Khawaja Sira of Pakistan are a heterogeneous group of marginalized gender nonconforming individuals who defy traditional notions of gender and sexuality. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Lahore, Pakistan, Governing Thirdness provides important insights about the identity, marginalization and governance of the Khawaja Sira as they try to live an unliveable life. Taking a broad view of governance, this book includes a comprehensive analysis of governance of the Khawaja Sira across legal, social and administrative institutions. It also argues that labels like third gender and transgender fails to account for the gender fluid lives and multiple types of individuals who identify as Khawaja Sira, yet these categories, largely imported from the west, are used without much thought to govern this heterogeneous group.

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of the state of political institutions, the military establishment and political parties in Pakistan. It provides a nuanced understanding of the practices of disenfranchisement by theocratic governments in the country which has relegated the people to the margins of their society. The volume provides an in-depth account of the political history of Pakistan focusing not only on national politics and foreign policy but also on their congruences with subnational systems of governance, the criminal justice system, bureaucracy, the electoral system and the police. It discusses challenging issues plaguing the country such as the continued dominance of the military, lagging economic development, lack of accountability within political institutions, sectarianism and terrorism. The author dissects and critically examines Pakistan’s hegemonic politics and underlines the need for a new social contract based on the principles of inclusiveness and equality. The volume offers fresh perspectives on the multifaceted problems in Pakistan’s politics. It will be of great interest to policy practitioners and to academics and students of politics, law and governance, sociology, international relations, comparative politics, Pakistan studies and South Asia studies.

Presents an annotated bibliography of general and subject reference books covering the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, history, science, technology, and medicine.