Pakistan Working Group
The working group cordially invites to:
Further Information
Previous Meetings
  | The Pakistan Working Group cordially invites you to the talk on „One semester at LUMS: experiences in Pakistan“ by Rebecca Hadank-Rauch.
The lecture takes place on 25 January 2018, 4:15 pm in room 316 of the South Asia Institute. Further information is available here. |
| | The Pakistan Working Group cordially invites you to the talk by Dr. Nukhbah Langah (Associate Professor, Department of English, Forman Christian College University, Lahore, Pakistan) entitled “Poetry as Resistance: Islam and Ethnicity in Postcolonial Pakistan”. The lecture takes place on June 29, 2016, 4:15 pm in room E11 of the South Asia Institute. Further information is available here. |
 | The Pakistan Working Group invites you to a lecture entitled "Gilgit-Baltistan and the recent political context" by Sajjad Ahmad (Senior Research Fellow, Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi) on 26 October 2015, 2.00 p.m. in room E11, SAI. Further information is available here. |
Panel Discussion on
A New Silk Road: The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor – A regional game changer?
Jointly organised by the South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University &
South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels, Belgium
Poster
Date & timing: 15 October 2015, 5 p.m.-7. p.m.
Venue: Room Z10, SAI
Regionalism in South Asia has entailed the search for collective efforts to overcome mostly weak, congeneric economies, political fragmentation, socio-religious cleavages and the consequent deep-rooted conflicts between state and societies. In order to enhance regional cooperation, for quite some time, the idea of Economic Corridor (EC) has become not only a trend in foreign policy strategies but also a buzzword in plans for stimulating economic growth as well as deeper integration of Asia’s sub-regions. This has especially been the case within South East Asia. In South Asia, it is a more recent phenomenon that the establishment of economic corridors has gained prominence. One of the most advanced examples is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The panel will put the CPEC in the larger context of major strategic developments led by the Chinese and parallel projects like the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC). Furthermore, the discussion will shed light on the interests, challenges, and impact of such initiatives from an economic as well as (geo-) political perspective.
Participants:
Dr. Wolfgang-Peter Zingel, Associate member, South Asia Institute;
The New Silk Road Project: China’s corridor options.
Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf, Director of Research, South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels & Associate Member, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University;
CPEC – Interests, Impacts and Challenges from a political perspective.
Dr. Ravi Baghel, Postdoctoral researcher (Project Himalayan Glaciers), South Asia Institute, & Cluster of Excellence ‘Asia and Europe in a Global Context’, Heidelberg University;
The geopolitics of transnational transport infrastructure: The BCIM-EC: lessons for CPEC?
Bernhard Beitelmair, PhD Candidate, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University; Fellow, South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels.
The CPEC from an Indian Perspective
Dr. Jivanta Schöttli, Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Weber Institute for Sociology & Associate Member, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University; Fellow, South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels;
Moderation
There will be reception afterwards at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria, SAI.
You are cordially invited!
 | The Pakistan Working Group cordially invites to the lecture „ Local media and chances of citizens’ participation in Pakistan“ by Thomas Baerthlein (Programme Manager Africa/Asia, Internews, London) on May 22, 2015, 2:00 p.m. in room Z10, South Asia Institute. More Information |
The Pakistan Working Group invites:
Pakistan: From Radicalism to Terrorism – a historical journey by Saima JasamSaima Jasam
In September 2010 Newsweek published an article by Ron Moreau titled ‘Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world’. Although much has been written about the varying but progressively deepening religious drifts combined with traditional cultural settings, it is imperative to deconstruct the Pakistani State and Society’s journey from radicalism to terrorism by examining the political, social and ideological factors that led to this transition. This analytical description looks at the political parties and periods that fuelled radicalization in Pakistan. At the ideological level, it limits itself to addressing the issues relating to the educational system and the media, as these were the intrinsic key players in diffusing hatred and intolerance towards other religions and the smaller sects within Islam.
Poster
Date: Wednesday, 29.04.2015, 4 p.m.
