School of Governance and Society (SGS)
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School of Governance and Society is envisaged to be Government Studies. With an interdisciplinary approach, the teaching and research at the SGS aims to build on multiple knowledge sources, informing varied administrative structures, decision-making hierarchies, policy making function of the government as well as the civil society, in a dynamic national setting. The underlying aim of studying governance and society is to enable prospective learners to systematically understand and examine the governmental and social institutions, identify areas of focus, assess prospects for reform and effect change.
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Item Conceptualizing terrorism trend patterns in Pakistan - an empirical perspective(2013) Muhammad FeyyazTerrorism continues to be viewed conventionally in Pakistan. However, the phenomenon has assumed a structured formation driven by rational choice perspectives. This article attempts to identify distinct trends and patterns of terrorism within prevailing environments of Pakistan. In doing so, it also examines the validity of seasonality dimensions of routine activity theory (use of summer months and earlier days of week) for terrorist acts. Eight trends are identified tentatively. Using empirical data and analytical discourse, the findings confirm the assumed trends in terms of their typology, structure, operational system and rallying themes. In addition, the article finds support for the hypothesis of terrorism being a strategic approach rather than an ordinary form of violence. It is further found that changed patterns of violence warrant a revisiting of earlier assumptions regarding the applicability of routine activity theory within the Pakistani context. By implication, the study also suggests a variation of terrorism under different regime types, i.e. military or democratic.Item Item The discourse and study of terrorism in decolonized states: a case of Pakistan(Critical Studies on Terrorism, 2016) Muhammad FeyyazThe existing literature in the terrorism field does not address the absence of terrorism scholarship in developing countries. This article focuses on this intellectual gap using the case of Pakistan. It argues that most decolonised states, including Pakistan, are yet to grasp the complexities of traditional approaches to the study of terrorism, let alone its critical dimensions. The article explores some of the prevailing conditions in developing countries, speci- fically decolonised states such as Pakistan, which prevent the development of a robust academic discourse on terrorism and the development of a strong field of study. It suggests that the main barriers that account for this shortfall include the state’s legitimacy deficit, a flawed education system that nurtures fictions as truth and inhibits knowledge production, the institutionalised role of conspiracy theories in national politics and the multiplicity of terrorism discourses among government and sociopolitical entities. The conclusion highlights a number of reasons that might help to explain this persistent condition and offers a few policy recommendations.Item Facets of religious violence in Pakistan(2013) Muhammad FeyyazOrganized violence is a key characteristic of the security landscape of contemporary Pakistan. The character of religious violence has evolved from sectarianism to talibanization. This paper briefly reviews facets of religious violence by focusing on religious structures, inter-sect and intra-sect par-adigms of the conflict-laden environment.Item Geopolitical modernity and Pakistan foreign relations: how relevant?(Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014) Maria BastosThis article aims to explore the way modernity has been impacting Pakistan’s foreign relations and policy, and whether it is relevant to use modernity as a political concept in order to understand them. The article is also an attempt to contextualize International Relations beyond the norms of Western Enlightenment by highlighting the real possibility for adoption of an interdisciplinary ground in order to approach foreign relations. To be sure, most of International Relations theoretical basis used to study Pakistan foreign relations is situated within the realist paradigm. This fact comes with no surprise give the historicity of this young nation, and the context on which its foreign relations were built over the past sixty years, with particular attention to the Cold War scenarios, which left a significant mark in South Asia region in general and in Pakistan in particular.Item Information seeking anxiety among postgraduate students of university(Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 2016) Muhammad Asif NaveedThis paper aims to investigate information seeking anxiety in postgraduate students. Data were collected using questionnaire containing Information Seeking Anxiety Scale (Erfanmanesh, Abrizah & Karim, 2012) and demographic information. The sample comprised of 297 students from the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Behavioural Science of one university in Pakistan. