Institute of Development & Economic Alternatives | A research hub for rigorous, evidence-based knowledge on economic and social development in Pakistan
IDEAS and Bazm-e-AaLam present the latest instalment of the Book Talk Series, Refugee Cities: How Afghans Changed Urban Pakistan, with Dr. Sanaa Alimia and moderated by @MaryamShKhanyoutu.be/6OuCY8ggsQw
This Independence Day, we honor Pakistan’s Women Constitution-Makers
📖 Explore the Women Constitution-Makers: Digital Archive to learn more about these six women and their remarkable contributions: ideasdev.org/social-exclusio…
The Women Constitution-Makers Project, led by IDEAS Research Fellow Dr. @MaryamShKhan , seeks to reclaim the political voices and vision of these women who helped shape Pakistan’s Constitution.
Through oral history methods, the project captures their interventions inside the assembly, and complements them with stories from colleagues, friends, and family to chronicle their life histories.
The article highlights the Pakistan National Congress’s role in early Pakistan’s constitution making—beyond secularism—framing its goals as a decolonizing project to resist elite dominance and advance federalism for East Bengal’s majority representation and autonomy.
Read IDEAS Research Fellow @MaryamShKhan’s contribution to SLR’s 20th Anniversary Issue, offering a detailed and reflexive survey of the sites of emergence and development of socio-legal research in Pakistan.
🔗 repository.nls.ac.in/slr/vol…
SLR's Special 20th Anniversary Issue is out now! Volume 20(2) reflects on two decades of socio-legal inquiry from India, South Asia, and beyond—through legal history, anthropology, mitigation practice, comparative method & institutional memory. Read here: repository.nls.ac.in/slr/
ALT Table of Contents from Socio-Legal Review, Volume 20, Issue 2. The contents include:
Editorial – page vi
Articles:
Fingerprints and Fragments: Reflections on the Challenges and Contributions of Socio-Legal History by Elizabeth Lhost – page 1
Cultivating Attentiveness to Law in India through Legal Anthropology by Deepa Das Acevedo & Jahnavi Chamarthi – page 25
The Meaning and Challenges of an Interdisciplinary Sentencing Exercise: Reflections from a Death Penalty Mitigation Practice by Anup Surendranath and Maitreyi Misra – page 52
Locating Socio-Legal Research in Pakistan: A Reflexive Approach by Maryam S Khan – page 92
Socio-Legal Enquiry on a Global Scale: Legal Intermediation, the Geography of Extraction, and the (Re)Negotiation of Africa’s Relationship with the World Economy by Sara Dezalay – page 120
Postscript by Kalyani Ramnath – page 149
Catch an insightful roundtable discussion on the contours of socio-legal scholarship today, with a special focus on South Asia.
▶️ Watch the recording here: youtube.com/watch?v=y5MuTV6D…
We're excited to share that IDEAS Research Fellow @MaryamShKhan will be speaking at the launch of the special 20th Anniversary Issue of the Socio-Legal Review (SLR)!
📌 Don’t miss this important conversation — register here: shorturl.at/ElSzB
🗓️18 June | 3 PM IST
It’s finally here! India, South Asia, and Beyond—SLR’s ambitious 20th Anniversary Issue takes stock of the field. Join us on 18 June, 3 PM IST for its launch round-table with our authors on what socio-legal inquiry means today. Q&A to follow! Register: shorturl.at/ElSzB
ALT Poster for the launch of Socio-Legal Review’s Special 20th Anniversary Issue titled “SLR@20: Reflections from India, South Asia, and Beyond.” Includes details of an online round-table discussion on “Socio-Legal Today” featuring editors in conversation with Elizabeth Lhost, Anup Surendranath, Maitreyi Misra, Maryam S Khan, and Sara Dezalay. Event is on 18 May 2025, Wednesday at 3:00 PM IST. Registration link: shorturl.at/EISzB. Background image shows a classroom at NLSIU. Footer reads: "2005 – SLR Turns Twenty – 2025."
1) Since 2020 I've had the pleasure of collaborating on multiple intellectual projects with fellow-scholars from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka & Nepal. I dream of a time when we can all sit together anywhere in South Asia & brainstorm over our collective histories and experiences!
As part of the SuPWR project, research assistants at IDEAS have been documenting and analyzing the struggle against child marriage in Pakistan.
Read ahead to learn why the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025 in the Islamabad Capital Territory is an important milestone,
📸 SuPWR Exhibition
From December 16–18, 2024, IDEAS co-hosted the SuPWR Exhibition at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as part of the Pathways to Development Conference.
📷 ideasdev.org/news/sustaining…
🏛️ Legislative change is a long road.
The passage of the 2025 Child Marriage Restraint Act in Islamabad marks a major milestone in the struggle against child marriage in Pakistan. This timeline traces the legal, social, and political struggle that made this reform possible.