogan “Benazir aaygee rozgar laaygee” (Benazir is coming, she will bring employment) in the election manifesto of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP).  The cash transfer programme was introduced in 2008 when the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) were in coalition, to help families cope with a sharp hike in food prices.  It later became a flagship social protection programme and was enacted into law with unanimous cross-party support in both houses of parliament.

Research (uptake) – so what?

by Samar Zuberi

'Come and have a BCG vaccine' poster

So what exactly is research uptake? 

Individuals and organisations conducting research in the social sciences are increasingly being called upon to ensure that there is uptake of their work. I recently spent a week with 150 professionals from across the globe discussing the concept of research uptake. I came away with the realisation that there is no accepted definition of the term and in fact disagreement over whether it should be used at all, however there is consensus amongst many that the idea behind research uptake is the right one - researchers should leave their ivory towers and demonstrate how their work positively affects society.

Rights beyond property: The Boohars of Rohi

by Natasha Ansari

Natasha Ansari/Collective for Social Science Research

While issues concerning the ownership of land have been the subject of political debate and policy dialogue, much less attention has been paid to the rights of land use which may not necessarily be connected to ownership. For many of the most marginalized communities the right to use land which they may not own is a critical element of their economic and social well-being which is under threat.  I saw this at close quarters in the Rohi region of southern Punjab which I visited as part of the Collective team conducting fieldwork for a study under the research programme Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) on women’s work in agriculture.

DNA and the Pursuit of Justice

by Ayesha Khan

The press recently reported that the Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice has approved amendments in the country’s anti-rape laws. If they are passed, DNA profiling will be admitted as crucial evidence during investigation into rape cases. Also it was proposed that medical examination in cases of rape take place only in government-run hospitals and character assassination of victims during the trial be barred.

The Taliban in FATA: Resistance Fighters or Political Entrepreneurs?

by Yasser Kureshi

Tari Sar observation post before mortar attack on Shigal Tarna garrison, Kunar, 1987 by

Erwin Franzen

Pakistani society finds itself in a moment of deep self-reflection today, as it confronts the horrors of the attack on the children at the Army Public School in Peshawar. State and society are both trying   to grapple with the reality that the people responsible for this attack emerged from within Pakistani society. The infrastructure for recruiting, training and mobilizing the militants behind this attack lies within Pakistan’s borders. The public gaze has thus fallen upon Pakistan’s tribal belt on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan where Jihadi militant organizations, such as the Taliban, have deeply entrenched themselves, driving out many of the traditional tribal leaders, and establishing autonomous principalities. Understanding how Pakistan’s tribal belt has become such a hotbed of sustained militant activity has now become a subject of national and international concern.