State Building and Social Transformation in Pakistan: A Case Study of the Tribal Areas (NWFP) since 1970
This research project explores written and oral traditions relating to the valleys of Jandol, located in the District of Lower Dir, in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, an Afghan border region at the centre of multifaceted contestations over power, territory, ideology and identity. Using participant observation, the project creates an ethnographic picture of the region and allows for the exploration of local narratives in the form of legends and poems. In conjunction with textual sources such as British archival reports, these oral sources are contextually analysed with an overall aim of exploring their social function in the context of contemporary violence.