Complete Dissertation
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AN ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Amarah Niazi for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Applied Anthropology presented on June 12, 2012 Title: Expressions of Modernity in Rural Pakistan: Searching for Emic Perspectives. Abstract approved: _____________________________________ Sunil Khanna This dissertation examines women’s lives in a rapidly urbanizing rural community in Southern Pakistan to understand their responses to modernity in developing societies. Applying a mixed-methods approach, socio-demographic data is collected and contrasted with oral history and personal narratives to analyze social change through women’s access to education and reproductive health care in the village. The results are framed within a post-modern and post-colonial feminist anthropological discourse to reveal that Sheherpind represents a model of ‘multiple modernities’ where women’s agency and progress could only be contextualized in non-western, local cultural perspectives. Emerging trends in the village are evaluated for their ‘Applied’ significance to underscore areas of local, national and transnational policy significance. ©Copyright by Amarah Niazi June 12, 2012 All Rights Reserved Expressions of Modernity in Rural Pakistan: Searching for Emic Perspectives by Amarah Niazi A DISSERTATION Submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Presented June 12, 2012 Commencement June 2013 Doctor of Philosophy dissertation of Amarah Niazi presented on June 12, 2012. APPROVED: ________________________________________ Major Professor, representing Applied Anthropology ________________________________________ Director of School of Language, Culture & Society ________________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my dissertation will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my dissertation to any reader upon request. Amarah Niazi, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author expresses sincere appreciation for her teachers, from kindergarten to graduate school, everyone who has had faith in my intellect and ability. My heartfelt gratitude for Dr. Sunil Khanna who has been a true mentor and guide—your patience with students has made me realize mentorship makes or breaks young scholars. I appreciate my entire graduate committee for being a constant source of encouragement and support. I thank my parents who have invested in my life and future and brought me closer to this goal. Sincerest thanks for my research assistants during fieldwork, Najma, Saima and Ruskhsana, thank you for paving the way. Dr. Richard and Kathryn Ross, your generosity has enabled my research, I can only pray that I carry on your good work. Finally, my gratitude for my friend, husband and companion, I truly will be lost without you. Table of Contents Chapter Page Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Sheherpind- A Demographic Profile......................................................42 Chapter 3: Education, Behavioral Change and Empowerment ................................76 Chapter 4: Family Planning and Fertility Trends in Sheherpind............................119 Chapter 5: Glocalization and Modernity—The Sheherpind Model........................172 Chapter 6- Conclusions and Applied Anthropological Interests ............................222 List of Figures Figure Page Figure 1: Map of Sothern Punjab..............................................................................8 Figure 2: Occupational Trends................................................................................61 Figure 3: Distribution across Poverty Line..............................................................66 Figure 4: Sheherpind Population Pyramid...............................................................72 Figure 5: Statistical Analysis-Income Gap..............................................................74 Figure 6: Pursuit of Education in Three Generations...............................................85 Figure 7: Statistical Comparison-Income vs. Education ..........................................95 Figure 8: Statistical Comparison-Distance vs. Education ........................................96 Figure 9: Statistical Comparison-Transportation vs. Education...............................97 Figure 10: Ethnographic Explanation for Education..............................................115 Figure 11: Sheherpind Fertility Profile..................................................................132 List of Tables Table Page Table 1: Government of Pakistan’s 1998 Census Profile of District Mianwali ..........8 Table 2: Employment Type Comparison.................................................................61 Table 3: Occupational preference in each population set.........................................63 Table 4: Ethnographic Description of Inflation.......................................................68 Table 5: National vs. Sheherpind Development Indicators......................................70 Table 6: National vs. Sheherpind Population Trends...............................................71 Table 7: Sample Data Fertility Preferences.............................................................72 Table 8: Sheherpind Access to Media.....................................................................74 Table 9: Determinants of Women's Education ........................................................94 Table 10: Ethnographic Explanation for Fertility Change .....................................133 Table 11: Contraceptive Trends............................................................................151 Dedication I dedicate my work to my father, Atta Ullah Khan Niazi—the man whose shoulders have carried my weight through thick and thin. I have perched on these shoulders all my life and seen a world so invisible to scores of women around me. His wisdom, his kindness, his generosity and above all, his bravery is my true heritage. I hope someday, I’ll do justice to his name and do my part in building a better world. 1 Chapter 1: Introduction This dissertation is an ethnographic account of a small village in Southern Pakistan. It situates women’s lives, experiences, their perception of the changes occurring around them in order to understand the processes involved in their attainment of education and reproductive healthcare. It explores the ways in which South Asian rural women understand the notion of modernity. Furthermore, if there are emic descriptions of theoretical paradigms such as modernity or modernization, what descriptive avenues are women taking to describe that change? I argue that a demographic shift triggered by enhanced means for girls education and reproductive healthcare have created the right environment for exegesis of unwritten cultural codes even among the ultra conservative Pathan community in this village and it is that reevaluation that is enforcing a gradual ‘bargaining with patriarchy’ in women’s lives (Kandiyoti, 1988). The key questions at the heart of this research are: What processes are involved as women reach out for education and reproductive health resources? What logic and values guide their efforts? If religion combined with culture and patriarchy has substantially undermined women’s autonomy, then is the relationship quantifiably evident in the number of women seeking and attaining locally available means of education and contraceptive health? 2 These questions are specifically interesting when juxtaposed against the unique nature of social makeup and kin-structures among the Pathan people in Sheherpind. Each Pathan group such as the Niazi’s, the Orakzai, the Mohmand, the Achakzai, and others recognize themselves as a separate tribe within the larger Pathan race and each trace back their heritage to ancient Afghan kings. Some families trace their lineage all the way back to biblical times and relate to the Prophet Yusuf (known in the bible as Joseph), a claim most Pathans all over South Asia adhere to and respect (Barth, 1974). Described anthropologically, what Pathans understand as a ‘tribe’ is actually a unique descent group ‘with a common ancestor that goes beyond two generations’ (Nanda and Warms, 1991:171). Each descent group, such as the Niazi further divide themselves into clans ‘that share related patrilineal descent to a known ancestor’ (Nanda and Warms, 1991). The participants in this study identify themselves primarily as ‘Niazi’ and then more intimately as members of one of many clans residing in each village such as Abba-Khel, Sherman- Khel, Watta-Khel and others. For women in the community, their patrilineal identity plays a role in their social status only prior to marriage. Once married, women refer to their roles, status and worldviews only as related to their affinal relationships and often make choices, particularly, to fit into the political and social worldview preferred by their affinal clan. The Origins of this Research The seeds for this research were planted in 2007 when I returned to my native community after graduate studies in the US for several years. I have ethnic and 3 familial affinity with the target population as the Niazi descent group is closely knit and there is abundant intermarriage and virilocality (Nanda, 1991). Even though my immediate family settled in Islamabad (the nation’s capital) in 1980, we were raised to accept our “true” identity