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This research deals with the questions surrounding how women activists in Pakistan negotiate for change in gender relations. Looking at gender violence it examines the ways women activists have used incidents of violence to engage with the state and society on issues relating to women. In examining the processes of engagement it looks at the interface between state and society where dialogue can be created, issues framed, and the voice of women legitimised.
Incidents of gender violence are regularly reported and yet there does not seem to be a united voice from among women against it. This was not always the case. Women's groups and activists had united and articulated a very clear opposition to legislation that legalized their brutalisation under the regime of General Zia ul-Haq at the beginning of the 80s. The collective voice, while not silent, now appears fragmented and less articulate.
The core research questions focus on the conceptualisation of collective action in Pakistan and how such conceptualisations mediate at the interface where negotiation takes place. How do women create a place for negotiation within power relations and within a framework of constructions of identity and concepts of self-hood? How do rapid global media exchanges of information and the hegemonic articulations of issues such as human rights, feminism and Islam shape identification of issues, choice of symbols and frameworks of action? What are the significant issues that inform the processes of change for women and how do they connect with these in order to negotiate for change?
The research seeks to document processes of engagement by women, the history of the development of that engagement, their framing and the development of discourses in the area of women negotiating collectively. Through this it aims to identify particular issues that facilitate and hinder the processes of negotiation. This may unveil something of the dynamics of power and agency in the processes at the interface where women engage and negotiate with state and society as they collectively seek change.
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