1st Edition

Resistance and Control in Pakistan

By Akbar S. Ahmed Copyright 2004
    240 Pages 20 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    How can people in the West make sense of contemporary unrest in the Muslim world? Is Islamic fundamentalism to be understood purely in religious terms?

    In Resistance and Control in Pakistan, one of the world's leading authorities on Islam, Akbar S. Ahmed, illuminates what is happening in the Muslim world today and assesses the underlying causes. He does this by telling the dramatic story of the revolt of the Mullah of Waziristan in northwest Pakistan and by placing it within the context of other movements occurring elsewhere in the Islamic world. He also examines the social structure and operative principles in Muslim society and scrutinizes the influence of religion in a society that is undergoing modernization.

    Till now, there has been little available literature on this topic. This book, written by an eminent scholar with an international reputation fills this gap, giving students of politics, sociology and Asian studies a revealing examination of the Muslim world today.

    Part 1: Introduction  1. Models and Method  2. Waziristan  3. History as an Expression of Agnatic Rivalry  Part 2: Observation  4. Strategy and Conflict in Waziristan  5. Order, Ideology, and Mortality in Waziristan  6. Economic Development and Reinforcement of Ideology in Waziristan  Part 3: Participation  7. The Anthropologist as Political Agent  8. The Political Agent as Anthropologist  9. Islam and the Segmentary Societies

    Biography

    Akbar S. Ahmed is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He is now Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and Professor of International Relations at the American University in Washington, DC.

    'Akbar Ahmed is probably the world's best-known scholar on contemporary Islam.' - BBC