Author Description

There have not been many studies conducted focusing on women's issues in this region specifically. The essays by various contributors in this book make for a very interesting read for the general reader as well as scholars as it gives a variety of different looks at women in performing arts and the politics around them. The book will be a useful resource for libraries as well. Tehrik-e-Niswan, founded in 1979 by Sheema Kermani, strives to empower women in Pakistan and improve their lot through the use of drama and the performing arts. The Tehrik held a Conference in Karachi in December 2010, aimed at rethinking issues of gender, performance, and politics in South Asia. The present volume is the outcome of the Conference and is based on papers presented by scholars therein. In Pakistan today, the scholarly challenge exists to represent the multiple layers of Pakistan's history in order to bring the country out of the security studies/Islamic threat model that has become the paradigm within which Pakistan Studies are constantly placed.