Womens NGOs in Pakistan [Paperback]

How do NGOs overcome the suspicion of them as Western agents? How do they convince people that contrary to common perceptions, they do not lead women astray from Islam ? And how, in the context of poverty, religious fundamentalism, and ethnic conflict, do NGOs convince people that women s issues merit any attention at all? This book uncovers the skillful maneuvering that women s NGOs have to perform in order to survive in a hostile environment. Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and published materials by and about NGOs, this book analyzes the strategies used by Pakistani women s NGOs to advance women s rights in a conservative - and often antagonistic - environment.The Re-Birth of a Nation: Pakistan's Islamization The Challenge of Fundamentalism Better Government, Better Lives: The Campaign to Increase Women's Political Participation 'A Rose By Any Other Name...': The Campaign Against Sexual Harassment The Unfulfilled Promise of NGOs Appendix A: A Note on Methods Appendix B: The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010

Expand(s) the discussion of civil society, especially when organized as NGOs, in significant ways . . . (and) utilizes a valuable gender lens in thinking about the failure of nations and markets to meet human needs . . . Afshan Jafar focuses on two case studies of women's NGOs set in Pakistan . . . The significant structural feature that contextualizes both of Jafar's case studies is Pakistan's recent history, in which the quest for a postcolonial national identity has converged with a rising tide of political Islam, to define authenticity in ways that make the work of women's rights particularly difficult and even dangerous . . . Her methods produce vivid vignettes of the way that nationalism allied with relgious fundementalism constrains women's freedom. - Gender & Society

Afshan Jafar addresses a question of enormous importance to scholars of women's studies and South Asia: hl3)