The Ideological Subject Formation and Positioning of Pakhtun
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CONTESTING SUBJECTIVITIES, NEGOTIATING AGENCY, AND RE-DEFINING BOUNDARIES: THE IDEOLOGICAL SUBJECT FORMATION AND POSITIONING OF PAKHTUN WOMEN By Anoosh Wisal Khan Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Anthropology Chair: William L. Leap, Ph.D. Nasir Jamal Khattak, Ph.D. Randa Serhan, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Date 2012 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 © COPYRIGHT by Anoosh Wisal Khan 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED For My Amma: a Kashmiri woman who bore two Pakhtun daughters and My Baba: the Pakhtun man who was the driving force behind his daughters CONTESTING SUBJECTIVITIES, NEGOTIATING AGENCY, AND RE-DEFINING BOUNDARIES: THE IDEOLOGICAL SUBJECT FORMATION AND POSITIONING OF PAKHTUN WOMEN BY Anoosh Wisal Khan ABSTRACT Pakhtun society is patriarchal. It is patriarchal in the sense that men are the tribal and familial heads; the decision-makers; and occupy sociocultural positions of power. This project explores how subject-positions of Pakhtun women are ideologically shaped within those patriarchal structures. Are they limited with reference to men’s subject-positions as fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, and tribal heads? Or is there space for: 1) an autonomous sense of “woman’s” subject formation and position and 2) each woman’s sense of herself as an individual? In other words, in this project I consider how the Ideological State Apparatuses (Althusser 1971) and the processes of recognition (Pêcheux 1982) situate Pakhtun women and how women’s ensuing subject-positions are contested. Thus what I really explore is how Pakhtun women occupy subject-positions through which they come to be defined as individuals with their own rights and voice(s) rather than recognized as referent-subjects with respect to men’s subjectivities only. In order to find answers this dissertation examines the notions of citizenship and belonging in order to explicate who is accepted as an authentic group member in the Pakhtun society amidst global influences. It further explores the influence Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) like: family, education, media, law, religion, and culture have on the subject formation of Pakhtun women (and younger men); their subject-positions; the consequent subjectivities various ISAs create; and finally the way Pakhtun women contest and negotiate these subject-positions. ii The ways by which Pakhtun women contest and negotiate their subject-positions and hence achieve some level of agency demonstrates that agency cannot have fixed meanings; it has to be understood with reference to the historical, material, and cultural nuances of a society. This dissertation concludes that the main subject-positions which have helped in the sociocultural progression and agency propagation of Pakhtun women include the “locally- globally aware”; the “mobile”; and the “educated” subject. The analysis of my data shows that achieving and sustaining agency will be further guaranteed if Pakhtun women continue to think critically; stop accepting cultural, social, and political proxy subject-positions; and determinedly lead their lives progressively. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am thankful to all my professors, family members, and friends who gave me the academic and moral support to retain the strength, patience, and sanity through writing this dissertation. I thank my advisor, Professor William Leap, who had tremendous faith in me. He not only helped me understand what Anthropological inquiry is, he made me fall in love with Linguistic Anthropology! I owe thanks to the members of my dissertation committee, Professor Nasir Jamal Khattak, who helped me from across the other side of the globe. He never lost his patience with me. I yet have to experience another teacher who could put up with the academic tantrums I threw every now and then. And Professor Randa Serhan, for her comments and support. I am grateful to Professor Dan Sayers for helping me through my second and third comprehensive examinations; Professor Debarati Sen (Kennesaw State University) for her insightful comments on my dissertation proposal defense which actually helped me write a complete chapter in this dissertation; and Professor Dolores Koenig for her guidance with writing during the Dissertation Seminars. I also want to thank Stacy Terrell and Jennifer Miranda for being there to help me with all the administrative requirements. I am also thankful to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for fully funding my stay at American University, Washington D.C. and to Susan Fickling at the International Institute of Education (IIE), Washington, D.C. for further funding facilitation. I am particularly thankful to Professor Hadar Harris, Executive Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Washington College of Law, American University. She was always there for me personally, academically, and administratively. I successfully completed this dissertation with ease and peace of mind due to her. I also want to thank Amelia Parker, Kate Fenner, Melissa Del Aguila, and Angie McCarthy who through various ways ensured I remained functional and reach my goal. I am also grateful to Mr. Nobel Campbell, for his assistance with iv making photocopies. To all those people at the Center for Human Rights and Washington College of Law, American University whom I never got a chance to know but they were busy working behind the scene so I could get this dissertation done. To the University of Peshawar (UoP) for granting me leave of absence for working toward Ph.D. at American University. To Mr. Anwar Saeed Khan, Institute of Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, UoP, for providing copies of the 1998 District Census Reports for Karak, Charsadda, and Peshawar. I am greatly indebted to my mentor, teacher, and friend Rubina Khilji who introduced me to the field of Gender Studies. I am also grateful to my friends in Peshawar especially Sadia Khalil, who used all possible forms of electronic media to keep in regular contact with me. I owe my gratitude to my friends, Dr. Fakhra Aziz, Humaira Tehseen, Ghazala Saleem, and Nadia Gul who helped me to fare through my academic thick and thin. I want to express my thanks to Dr. Harjant Gill, Faizullah Jan, Taimur Salam Khan, Rafael Lainez, Tamara Mihailović, Deborah Murphy, Mahri Irvine, and Madeline Konz at American University for their support and company. And most of all to Karen Lindsey I owe my gratitude for always being there when and how-so-ever I needed her during my stay at AU. I am thankful to all my respondents in Karak, Charsadda, and Peshawar. This project would not have been possible without their cooperation. I am especially indebted to Mr. Zafar Jamal and his family in Karak who tremendously facilitated me during my fieldwork there. Most of all, I am thankful to my Amma (mother), Nahid Wisal Khan, who provided me with continuous support and encouragement and called me every single day, from Pakistan, ever since I joined the program in 2008. I am also tremendously thankful to my sister, Dr. Ayesha Wisal Khan, who ensured everything and everyone was well at home so that I could peacefully and successfully achieve what I had been working for so hard. I am also thankful to my Dolly v Khala and cousin Arbab Shafiq Akhtar for their moral and emotional support. In the U.S., I want to thank my brother (in-law) Farid Khan, my uncles and aunts Farsad Baqir and Parveen Khan, Javed and Farida Shaikh, and most of all Syma and Baber Kamal, who always made me feel home away from home. Thank you all! vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…… ............................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ xii LIST OF MAPS. .......................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 PAKHTUN MEN ARE “TALIBANS” AND THE WOMEN “WEAR BURQAS”: PROBLEM STATEMENT, FIELD METHODOLOGY, AND “UNVEILING” STEREOTYPES ................................................................. 1 Problem Statement and Purpose of Dissertation ..................................................... 3 Historical Background ............................................................................................ 5 Field Sites................................................................................................................ 8 Field Sites: The Official Perception ...................................................................... 10 Field Sites and Fieldwork: The Personal Experience ........................................... 15 Methodology: Methods and Data Analysis........................................................... 22 Data Collection, Sample Size and Characteristics ................................................ 22 Framework and Procedures for Data Analysis ..................................................... 25 The Researcher vs. the Native .............................................................................. 26 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 28 Limitations of this Study ......................................................................................