Rethinking extremism, moderation, modernity
The writer holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and is the author of Development, Poverty and Power in Pakistan, available from Routledge
We live in a world beset by false dichotomies which seek to readily label communities and even countries as being secular, moderate or extremists. Yet, a closer examination often reveals that such tidy labels often do not match realities on the ground.
In the post-911 context, for example, there has been increasing international anxiety about the threat of extremism in a nuclear-armed Pakistan. This concern has led to recurrent speculations about the nature and functioning of ‘non-moderate’ Islamic groups within the country. Yet, efforts made to define and differentiate between these groups remain problematic.