Politics, Landlords and Islam in Pakistan [Hardcover]

This book offers unique insights into the changing nature of power and hierarchy in rural Pakistan from colonial times to present day. It shows how electoral politics and the erosion of traditional patronclient ties have not empowered the lower classes. The monograph highlights the persistence of debt-bondage, and illustrates how electoral politics provides assertive landlord politicians with opportunities to further consolidate their power and wealth at the expense of subordinate classes. It also critically examines the relationship between local forms of Islam and landed power.

The volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers on Pakistan and South Asian politics, sociology and social anthropology, Islam, as also economics, development studies, and security studies.

Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction 1.Setting 2.Debt and Bondage 3.Electoral Politics and the Reproduction of Inequality 4.The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend 5.Elections and Devolution 6.Islam, Selflessness and Prosperity 7.Conclusion. Bibliography.Index

Nicolas Martin has written by far the best account I have yet read of the Hobbesian nature of power and violence in rural Punjab. . . . He also reflects deeply on the nature of Islamist resistance to the state in Pakistan. This is anthropology of the very highest order. A must-read book.Stuart Corbridge, London School of Economics

Nicolas Martins admirably researched and well-written book is a highly important contribution to our understanding of political change and continuity in the Punjab countryside.Anatol Lieven, Georgetown University in Qatar