Venue: SAI, Room E11
The Pakistan Working Group invites:
Pakistan through an Indian's EyesProf. Partha Ghosh
With rare exceptions, Indians and Pakistanis have grown with the eternal wisdom that Pakistan or India, as the case may be, is their enemy numero uno. This wisdom has insulated them from any alternative reading of their foe. Let’s see whether this speaker sees Pakistan from any other prism or not.
Poster
Date: Thursday, 16.04.2015, 4.15 p.m.
Venue: SAI, Room 323
The Pakistan Working Group cordially invite you to the following lecture:
Roundtable -Pakistan and the 2014 NATO troop withdrawal
Further Information (Poster)
After the withdrawal of Soviet troops 25 years ago, Afghanistan plunged into a civil war causing
further Pakistani involvement. Many wonder how it would be this time round after NATO troops
leave the country by the end of 2014.
After 13 years of Western intervention not only Afghanistan but both countries face an uncertain
future.
Will there be a power vacuum left? Or will Pakistan revive its special relationship and try to secure
its 'strategic depth'?
These and other questionwill be addressed by Dr. Kiran Hassan in her lecture on December 11th.
Dr. Kiran Hassan is a Pakistan expert from the International Institute for Strategie Studies (IISS) in
London. Foreign and security policy issues in Pakistan and beyond are among her main research
interests.
ln her lecture Dr. Hassan will talk about the challenges and opportuhities for the region in 2015.
Will lndia-Pakistan border tensions and rivalry make any bilateral political consensus extremely
difficult to attain? Or will there be more focus on opportunities for economic and transnational
connectivity with Afghanistan in the fields of trade, energy and water, increasing the potential for
regional development.
Date: Thursday, December 11th, 2.00 p.m.
Venue: SAI, Room 317
The Pakistan Working Group cordially invite you to the following lecture:
Dr. Veena Ravikumar, Delhi:
„Post Elections: India-Pakistan Relations“
Weitere Informationen (Poster)
Prof Ravikumar is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi. Foreign policy and security issues in Asia and beyond are among her main research interests.
In her lecture Prof Ravikumar will analyse and track the approaches to foreign policy making after the recent elections, especially in the case of India-Pakistan relations.
She will explore the post election scenario to see whether India-Pakistan relations may, after all, go through a great resurgence not seen in the face of divisive, religious politics being played out before.
Date: Wednesday, July 9th, 4.15 pm
Venue: SAI, Room 317
Studieren in Pakistan - Erfahrungsbericht nach einem Jahr in Islamabad Lecture by Henrik Rubner Further Information Abstract: Im Rahmen des BA-Studiums verbrachte Henrik Rubner zwei Semester am Institut für Internationale Beziehungen und Politikwissenschaft an der Quaidi-Azam University in Islamabad. In seinem Vortrag berichtet er über die Besonderheiten dieses Auslandsstudiums - von den Inhalten der Lehre über das Campusleben bis zu den Reisemöglichkeiten. Zudem gibt er Hinweise für Interessierte, die selbst einmal in dieses Land reisen möchten: Welche bürokratischen Hürden müssen genommen werden? Wie ist der Alltag in der pakistanischen Hauptstadt? Welche Institutionen für Studium oder Praktika gibt es? Welche Fördermöglichkeiten gibt es für Studierende? Date: Thursday, 30th January, 6:15 p.m. Venue: SAI, Room Z 10 All are cordially invited!
