As a third world country in search of identity, an international role, and a societal persona for integrating its Islamist and modernist aspirations, the story of social developments in Pakistan is both traumatic and colorful. We will need chronological lists of socio-cultural events in Pakistan to identify an appropriate topical classification for our cultural history and demarcate units of time and space as phases of evolution. This would facilitate the study of local/district histories and lead to an understanding of culture at the grass-roots.
Such studies link people with their past and provide a sense of continuity. Though culture is a relatively static/stable element it does record small changes. Values, norms, lifestyle, language and rituals evolve imperceptibly. However, political, demographic, economic or administrative changes cause sudden cultural deviations and alter the persona of a society or community. These can be assessed by a comparison of cultural profile over time.
The creation of Pakistan has caused a major restructuring of demography, economic and political frames of reference and administrative or organizational parameters; even ethnic identities of the past have been challenged within the short span of two generations. This has justified a review of ‘cultural history’ of the people of Pakistan especially in the more recent past. Whereas some changes may be traced within a ‘national’ frame of reference, a greater number are mirrored on a local scale because the historic structure of its mosaic is in the form of smaller units which have dictated administrative geography of districts and divisions etc. For this reason the district histories will provide a better understanding of changes that are taking place in culture due to economic, political, social, demographic and ethnic forces that have emerged during Pakistan’s changing administrative scene.
The study of cultural history should take into account the linguistic and ethnic structure of districts and prepare a profile of lifestyles and rituals as they can be observed today or use previous recorded profiles to compare with present conditions in a locality or district. In case a previous image is available, the communities could be involved in the study in order to prepare an action plan. A resource person would present the known profile to the community and discuss the vision it has for its progress and development. Profiles would be needed in the fields of economics [depicting changes in occupation, income/spending]; sociology [reflecting changes in social grouping and hierarchy]; anthropology [showing a change in norms, values and lifestyle]; and agricultural/ecological changes [in crops and harvesting practices or ecology and environment]. For example a template for sociology: would include a study of demographic structures [at the M.A/M. Sc. level]; census data for social demography since 1947, reviewed in the light of data in 1971 and 1998; current social demography. Study of comparative structures at a particular time or of one area at a time for a long period and comparative studies of several areas in the long run could be done at the M. Phil. level. The analytical structure of a set of variables over long time and space coordinate would be done by a senior student enrolled for a Ph. D. In anthropology: Norms [MA-M. Phil], Fieldwork: collation; Values [MA-M. Phil.], Fieldwork: collation; Lifestyle [M. Phil./Ph. D.], Fieldwork, Collation, Analysis. The data for these studies can be culled from Gazetteers, census reports and other statistics for historic data; interviews and local material remains along with intangibles like place names and clan identities; as well as political and social history as a means of cross referencing data & local memory.
While conducting such a study it would be worthwhile to keep in mind the matrix of life choices made by different communities depending on the nature and form of habitat they chose and the imperatives of occupation and ecology/topography they occupy.
ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS [Y = yes, N = no, and ? = variable]
| TITLE/ATTRIBUTE | RURAL | URBAN | INDUSTRIAL |
| POLITICS | |||
| Social groupings | Y | ? | N |
| Economic interests | Y | Y | Y |
| Influentials | Y | Y | Y |
| Systemic structures [electoral based on personal relations and contacts] | Y | Y | N |
| Attempted dominance and acceptance of subservience | N | N | Y |
| POPULATION | |||
| Quantity | Small: varying to a small extent | Large: greater variety with growth of size of the urban unit | Sub-groups and small well ordered groups: integrated |
| Variety of relationships: social, political, economic, cultural. | Close knit | Loose knit | Close knit |
| ECOLOGY | |||
| Biotic [biological community] | High | Low [small]/unhygienic | Low |
| Bacteria | Mixed/hygienic | Specific strains | ? |
| Animal | Excess-multiple | Low and few species | Low/few species |
| Vegetable | Excess & multiple | Low and few species | Low/few species |
| Abiotic | Varied and well managed | Limited and ill managed | Limited and well managed |
| Soil | Relatively uniform | Varied | Non-agricultural |
| Rocks & Minerals | ? | ? | ? |
| General | More utility vegetation and animal domestication | More decorative and luxury vegetation and domestication | Low vegetation and domestication |
| ECONOMY | |||
| Production | Few products | Multiple products | Very few products |
| Consumption | Few consumables | Multiple consumables | Limited consumption high ratio/qtty of few |
| Diversity of inputs | Low | High | High |
| Micro and macro responses | High micro; low macro, nominal international | Multiple at all levels | Variable responses esp. to international situations |
| ENERGY | |||
| Quantity | Low | High | High |
| Quality | Low | High | High |
| Variety of form | Few | High | Few |
| Variety of use | Few | High | Few |
| Sustainability | Partially dependent | Highly dependent | Very highly dependent |
| TITLE/ATTRIBUTE | RURAL | URBAN | INDUSTRIAL |
| SETTING | |||
| Climate | Highly dependent | Generally independent | Virtually independent |
| Soil | Highly dependent | Generally independent | Virtually independent |
| Water | Highly dependent | Generally dependent | Dependent |
| Other settlements | Size is dependent on land supply | Hinterland is dependent on the potential and size of the unit | Location on the basis of economic convenience |
| Highways | Less dependent | Dependent | Highly dependent |
| LAYOUT | |||
| Planned vs. unplanned | Generally unplanned | Generally partially planned Grid; radiant; circular; regulate to contours of land | Generally planned |
| Identifiable sub-units | Diverse | Uniform and diverse | Uniform |
| Scatter vs. concentration | Both | Either or both | Concentrated |
| High rise vs. large compound | Both unlikely | Either or both | One or the other |
| Location of domestic and occupation sectors: industry, | Irrelevant trade, utilities: schools, hospitals, bus | Basis of planning and the identity of the sub units | Irrelevant? Taken as given? |
| Supply of utilities | Low | High | High |
| No of items of utility | Few | Various | Few but high tech. |
Solutions: The itemized list is merely a reminder here that, given these variations in the life patterns of the communities in Pakistan, when we address the possibility of effective governance, we will need to find some activities for the state to undertake. These activities would have to promote activities to induce residents of each locality and followers of each lifestyle that will bring them into the mainstream of national life. The peculiarities listed above will be most relevant and communities would need solutions that integrate them Vis-à-vis the following: Vis-à-vis each other, the ecology, energy, economy, the region, the national and provincial layout, and the world.