This book brings together the leading contemporary currents of thought from a galaxy of established scholars and intellectuals of Pakistan. It is a monumental contribution to the national debate on a series of crises and lingering issues that need attention of the stakeholders all around.  

The book covers three major areas of investigation into public life in the country. One, it delves into the historical, sociological and cultural causes of various political conflicts, ranging from the negative role of the educational curricula for national harmony to cultural violence and persistent militarism to the curse of enforced disappearances. There are highly analytical contributions that define the conflict-resolution nexus. Two, the book is a source of inspiration on the liberal agenda of creating a scientific frame of mind, setting the feminist debate in a global context, challenging the shrinking space for media and focussing on the largely forgotten area of industrial relations. Readers will find ample issue orientation in the analysis and policy orientation in the deliberations. Three, the book enters a domain of hope, planning for a bright future and focussing on some longer-term issues couched in comprehensive new approaches to development, environment, energy, foreign policy and feminism.

The scope of the book is amazingly wide, the analysis is rich with conceptual references and empirical finding, and the scholarly idiom is comprehensible for both the articulate section of the population and the scholarly community. 

Bilal Zahoor is the founder and editorial director of Folio Books, a Lahore-based independent publishing house.

Raza Rumi is a policy analyst, journalist and author, and is currently the editor-in-chief of NayaDaur Media.

Acknowledgements; Contributors; Introduction, Pakistan: Towards New Beginnings, Bilal Zahoor; Part I – Identity, Religion and Radicalisation; 1. Refuting the Radicals, Tariq Rahman; 2. Unpacking the Myth of Barelvi Eclecticism: A Historical Appraisal, Tahir Kamran; 3. The Conflicted Self: The Existential Battle between being Muslim and Islamic in Pakistan, Nadeem Farooq Paracha; 4. Can Pakistan Have a De-radicalized Future?, Raheem ul Haque; 5. From Figure of Speech to Fists of Fury: Unchecked Incitements to Violence, Muhammad Abrahim Zaka & Fasi Zaka; 6. Curriculum and the Constitution, Rubina Saigol; Part II – Development, Reform and Governance; 7. Labour Policy and Industrial Relations in Pakistan: A Critical Evaluation, Charles Amjad-Ali and Karamat Ali; 8. Land Reforms: Key to Social Justice and Progress, I.A. Rehman; 9. Pakistan: Charting a New Course to Development, Akmal Hussain; 10. Pakistan’s Fundamental Water Governance Challenges – And How to Overcome Them, Erum Sattar; 11. Is there a Silver Bullet to Pakistan’s Energy Crises?, Naveed Arshad and Fiaz Chaudhry; 12. Pakistan’s Climate Agenda, Tariq Banuri; 13. Bringing Science to Life in Pakistan, Pervez Hoodbhoy; Part III –  Rights, Repression and Resistance; 14. Rescuing the White in the Flag, Zohra Yusuf; 15. Crisis of Impunity: Enforced Disappearances in Pakistan, Reema Omer; 16. Of Kings, Queens and Pawns: Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan, Ayesha Siddiqa; 17. Future of Media Freedom, Umar Cheema; 18. Understanding the Balochistan Conundrum, Rafiullah Kakar; Part IV – Sex, Gender and Emancipation; 19. Sex and Secularism as Resistance Politics, Afiya Shehrbano Zia; 20. In Search of a Pakistani Feminist Discourse, Bina Shah; Part V – Conflict, Diplomacy and Foreign Policy; 21.  Peace Must Win, Raza Rumi; 22. Foreign Policy Begins (and Ends) at Home; Muhammad Ismail Khan; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Addressing the major social, economic and political issues facing Pakistan in a series of bracing arguments, this volume will be of interest to policymakers as much as to scholars and members of the reading public. It brings together in one place the most concise exposition and analysis of questions that all Pakistanis will have to grapple with over the next decade, and offers the reader clear options as to how they might be understood and addressed. — Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History, University of Oxford

Book review published in Asian Studies Review