Pakistonomy - Episode 156 - Pakistan Stands One Step Closer to the Brink

In this episode, Uzair talks to Dr. Ayyaz Malick about the ongoing crises in Pakistan and where he sees things going. Dr. Malick is a university lecturer, with research interests in Marxist and post-/anti-colonial theory.

He has recently written a must-read essay on the ongoing crisis which can be read at the link below.

https://jacobin.com/2023/05/imran-khan-arrest-pakistan-politics-crisis-military-alienation-ruling-class-oppression

Tweet on military lands for agriculture - https://twitter.com/Benazir_Shah/status/1660897023531585539?s=20

Previous discussion with Ayyaz - https://youtu.be/_Qv0GrxM0-Y

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction
1:40 Framework for understanding the crises
17:20 Shifting alliances and the importance of May 9
33:00 Why are PTI leaders leaving so quickly?
55:23 Role of the PDM parties in this and future scenarios
1:19:25 Can a savior like Khan save Pakistan?

Reading Recommendations:
- Antonio Gramsci - On the Southern Question (for understanding hegemony and how ruling classes rule)

- Aijaz Ahmad - Lineages of the Present (for understanding Bonapartism, Bhuttoism, and fascism in South Asian politics)

- Gyorgy Lukacs, History and Class Consciousness (for understanding structural blindness of ruling classes i.e. why elites cannot reform themselves)