Given BB’s death anniversary on Dec 27, and all kinds of recent spotlight on Maryam Nawaz, I’ve been thinking about the gendered nature of dynastic politics in PK, and the research that has helped me understand it. 🧵/1

I explored this a bit in my chapter on women’s exclusion from electoral politics in a volume on Pakistan’s Political Parties edited by @NiloSiddiqui @sahar_shafqat & Mariam Mufti https://t.co/bKIlD0smTF

The book is out now in PK via @foliobooks: https://t.co/tLKsKs0fWD /2
Here’s a figure from that chapter. The pattern extends beyond BB & MNS; women elected representatives with family connections make up a starkly high proportion of all women in national & provincial assemblies. There’s a gender gap in dynastic connections /3
Family connections are on the one hand a "channel" for women, otherwise excluded, to enter a very very male dominated space of national and provincial level politics. At the same time, the *lack* of such connections poses a much higher barrier for women than it does for men. /4
This isn’t a Pakistan specific pattern by any means. Amrita Basu explores this in her excellent chapter "Women, dynasties, and democracy in India" in a volume on Democratic Dynasties edited by Kanchan Chandra https://t.co/ZcRRKyvrrl /5
It isn’t South Asia specific either. An amazing paper by @OlleFolke @johannarickne
& @ProfDanSmith, which I love and cite in my chapter, explores this question in the case of Sweden and Ireland. Just out now: /6
https://t.co/mxThqdlGGR
A key finding of this paper is that the trend of women being more likely than men to enter politics through family connections (what they call “dyanastic bias”) fades over time as more and more women enter. /7
their theory predicts (and they find evidence) that as more and more women enter politics, parties and voters will gain greater information about women politicians' and the reliance on political connections as a signal decreases, allowing more "non-dynastic" women to enter /8
So to the people who are Suddenly Very Concerned about Pakistani women politicians’ dynastic backgrounds: one possible way to change this is to fight for actual policies and social changes that will make it easier for more women, and more kinds of women to enter politics. /9
In the chapter, I suggest some ways to think about the role of family for women's presence in (lack thereof) in electoral politics outside of just family connections. /10
i was trying to summarize that part succinctly but failed so here is a screenshot, sorry ! /11
this is not specific to politics. it describes how "family" mediates women's entry, presence and absence from the public sphere more broadly

however these tendencies may amplified in electoral politics, esp. national & provincial, because of its highly public nature /12
all to say, the issue of the gendered role of family in politics is complex and fascinating.

many open questions for research, lots to learn from the experiences of Pakistani women politicians and candidates, lots to learn from research on this in other contexts. 12/12

More from World

A few thoughts on this sad development 👇👇

20 academics criticizing an paper is fine; good science, really

10000+ hate mail for studying schools in Sweden is insane

Anonymous docs/ prof (hiding in faceless accts) on twitter smearing researchers is insane
[thread] https://t.co/QYldLD3WO0


In April 2020, @jflier and I saw this coming

We saw increasingly heated and personal attacks against scientists merely for having a range of views on COVID19 (PS there is no playbook/ right ans)

Tying science to naked politics was also bad idea, we

Yet, repeatedly that is what happened. Twitter 'experts' displayed an absolute intolerance to other views

Folks who disagreed weren't just wrong, they were malicious actors spreading "disinformation"

Really? Someone worked for 25 years as faculty to suddenly spread lies?

Disinformation has been so misused that it has lost meaning.

I recently saw an ID doc & lab researcher in the UK be accused of spreading "disinformation"

hahah, get outta here, you are trying to say "i disagree" but your keyboard is broken

Personal attacks have become so bad that I have seen a lab researcher accuse a doctor of wanting to engage in inappropriate relationships with patients due to diverging views on vaccine messaging

Seriously? It was a low point even for twitter

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प्राचीन काल में गाधि नामक एक राजा थे।उनकी सत्यवती नाम की एक पुत्री थी।राजा गाधि ने अपनी पुत्री का विवाह महर्षि भृगु के पुत्र से करवा दिया।महर्षि भृगु इस विवाह से बहुत प्रसन्न हुए और उन्होने अपनी पुत्रवधु को आशीर्वाद देकर उसे कोई भी वर मांगने को कहा।


सत्यवती ने महर्षि भृगु से अपने तथा अपनी माता के लिए पुत्र का वरदान मांगा।ये जानकर महर्षि भृगु ने यज्ञ किया और तत्पश्चात सत्यवती और उसकी माता को अलग-अलग प्रकार के दो चरू (यज्ञ के लिए पकाया हुआ अन्न) दिए और कहा कि ऋतु स्नान के बाद तुम्हारी माता पुत्र की इच्छा लेकर पीपल का आलिंगन...

...करें और तुम भी पुत्र की इच्छा लेकर गूलर वृक्ष का आलिंगन करना। आलिंगन करने के बाद चरू का सेवन करना, इससे तुम दोनो को पुत्र प्राप्ति होगी।परंतु मां बेटी के चरू आपस में बदल जाते हैं और ये महर्षि भृगु अपनी दिव्य दृष्टि से देख लेते हैं।

भृगु ऋषि सत्यवती से कहते हैं,"पुत्री तुम्हारा और तुम्हारी माता ने एक दुसरे के चरू खा लिए हैं।इस कारण तुम्हारा पुत्र ब्राह्मण होते हुए भी क्षत्रिय सा आचरण करेगा और तुम्हारी माता का पुत्र क्षत्रिय होकर भी ब्राह्मण सा आचरण करेगा।"
इस पर सत्यवती ने भृगु ऋषि से बड़ी विनती की।


सत्यवती ने कहा,"मुझे आशीर्वाद दें कि मेरा पुत्र ब्राह्मण सा ही आचरण करे।"तब महर्षि ने उसे ये आशीर्वाद दे दिया कि उसका पुत्र ब्राह्मण सा ही आचरण करेगा किन्तु उसका पौत्र क्षत्रियों सा व्यवहार करेगा। सत्यवती का एक पुत्र हुआ जिसका नाम जम्दाग्नि था जो सप्त ऋषियों में से एक हैं।
**Thread on Bravery of Sikhs**
(I am forced to do this due to continuous hounding of Sikh Extremists since yesterday)

Rani Jindan Kaur, wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh had illegitimate relations with Lal Singh (PM of Ranjit Singh). Along with Lal Singh, she attacked Jammu, burnt - https://t.co/EfjAq59AyI


Hindu villages of Jasrota, caused rebellion in Jammu, attacked Kishtwar.

Ancestors of Raja Ranjit Singh, The Sansi Tribe used to give daughters as concubines to Jahangir.


The Ludhiana Political Agency (Later NW Fronties Prov) was formed by less than 4000 British soldiers who advanced from Delhi and reached Ludhiana, receiving submissions of all sikh chiefs along the way. The submission of the troops of Raja of Lahore (Ranjit Singh) at Ambala.

Dabistan a contemporary book on Sikh History tells us that Guru Hargobind broke Naina devi Idol Same source describes Guru Hargobind serving a eunuch
YarKhan. (ref was proudly shared by a sikh on twitter)
Gobind Singh followed Bahadur Shah to Deccan to fight for him.


In Zafarnama, Guru Gobind Singh states that the reason he was in conflict with the Hill Rajas was that while they were worshiping idols, while he was an idol-breaker.

And idiot Hindus place him along Maharana, Prithviraj and Shivaji as saviours of Dharma.