Pakistan's Paradox in between Nation Building and State Building

• In Event: Poster Session: Studies in Comparative Political Development

Abstract

Pakistan was founded 75 years ago, yet the country has yet to become an inclusive, pluralistic, and civilized society. Pakistan continues to live in a time of uncertainty, intolerance, and extremism under the aegis of globalization, where the globe has been reduced to a village with fresh iterations of imagined communities, virtual communities, and Glocalization. The first battle of the local population was for a country, and today there is a quest for a state as well as a plea for a pluralist society that is inclusive of everyone.
Pakistan has been stuck in a paradox since its inception, which presents a number of concerns, but the three most important ones are: Is Pakistan seeking to become an inclusive state? What are the parameters for resolving the national and state construction paradox? How government and Pakistani Society can play their role in nation as well as state building in era of misinformation and disinformation. All societies that are still alive today are primarily engaged in development. Nation building is a regular path that countries adopt. To explain and offer a solution to this dilemma, we will employ Benedict Anderson's notion of imagined communities and constructivism in the context of globalization. Benedict Anderson has emphasized the importance of print media in fostering the development of communities and countries through disseminating pictures while constructivism has emphasized how societies construct their knowledge in wake of changing dynamics of communications.
Key words: intolerance, paradox, nation building, imagined communities

Author

• Tatheer Zahra Sherazi, National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Islamabad