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1. Bourgeois Jihad: Why Young, Middle-Class Afghans Join the Islamic State

Author:
Borhan Osman
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Ever since the Islamic State in Khorasan Province emerged in Afghanistan in 2015, policymakers and security forces have regarded it as an “imported” group that can be defeated militarily. This approach, however, fails to take into account the long-standing and complex historical and sociological factors that make the group’s ideology appealing to young, urban Afghan men and women. Based on interviews with current and former members of ISKP, this report documents the push and pull factors prompting a steady stream of young Afghans to join and support ISKP.
Topic:
Violent Extremism, Islamic State, Jihad, and Middle Class
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

2. Role of Middle Class in Bringing Democratic Governance in Pakistan

Author:
Aleeza Ehsan
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
The paper examines the theoretical framework of the concept of middle class and the notion behind the Karl Marx‟s concept of class struggle and how the Marxist traditions are still prevalent in the form of class politics and identity politics of Pakistan. By using secondary sources this paper attempts to assess the role of middle class in the politics of Pakistan by critically reviewing the class structure and the growth of new middle-class in post 2007 era and how this class has attained the political role after lawyers movement and after the PTI‟s (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf )pop-politics . This paper also attempts to study the trend of protest politics in the developing world and conundrum that democracy faces in this developing part of the globe and how middle class has assumed driving role in it. The social, cultural and religious evolution of this class in Pakistan and in the globalized world, is also explored in the wake of cross-culturalism . The role of middle class in shaping last decade of democracy is also studied by analysing the results of the elections of 2013 and 2018. This paper also suggests incorporating consumerism and marketing based reforms to attract this class towards democratic process.
Topic:
Politics, Culture, Class, Middle Class, Identity, and Consumerism
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

3. Indian Higher Education Reform: From Half-Baked Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism

Author:
Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta
Publication Date:
09-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper examines the political economy of Indian higher (tertiary) education. We first provide an empirical mapping of Indian higher education and demonstrate that higher education in India is being de facto privatized on a massive scale. But this privatization is not a result of changing ideological commitments of the key actors—the state, the judiciary or India’s propertied classes. Rather, this privatization has resulted from a breakdown of the state system and an exit of Indian elites from public institutions, to both private sector institutions within the country as well as abroad. Private philanthropy in higher education, which was supportive of public institutions in the past, is also increasingly withdrawing its support. Consequently the ideological and institutional underpinnings of this form of privatization remain exceedingly weak. The paper questions the extent to which the political economy of Indian higher education can be explained by the hypothesis of “middle class capture” and suggests that education policy, far from serving the interests of the middle class, is actually driven by a combination of ideology and vested interests. We also examine the role of the judiciary in shaping the regulatory landscape of Indian higher education and argue that it an important actor shaping the regulatory landscape of higher education, but in a manner that has done as much to confuse as clarify. Instead of being part of a comprehensive program of education reform, private initiatives remain hostage to the discretionary actions of the state. As a result, the education system remains suspended between over-regulation by the state on the one hand, and a discretionary privatization that is unable to mobilize private capital in productive ways. The result is a sub-optimal structuring of higher education. The most potent consequence of this is a secession of the middle class—ironically the very class whose interests these institutions were supposed to serve—from a stake in public institutions.
Topic:
Political Economy, Privatization, Capitalism, Higher Education, and Middle Class
Political Geography:
South Asia and India