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Measuring Quantities and Conspiracy Theories: Intellectual Gestures and the Alienation of the Self in Europe and in Pakistan Lecture by Dr. Lukas Werth,LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan Information Sheet Abstract: The lecture is about intellectual gestures in popular reasoning, and it tries to demonstrate a particular gesture which very frequently informs arguments put forward in middle-class urban contexts in contemporary Pakistan. An intellectual gesture is understood here as a basic, formal device of relating the self to different features of the world. For reasons of demonstration, features of reasoning in contemporary Pakistan are juxtaposed to those of contemporary Europe, particularly Germany. The paper does explicitly not assume that one way of reasoning is prior or superior to the other, but argues that different intellectual gestures create different spaces of meaning. Thus, in Pakistan explanatory patterns which are commonly referred to as "conspiracy theories" are shown to present only one aspect of a wider pattern of reasons which focuses on personal capacities and primarily locates the self in a web of intentions, whereas in Europe frequently prevails a non-personal, statistical view which alienates the self from its own intentions and those of others. Date: Thursday 19th December, 6pm Venue: SAI, Room Z 10 All are cordially invited!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We cordially invite to: Vortrag von Dr. Lukas Werth, Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities and Social Sciences , Lahore University of Managment Sciences, on the subject "Measuring Quantities and Conspiracy Theories: Intellectual Gestures and the Alienation of the Self in Europe and in Pakistan" Abstract: The lecture is about intellectual gestures in popular reasoning, and it tries to demonstrate a particular gesture which very frequently informs arguments put forward in middle-class urban contexts in contemporary Pakistan. An ntellectual gesture is understood here as a basic, formal device of relating the self to different features of the world. For reasons of demonstration, features of reasoning in contemporary Pakistan are juxtaposed to those of contemporary Europe, particularly Germany. The paper does explicitly not assume that one way of reasoning is prior or superior to the other, but argues that different intellectual gestures create different spaces of meaning. Thus, in Pakistan explanatory patterns which are commonly referred to as "conspiracy theories" are shown to present only one aspect of a wider pattern of reasons which focuses on personal capacities and primarily locates the self in a web of intentions, whereas in Europe frequently prevails a non-personal, statistical view which alienates the self from its own intentions and those of others. Date: 25 July, 2pm Venue: SAI, Room 317
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We cordially invite to: Lecture by Manuel Uebersax Institute for Islamic Studies University Bern
"The Field of Military Autobio- graphical Narratives in Pakistan"
Time: July 3rd, 2013, 11.15 a.m. Room: South Asia Institute, 317 Abstract: Starting in the 1960s, officers of the Pakistan Military of all rank and troop affiliation have been writing autobiographies and memoirs in both English and Urdu. The writing of these narratives can be understood as a cultural practice or habitus (Bourdieu), which follows its own principles and logic. Over the decades this practice was affected by several processes, among others the generational change in the army, the outcome of the 1971 war, the language debate and change in the publishing world of Pakistan. In the presentation, the field (champs) of military autobiographical narra-tive production and its key features will be constructed and analysed, argu-ing that truth claim and writing (official/revisionist) history perceived as a (national) duty are the key principles that make up the economy of the field. After describing the main struggles in the field, it will be illustrated how the field emerged out of a British-military text tradition and was al-tered following the entrance of new agents in the 1990s.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invitation to table discussionElections in Pakistan 2013: Triumph, Disappointment, Optimism. A Reassessment
We cordially invite everybody to a round table discussion on the elections in Pakistan which took place on May 11th 2013. Prof. Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, Dr. Wolfgang-Peter Zingel and Dr. Siegfrid O. Wolf will present brief introductory statements on the pre-election scenario, the democratic process in Pakistan, the choices of electorates in the provinces, economic programmes or policies of the parties involved in the elections, the devolution of power and Pakistan’s difficult path to fed-eralism. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Jivanta Schöttli.
Date: Tuesday, June 11th, 4.15 pm Venue: SAI, Room E 11 Information sheet------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Kamran Asdar Ali (Director of the South Asia Institute at Austin/Texas und President of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies):
"Progressives and "Perverts": Partition Stories and Pakistan's Future"
Date: 13th July, 4 pm
Venue: SAI, Room E 11
In contrast to various dominant representational themes through which Pakistan's history is rendered intelligible to many (Islam, Muslim Nationalism), this paper particularly focuses on a debate surrounding the question of morality ("pure or perverse literature") connected to a text of short stories on the partition of British India by the author, Sa'adat Hasan Manto. By concentrating on Manto's writings I revisit the early period in Pakistan's history to demonstrate how after the country's creation there was continued debate among intellectuals about what would constitute a national culture; a discussion that may still be on going and incomplete. Within this context, Manto enables me to offer a critique of Pakistan's normative national history and to suggest a different path to understand the country's past and possibly its future.
All are cordially invited!
Christina Oesterheld & Syed Wiqar Ali Shah