The discourses on the civil society and the State in the context of European and post-colonial narratives: Re-conceptualizing the civil society in Pakistan

Abstract

Understanding the social contract as the justification of the State. The discourses on the State: a comparative perspective from early modern, modern and post modern era. Theory building on the State: the modernization, core-periphery (dependency), neo-dependancy and the world systems schools. The case of the civil society: evolution of the term since early times/historical and philosophical background. Theoretical approaches to civil society: normative and perspective features towards understanding the concept. The liberal and the non-liberal narratives to the discourses on the civil society. The Post-colonial studies approach towards understanding the civil society. Post-colonial theoretical framework: retracing the concept of civil society. The historiography of the politics of the governed in Pakistan: constructing the political narrative of the marginal fragments