This book examines violence and political developments in the western borderland communities of Pakistan, a postcolonial militarist state in the Global South, through the lens of gendered experiences of insecurity. It provides a fresh perspective on comprehending the perception and experience of security among individuals, uncovering the role of gender hierarchies and gendered hierarchies in shaping state policies and personal encounters with security and violence.
Based on ground-based qualitative research, in-depth interviews with Mahsud men and women, military and government officials, academics, security experts and aid organisation officials, each book chapter foregrounds an analysis of militarisation, violence, and resistance through varied thematic lens. The result is a rich and original study of Waziristan where conflict and security are presented through a feminist geopolitical perspective, calling for fresh comprehensions of gendered understandings of militarisation and securities and a reappraisal of vulnerable populations.
Addressing a gap in the literature regarding the relationship between state-peripheral communities, violence, security, and militarisation in the Global South, this book analyses power relations through a gendered lens and explores the impact of armed violence in everyday life. It will be of interest to researchers in the field of regional geopolitical and security studies, post-colonial states and militarisation in the Global South as well as borderland studies, gender studies and South Asian studies.
This book examines violence and political developments in the western borderland communities of Pakistan through the lens of gendered experiences of insecurity, and will be of interst to researchers of regional-geopolitical security, post-colonial states and militarisation in the Global South, and borderland, gender and South Asian studies.
Introduction. Part I: Deconstructing the Narratives of Militarisation
and Security in Waziristan
Chapter 1: Militarisation in the Periphery.
Chapter 2: The Mahsud, the Taliban and the Spectral State: Response,
Resilience, Resistance and Review.
Chapter 3: Heart of Darkness: Violence and
Insecurity in Waziristan. Part II: Stepping out from the Shadow of the Gun
Chapter 4: Mahsud Womens Chronicles of Violence in Waziristan: Honour,
female bodies, and the state.
Chapter 5: The Fragmented Body and Politics of
Rubble: A Singular Interpretation of Resistance. Part III: Geographies of
Loss and Hope: Mahsud womens response to political and security changes
Chapter 6: Geographies of Loss: Impact of Militarisation, Conflict, and
Displacements on Mahsud women.
Chapter 7: Geographies of Hope
(Anticipations): Testaments from the Ruins of War and Peace. Conclusion
Faryal Leghari is a researcher, writer, political and security analyst, former journalist and deputy opinion editor. She completed her DPhil in feminist political geography from Oxford University, UK, in 2024. Faryals interest in politics, international relations, counterterrorism, and feminist geography has led her to pursue different educational and career paths in these fields. Faryal identifies as a Pakistani Baloch and Pakhtun woman from the Koh-i-Suleiman tribal areas, which border southern Punjab. She is an advocate for womens education and career development and was among the first women to play polo in Pakistan.
