From Islamisation to Shariatisation: cultural transnationalism in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan features an exceptional and complex form of the transition from developmental to cultural nationalism. This paper traces the emergence of an Islamist cultural nationalism beginning in the 1970s that eventually surrendered to a trans-national ‘Shariatisation’ of Pakistani nationalism under pressure from Pakistan's involvement in geopolitical processes beyond its control. However, the roots of these varied discourses also lie in trends that became influential among British India's Muslims in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their further development was shaped by the formative weaknesses of the Pakistani state and nationalism, which matured in the context of the Afghan civil war and the onset of the US ‘war on terror’ in the new century. Together they gave rise to the paradoxical evolution of an Islamic cultural nationalism into a trans-national ideology which challenged the very basis of the state. Given the vulnerability of civil society since the 1980s, and the subordination of Islamic parties to a military-dominated state that has resorted to Islam as a legitimiser, the role of the armed forces in shaping this nationalism acquired greater importance than in most other societies. The paper concludes with some reflections on the implications of Pakistan's unique trajectory for the fate of nations and nationalisms generally.