SINHAS Vol 31 No 1 Zoya Sameen
Rethinking Pakistan Studies: The Grounds of Regional Knowledge After South Asia
Zoya Sameen
Abstract
This article rethinks Pakistan Studies as both a pedagogical project and a field of knowledge by examining the limits of history as a tool of legitimation. It argues that in the public sphere, history often serves to authorize the present, and shows how Pakistan Studies has historically operated within this framework. At the same time, the article suggests that this condition opens up another possibility: to understand history not as passive inheritance but as an active demand upon the present. Seen in this light, Pakistan Studies emerges not as a stable body of knowledge but as a series of shifting efforts to produce meaning in response to changing political contexts. Building on this, the article proposes that national and area studies can be reimagined as sites of ethical and political inquiry into collective life, grounded in plurality rather than ideological closure. It argues that renewing Pakistan Studies does not entail a retreat into nationalism, but offers a way to rethink the foundations of regional knowledge at a moment when South Asia no longer coheres as a stable framework. Instead of seeking to restore the region, the article suggests treating its absence as an opening for new forms of thought and critical engagement.
Keywords: Pakistan Studies, national historiography, area studies, regime of historicity, pedagogical nationalism, regional knowledge, South Asia
Rethinking Pakistan Studies: The Grounds of Regional Knowledge After South Asia
Zoya Sameen
Abstract
This article rethinks Pakistan Studies as both a pedagogical project and a field of knowledge by examining the limits of history as a tool of legitimation. It argues that in the public sphere, history often serves to authorize the present, and shows how Pakistan Studies has historically operated within this framework. At the same time, the article suggests that this condition opens up another possibility: to understand history not as passive inheritance but as an active demand upon the present. Seen in this light, Pakistan Studies emerges not as a stable body of knowledge but as a series of shifting efforts to produce meaning in response to changing political contexts. Building on this, the article proposes that national and area studies can be reimagined as sites of ethical and political inquiry into collective life, grounded in plurality rather than ideological closure. It argues that renewing Pakistan Studies does not entail a retreat into nationalism, but offers a way to rethink the foundations of regional knowledge at a moment when South Asia no longer coheres as a stable framework. Instead of seeking to restore the region, the article suggests treating its absence as an opening for new forms of thought and critical engagement.
Keywords: Pakistan Studies, national historiography, area studies, regime of historicity, pedagogical nationalism, regional knowledge, South Asia