Re-Interrogating Civil Society in South Asia: Critical Perspectives from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh

Cover
Half Title
Endorsement Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Contributors
Preface and acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Dissemination of civil society in South Asia: Introductory considerations
	The concept of civil society in South Asia
	Recent changes in civil society
	The South Asian setting
	New threads in the role of civil society in South Asia
		India
		Pakistan
		Bangladesh
		Covid-19 and religion 2
	Contents
	Notes
	References
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
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 3: Civil society in India: What is it and where is it going?
		Civil society: definitional conundrums
		Evolution of civil society in India
			Social movements
			Civil society organizations/non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
		Civil society in India: recent trends in the NGO sector
		Shrinking spaces? Challenges before Indian civil society
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 4: Clearing misconceptions about civil society in Pakistan
		Civil society in Pakistan
			Introduction of civil society in perspective
			Historical background
			Existing laws for registration of NGOs
			The state of NGOs/civil society organizations 1956–2013
			The state of NGOs/INGOs/civil society during the PML-N (2013–2018) and PTI (2018–) governments
			Civil society on social media
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
		Interviews
	Chapter 5: Civil society, human rights and political antagonism in Bangladesh
		The state and NGOs: a perspective
		The wider political terrain
		The landscape of NGOs: the horizons of delivery
		Human rights organizations: the ‘radical ‘reformers
		Laws and politics
		The consequences of dissent
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
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
		Systems of justice: relational collectivism and individualism
			Relational collectivism
			Individualism
			Interaction between individual and relational-collective systems of justice, parallel use of plural systems
		Thieves and khoji s: empirical data
			Background: thieves and their image
			Learning the trade
			Housebreakers, grain thieves and cattle rustlers
			Cattle rustling, individualism and relational collectivism
			Khojis: trackers of thieves
			Difference between experienced and inexperienced thieves
			How the khoji art is learnt
			Women as chors and khojis
		Changing scenario of the villages
			Introduction to overall changes
			Changes in panchayats
			Challenges for khojis and chors
		Concluding comments
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 7: Dilemmas facing civil society institutions in Pakistan: A case for organized labour
		The paradigm of the labour movement
		Historical ideological context
		Labour policies under different regimes
			Future trajectories of labour policies and implementing laws
		Concluding remarks and challenges
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 8: Bureaucratic empowerment as a tool for reproduction of inequalities
		Bureaucratized empowerment in practice
		How did we get there? Consequences of economic liberalization
		Class matters
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 9: Entertaining the possibility of society’s radical transformation : A personal view of Women Front (1974–1976)
		The history
			Published materials
			Backdrop
			Situating the ‘us’
			Why WF?
		Ideology
		Action
			Student wing
			Factory work
			Children’s literacy school
			Flood relief
			Newsletter
			Cultural events
			Co-operation with other groups
		Quirks
		Where did it go?
		Impact
		Untitled
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 10: The Women’s Action Forum, Pakistan: Ideology and functioning
		I – Ideological choices
			Democracy versus dictatorship
			Secular and inclusive state versus a state defined by religion
		II – Principles of functioning
			Non-hierarchical functioning and democratic inclusion
			Non-partisan/non-political affiliation
			Rejection of external funding
		The future of the Women’s Action Forum: critical questions
		Postscript
		Notes
		Bibliography
	Chapter 11: Madrasas and religious maslak s as a case of skewed civil society in Pakistan
		Background
		Literature
		Political aspects of madrasas
		Maslak s in the larger context of civil society in Pakistan
		Ahl e-Hadith, Markaz al-Taiba in Muridke and Markaz Qadsia at Chowburji in Lahore
		Deoband
		Ja’afri Shi’a Islam
		Barelvi
		Jama’at Islami
		Other cases of collaboration and formalized networks between the maslak s
		Summary
			Perspectives for the future
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 12: Striving for space in Pakistan under COVID-19
		Part I: religious factions
		Part II: tension between the state and civil society groups
			Regulation of NGOs
			Laws and policies introduced in last two decades
			Civil society under COVID-19
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
		Archival sources
		Newspapers and weekly magazines
Part III: Civil mobilization among ethnic and linguistic minorities
	The chapters
	Note
	References
	Chapter 13: The organization of the writers’ community as a linguistic minority : The Santal tribe
		Approaches to civil society
		The Santali writers
		Examples of Santali writers as addressing a public sphere
		Associational life
		Examples of government regulation interference with the public sphere
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 14: Imagining Santal rationality as empowerment
		The development of Santal ideas about surplus and wealth
		From social critic to the idea of rationality of action
		Fieldwork evaluation 9
			Indigenous knowledge
		Contexts of experience and the emergence of a rational actor
		How do men experience innovation?
		Why social knowledge proves a failure
		Value-oriented rationality and women’s agency
		Women as ritual actors
		Consumption, redistribution and the ambiguous gift
		Women’s rights and women’s agency
		Women’s agency and literacy
		Conclusion
		Notes
		References
	Chapter 15: Santals : Language, lyricism, emotions and identity
		Santali language and a history of the creation of its script
		A brief ethnographic note on the Santals
		The spoken word and sung tunes: resonances in the heart
		Orality against the trajectory of modernity in Santal society
		Notes
		References
Index