I have just published my new book – Education, Inclusion, Pluralism and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of the Cultural Politics of Postcolonial Pakistan – with Brill.

 

This book offers a compelling analysis of education’s promise to achieve inclusive, pluralistic and sustainable societies. These globally shared challenges are examined through a detailed analysis of the cultural politics of education in postcolonial Pakistan. The analysis provides a window into the ways that the intergenerational traumas of colonialism, neocolonialism, globalisation and forms of extremism continue to present significant challenges for postcolonial Pakistan.

I was born and raised in Pakistan, and my experiences, schooling, and subsequent reflections on the multifaceted instabilities in postcolonial Pakistan shape my approaches to these global issues. I am convinced that pluralism, characterised by respectful engagement and openness towards diversity, offers pathways towards inclusive citizenship. However, pluralism is not promoted in academic discussions and government policies in Pakistan. None of the Pakistani educational policy documents or textbooks I studied employ the term pluralism.

Drawing on postcolonial theories and curriculum theory, I develop a critical discourse analysis of the cultural politics that shapes education in Pakistan. The analysis identifies key elements of this cultural politics such as religious and cultural dynamics, geopolitical challenges, the need to promote unity and cohesion, employing history for nation-building, and gender relations.

An important issue in the discourse on inclusion and pluralism in Pakistan is the status and role of women. One of the chapters in this book is on the presentation of gender relations in Pakistani textbooks. I argue that these textbooks reproduce neo-patriarchal gender relations. One dimension of such relations is men speaking for women and men representing women. This dynamic is evident in my own discussion on gender, which involves a man speaking for women. Additionally, I am mindful of the temptation to replace the official truth that I seek to make problematic with a version of my truth.

These concerns remain part of the ongoing struggle to think critically and reflexively about the relationships between power/knowledge and subjects, which are central to the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) I seek to develop.