مقالے کی معلومات
جلد
شمارہ
مقالے کی قسم
زبان
تلخیص
This paper explores varied perceptions of being modern in Pakistan. Based on ethnographic
fieldwork in Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan, this study
investigates the understanding of the concept of modernity in Pakistan and its close connection
with westernization. The informants of my research show an aversion towards modernity based on
western patterns and labelled it as misinterpreted modernity. Misinterpreted modernity refers to
the westernized model of modernity adapted by many people in Pakistan. A few important
markers of misinterpreted modernity, suggested by the informants, include adopting western dress,
using the latest technological gadgets, buying food from international fast-food chains like
McDonald‟s and Burger King, and speaking in English. Most of the people in Pakistan qualify as
modern based on these markers. In this study, I propose that modernity in Pakistan is
misinterpreted because as a postcolonial nation the institutions have been established in Pakistan
whereas the critical engagement required for the development of these institutions is lacking. The
informants, however, reflect on these processes and stress that “our modernity” should emerge
from our own cultural roots. Drawing on Eisenstadt theory of multiple modernities and empirical
findings of my research, this paper suggests an alternative form of modernity, perhaps a Pakistani
modernity.
Tayyaba Batool Tahir. (2019) Modernity Misinterpreted in Pakistan, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume 56, Issue 2.
-
Views
508 -
Downloads
61