ROADS Initiative is a knowledge sharing platform which aims to meaningfully contribute to the upgradation of the social sciences in Pakistan, both in theory and practice by promoting alternative perspectives. Our winter school on “Alternative ROADS in Social Sciences” is a step in that direction which aspires to offer postgraduate and undergraduate Social Sciences students the opportunity to develop their knowledge on alternative insights by providing them expert lectures and guidance from top researchers and academics who work on alternative ideas in a variety of Social Sciences disciplines. The Winter School will provide students a chance to hear voices beyond the cacophony of mainstream thoughts by drawing expertise from a range of national and international speakers.

Abstract

Due to the global and transverse dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, human security approach has found relevance in policy corridors and prompted interest in regional cooperation. Pakistan’s new security policy (NSP) under Imran Khan’s government is a testament to the drift into human-centric approach at the national level and revival of SAARC a gateway to regional security. The growing consideration for the human security paradigm is a welcomed alternative to existing security discourse on South Asian regional security dominated by state-centrism. Nevertheless, various critical security scholars have critiqued human security paradigm claiming it does not question the structural inequalities reinforced by the state and thus fails to displace the state as the central security actor. It is thus imperative that post-positivist critical security approaches be acknowledged in the interest of re-defining security in South- Asia to inform practical policy considerations. This paper argues that revival of SARC and creation of The COVID-19 emergency fund reproduces state- centric security discourse which ignores structural inequalities at play and marginalizes the security of the most vulnerable communities. It adds to the debate on alternative discourse on regional security in South Asia with discussion on critical security approaches. Furthermore, it explains SAARC’s importance for member states as a vehicle to regional cooperation in the face of pandemic and other natural calamities. Additionally, it discusses SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund’s expansion to include mechanisms and structures where critical security approaches can be brought from theory to practice.

Abstract

Climate change is a global issue but its effects are unevenly distributed. The South Asian region has been recognized as the most vulnerable region to climate change. By using the Copenhagen School’s Theory of Securitization and Barry Buzan and Ole Waever’s Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT), this study establishes the environment (climate) threat as a security threat facing the South Asian countries and in doing so; it attempts to ‘regionalize’ the idea of environmental security. The study underscores the adverse effects that the threat of climate change entails concerning the region’s environmental landscapes, food and livelihood security. Further, the study pays heed to the emerging link between ‘climate’ and ‘national security’ and demonstrates how climatic consequences, in particular, the climate change-induced migrations form a pressing challenge for the national securities of the regional countries. It is argued that in responding to the climate-change problem in South Asia, regional collaboration through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has become the need of the hour. Unfortunately, organizational deficiencies and challenges such as insufficient funds and reserves, member countries’ lack of political will to implement climate-related frameworks and measures, and coordination issues among the member countries put the regional organization’s utility regarding the climate problem in question. As a result, the climate change issue has only been ‘securitized’ and not ‘regionalized’ in the context of South Asia.

Abstract

With increasing calls for the pluralization of International Relations, there is a need for investigating non-Western International Relations academies that remain within the Eurocentric intellectual confines. This paper specifically explores the continuing adherence of the national Pakistani International Relations academy to the ‘borrowed’ ethnocentric knowledge. Through in-depth interviews with Pakistani International Relations academics, this paper identifies global and domestic structural constraints that preserve Eurocentrism as a dominant disciplinary force to the detriment of indigenous sourced thinking in Pakistani International Relations. The paper demonstrates that the West’s strict intellectual gatekeeping, internationally and Pakistan’s higher education structure, locally impede the development of Pakistani International Relations as a truly ‘local’ discipline. Precisely, as Pakistan’s domestic higher education structure rewards state-centric research that is based on the ‘available’ Eurocentric frameworks, this leads to research output in Pakistani International Relations that is lacking in quality and originality, and is mainly Eurocentric in character.

Abstract

All societies recovering from conflicts or natural disasters face adverse effects. The process of rehabilitation and rebuilding society from scratch holds multiple obstacles, however, the experience and the process of recovery is not particularly the same for all genders. Pakistan since the partition has faced its share of struggles in developing a stable environment, nonetheless, despite efforts, human insecurity has proliferated the country. As a whole, South Asia struggles with its embedded patriarchal norms that have ultimately magnified the gender divide. Over the years, this has proven to create challenges in conflict scenarios when the participation of women in public spheres is marginalized. Women being the most affected in conflict scenarios face multiple difficulties in accessing rights. The hurdles faced by women in crisis and conflict situations was officially recognized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2000, with the adoption of the UNSC Resolution 1325, the international community recognized the impact of crisis and conflict situations on women and the need of active women participation in societal reformation and peacebuilding. The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda resting on its pillars of: ‘Prevention, Participation, Protection, Relief and Recovery’ was the first internationally recognized effort of an inclusive gender perspective response to conflict scenarios. With respect to this resolution, the UNSC attempted to institutionalize the WPS agenda. Consequently, multiple member states produced National Action Plans to in-cooperate the 1325 UNSC resolution. Pakistan was too one of the member states to make such efforts however, in 2010, the project stalled. The paper aims to study Pakistan’s attempt to institutionalize the WPS over the years and the challenges that were faced in the process. Within the given understanding of the challenges faced by Pakistan, the paper will also attempt to define the concept of gender security in Pakistani society and provide prospects within the given ambit of Pakistan’s National Action Plan.

Abstract

Due to the global and transverse dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, human security approach has found relevance in policy corridors and prompted interest in regional cooperation. The growing consideration for the human security paradigm is a welcomed alternative to existing security discourse on South Asian regional security dominated by state centricism. Nevertheless, various critical security scholars have critiqued human security paradigm claiming it does not question the structural inequalities reinforced by the state and thus fails to displace the state as the central security actor.1 It is thus imperative that post-positivist critical security approaches be acknowledged in the interest of re-defining security in South- Asia to inform practical policy considerations. This paper argues that revival of SARC and creation of The COVID-19 emergency fund reproduces state- centric security discourse which ignores structural inequalities at play and marginalizes the security of the most vulnerable communities. It adds to the debate on alternative discourse on regional security in South Asia with discussion on critical security approaches. Furthermore, it explains SAARC’s importance for member states as a vehicle to regional cooperation in the face of pandemic and other natural calamities. Additionally, it discusses SAARC COVID-19 emergency fund’s expansion to include mechanisms and structures where critical security approaches can be brought from theory to practice.

1. Datta-Barthwal, M., & Basu, S, “Reconceptualizing regional security in South Asia: A critical security approach”. Security Dialogue , 1-17, (2017).