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis. The results indicated that a large majority of the postgraduate students experienced anxiety in the information seeking process. Moreover, no significant relationship was found in age, gender, faculty, publishing experience and information seeking anxiety in students. Conversely, there were significant differences in anxiety scores of students based on the program of study, stage of study, and computer proficiency. The results provide useful insights that could be used as a guide by the information professionals dealing with reference and research services, especially those engaged in designing information literacy curricula and managing information literacy instructions in Pakistan.Item Measuring levels of students' anxiety in information seeking tasks(Pakistan journal of Internation management & libraries, 2016) Muhammad Asif NaveedThis study measured information seeking anxiety among postgraduate students of the University of the Punjab, Lahore. Survey method using questionnaire was employed to conduct this investigation. The questionnaire consisting of an Information Seeking Anxiety Scale and demographic variables was administered in students, selected through convenient sampling procedure, for data collection. The results indicated that a large majority (n=207, 82.4%) of the respondents experienced more than low anxiety in the information seeking process. No significant relationship was found between age, gender, faculty and information seeing anxiety scores of these students. Conversely, there were significant differences in anxiety scores of students based on the program of study, stage of study, and computer proficiency. The results provide useful insights for guidance of information professionals dealing with reference and research services, especially those engaged in designing information literacy curricula and managing information literacy instructions.Item A mixed-method investigation of information seeking anxiety in Pakistani research students(Pakistan and information science journal, 2016) Muhammad Asif NaveedItem Multiform youth extremism in Pakistan(Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, 2013) Muhammad FeyyazNot AvailableItem Religion, ethnicity, social organizations and terrorists behavior's� a case of Taliban movement in Pakistan(Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 2015) Muhammad FeyyazReligion and ethnicity is widely associated with the unrelenting Taliban-led violence in Pakistan. Their shari’a rhetoric coupled with a sympathetic politicoreligious constituency compounds the terrorism landscape for the general audience. Besides, less academic treatment of the phenomenon entailing analysis of its wholesome dimensions further constrains its understanding. Conceding the fact that religion pervades all aspects of contemporary conflict, this article argues that the present setting is neither rooted in the ethnicity nor in the religion literally as the conflict formation variables; it is instead governed since its inception by dynamics germinating from Pakhtunwali (a social code of conduct of tribal Pashtun), mainly its retributive imperative. It specifically investigates the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s rent seeking, greed and hypocritical behavior, which, it contends, lies in the selective perversion of Pakhtunwali permeated also by the nuanced influence of foreign fighters. The peace advocates’ claim for potential success in dialog with Taliban is therefore considered as misleading. Drawing upon an adapted theoretical framework, the article attempts to empirically demonstrate the viability of these assertions.Item Why Pakistan does not have a counter terrorism narrative(Journal of Strategic Security, 2015) Muhammad FeyyazPakistan has been at war with terrorism for over a decade resulting in over 55,000 citizen deaths, half a million injured, and a loss of over one hundred billion dollars to the national economy.2 Despite these heavy costs, it is ironic that the Taliban and their affiliates still enjoy the support of key political elites and certain sections of society.3 One reason for this heightened state of chaos is the highly charged religious discourse experienced in Pakistan over the meaning of the term jihad and its relationship within society.4 In fact, most Pakistanis draw distinct boundaries between the forms of violence attributed to their affiliations with various schools of jurisprudence and confessional doctrines. Analogously, the youths in the poor and upper-middle classes throughout the country tend to view the world through a strict black and white lens, developing their radicalized beliefs from the clash of civilization paradigm.Item Winning hearts and minds in Pakistani�s tribal areas: a personal recollection of a peace-building effort with the taliban(Perspectives on Terrorism, 2016) Muhammad FeyyazThis biographical contribution describes experiences of a military commander gained during field employment in North Waziristan Agency – the most militancy riven region in tribal areas of Pakistan. The recollection outlines the transformation of part of this turbulent area into a zone of peace through a well-structured peacebuilding vision. Primarily, the approach entailed the idea of applying the concept of inclusive human security in order to turn all stakeholders and antagonists into a cohesive community, tolerant of each other’s existence. Importantly, the strategy was evolved in a backdrop when security conditions in the Agency were characterized by a heightened phase of Taliban-led violence and fluid counter insurgency operations. Risk taking was vital to restore order but it indeed proved worth the effort.Item Youth extremism in Pakistan�s� magnitude, channels, resident spheres and response(Defence Against Terrorism Review, 2014) Muhammad FeyyazThis paper attempts to address religious extremism and the factors confounding its conceptual and definitional understanding within the existing reality of Pakistan. It particularly highlights and analyzes the demographic magnitude of extremists’ potential, inspirations, channels and geographical location of extremism in the country. These areas have been ignored in the extant literature on extremism in Pakistan. The conclusions respond to the reviewed issues besides proposing a contextualized definition of religious extremism. A few broad policy suggestions are also offered, including a generalizable framework to measure holistic spread of extremism in Pakistan to meaningfully respond to the situation.