Grant Awarded to Doctoral Candidate for Study on Pakistan's Infrastructure, Aggression, and Rebellion
Bramsh Khan, a Ph.D. candidate in social science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, is delving deeper into her dissertation with the help of a Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. This research critically examines the processes and definitions of "development" imposed by the Pakistani state in Balochistan and the resulting socio-political and economic consequences for Baloch communities.
Who Defines ‘Development’?
Khan investigates the dominant role of the Pakistani state and its allied entities in defining what constitutes "development" in Balochistan. The definition is often top-down, heavily influenced by national strategic interests, such as security and resource extraction, rather than the needs or desires of local Baloch populations.
Narratives of Development
The Pakistani state frames infrastructural projects—like roads, dams, and energy plants—as modernizing efforts that bring progress, economic growth, and integration of Balochistan with the rest of Pakistan.
Marginalization of Local Voices
Despite the rhetoric of development, local Baloch communities frequently have little input in planning or decision-making processes. Their priorities and needs, such as access to resources or environmental sustainability, are often sidelined.
Consequences for Baloch Communities
- Displacement and Disruption: Infrastructure projects often lead to the displacement of communities, loss of livelihoods, and disruption of social and cultural structures.
- Economic Inequality: While state-led development projects aim to inject economic growth, benefits often accrue to external investors and elites, with limited trickle-down effects for local populations.
- Political Tensions: The imposition of state-led projects without genuine consultation exacerbates feelings of alienation and has fueled conflict and insurgency in the region. Development is seen by many Baloch groups as a form of control rather than empowerment.
Resource and Security Dynamics
Balochistan’s strategic location and rich natural resources mean infrastructural development is linked to broader state security and economic strategies. This linkage complicates the development narrative, as projects can serve military or extraction interests more than local development goals.
Overall Argument
Bramsh Khan argues that the Pakistani state's framing and implementation of development projects in Balochistan often marginalize the perspectives and needs of the Baloch people, resulting in contested development that may exacerbate inequality and unrest rather than bring inclusive progress. She calls for a more participatory and locally grounded approach to development in the region.
Grassroots Initiatives and Collaboration
In an effort to amplify the voices of Baloch women, Khan is collaborating with emerging Baloch filmmakers to document their experiences. This grassroots initiative aims to help displaced women reclaim autonomy and sustain their families. The film project will convey the experiences of Baloch women in a visceral way through multimodal storytelling, documenting both the direct and indirect violence faced by these women, as well as their strategies of endurance and resistance.
Bramsh Khan's work has been recognised with the 2021 Fulbright Scholarship and the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. Dan Olson-Bang, director of professional and career development in the Graduate School, played a key role in helping Khan find and apply for these prestigious grants. Olson-Bang praises Khan's work and her ability to create a powerful and relevant project.
Through her research, Khan exposes how the rhetoric of development and modernity can obscure violence and destruction. She emphasizes the community's resilience, particularly the adaptations and resistances of Baloch women, as seen in a grassroots initiative where women from farming communities teach embroidery and craftwork to displaced shepherd women. The M-8 motorway project, part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, cuts through land sacred to the Baloch people and essential to their seasonal migration patterns. Khan's work interrogates who defines "development" and who pays the price for it.
- In her research, Bramsh Khan investigates how the Pakistani state, along with its allied entities, dominantly defines development in Balochistan, a definition often influenced by national strategic interests like security and resource extraction.
- The Pakistani state's infrastructural projects, such as roads, dams, and energy plants, are framed as modernizing efforts progressing Balochistan but might lead to displacement, disruption of social structures, and economic inequality.
- Khan argues that local Baloch communities are frequently excluded from decision-making processes in development policy and legislation, despite their pressing concerns like access to resources and environmental sustainability.
- She calls for a more participatory and locally grounded approach to development, as the current top-down approach has fueled conflict, insurgency, and a feeling of alienation in the region.
- Khan's grassroots film project collaborates with Baloch filmmakers to document the experiences of Baloch women, amplifying their voices and helping displaced women reclaim autonomy and sustain their families.
- From online education platforms to sports betting websites, Khan's work shows that the rhetoric of development and modernity often masks violence and destruction, requiring conversations on who defines 'development' and who ultimately bears its costs.
