Anti-Western hypermasculinity and Imran Khan’s Pakistan

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ABSTRACT This article analyzes how Imran Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan between 2018 and 2022, mobilized anti-Western hypermasculinity to appeal to his followers, using strongman-style politics to assuage the anxieties of traditional men who felt threatened by emergent ideologies such as feminism and secular liberalism. I demonstrate how Khan’s unique version of hypermasculine leadership sustained a defense of Pakistani culture on the global stage and how his “reformed” identity endorsed religious conservatism as a remedy to threats posed by claims for gender equality and human rights. His critiques of Western immorality provided ontological security for a mode of Pakistani nationalist identity. Through critical discursive analysis of Khan’s rhetoric during the era of “Naya (New) Pakistan” (2012–2022), I document how his hypermasculine leadership relieved the anxieties of Pakistan’s ultra-nationalists, who seek to preserve traditional culture in the face of Western neoliberalism and cultural globalization. I examine how his strategy of ontological securitization enabled him to appeal to multiple constituencies despite blatantly misogynistic and anti-human rights stances, which helps to explain why voters elect strongmen who proceed to undermine democratic rights and values.