Lexington Books Imagining Pakistan: Modernism, State, and the Politics of Islamic Revival

Imagining Pakistan argues that the creation of Pakistan is a result of Muslim modernism in the Subcontinent, as it defined the struggle for identity, nationalism, and empowerment of Muslim communities. This modernist movement represented the ideals of inclusivity, equal rights, a liberal constitutional framework, and a shared sense of political community among diverse ethnic and regional groups. However, while this modernity was the ideal of Pakistan's founders, it faced resistance from Islamists obsessed with recovering a past legacy of lost Muslim glory. A major threat to political modernism also came from the military that wanted to create a strong and secure Pakistan through 'controlled' democracy. Multiple interventions by the military and deviations from the foundational republican ideas left Pakistan in the rough sea of power struggles, causing institutional decay and creating space for the rise of radical Islam. Imagining Pakistan analyzes the institutional imbalance between the military and the civilian groups, the idea of the security state, and the Islamist social forces and movements that have been engaged in the politics of Islamic revival. It argues that Pakistan's stability, security and progress will depend on pursuing the path of political modernity. Although the restoration of parliamentary democracy and the resilience of the Pakistani society are hopeful signs, resolving the critical issues that Pakistan faces today will require consolidation of democracy, better leadership, and a moderate and modernist vision of both, the state and the society. Review Rais (Lahore Univ. of Management Sciences, Pakistan) provides expert insight into the current problems and challenges facing Pakistan, and how to address them. He argues that long periods of military rule, dynastic political parties, and extremist Islamist groups have been responsible for the country's deviation from its founding fathers' vision of a progressive, constitutional, pluralistic, and modern democracy, compatible with the values of Islam. Despite the weakness of state institutions, poor governance, political violence, corruption, and ethnic and religious polarization, the author believes there is hope for a better future. However, nothing short of a comprehensive national reform agenda is needed to bring about change. The strength of the work is reflected in the author's highlighting of the struggle between the forces of modernism, represented by a growing middle-class, robust civil society, and independent print and broadcast media, and the forces of traditionalism, represented by feudal oligarchism, praetorianism, and religious extremism. The results of this struggle will ultimately determine whether Pakistan will return to the values cherished by the country's founders. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.--CHOICE For a careful diagnosis of what has gone wrong with Pakistan, this is the book to read. With clarity and insight, Rasul Bakhsh Rais reveals how its ills can be largely traced to the state's having strayed far from realizing its founding democratic ideals. Yet he also offers a hopeful prognosis in envisioning how the country could reclaim its liberal, progressive inheritance. Similarly, while describing how radical Islamic elements have seriously challenged Pakistan's modernization and Western political ideas of constitutionalism, Rais finds hope that through domestic reform and courageous and wise national leadership, a more pluralistic and tolerant Islam in a healthier Pakistan can emerge.--Marvin Weinbaum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Here, at last, is a solidly researched study about Pakistan that does not blame its Indian neighbor for the country's ills, that does not consider the Islamic faith of its people an implacable obstacle to modernity, and that finds plentiful signs that the country's democratic institutions, in spite of the battering t