Sep 01, 2026
While the rest of the world - both developing and developed - contends with a sharp decrease in reproductive rates and an economics of a shrinking world, Pakistan’s population boom continues to be framed as a policy problem to be solved
Jul 19, 2026
The World Cup has turned into a bonanza of capitalist excess. What keeps us watching still?
Jun 02, 2026
Globally, the era of cheap oil is over, and Pakistani households are paying full price
Feb 24, 2026
Economist, academic and author of the best-selling book 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 Thomas Piketty has recently turned his attention towards Pakistan and the broader Global South. In a conversation with our columnist Umair Javed, he expounds upon this shift and his own political evolution.
Jan 23, 2026
Following a recent trip to Egypt, columnist Umair Javed reflects on how, in a few stark ways, that country shows an image of the future to Pakistan, given the latter’s recent political economy dynamics.
Dec 31, 2025
With statehood in its 79th year, there is a new response to nation-building that is ‘from below’ (i.e. from online citizens), one that modifies the state-sanctioned position in new ways.
Oct 29, 2025
Metropolitan Pakistan has seen a coffee-related boom of sorts over the last five years. But what does this tell us about the wider social and cultural changes of urban Pakistan, beyond banal observations about ‘consumer tastes’?
Aug 18, 2025
Is the right of self-determination and national liberation an automatic right for any community that claims collective consciousness and shared historical existence? And what are the limits of ethnic politics in Pakistan? Umair Javed explores these questions that remain central to left and progressive politics in Pakistan, even after 78 years of independence.
Jun 20, 2025
Sana Yousaf’s brutal murder is not an isolated incident, but may be part of a larger pattern of rising masculine violence in reaction to the recent gains made by women towards greater equality in Pakistan
May 31, 2025
Characterized by deregulation in markets, and trade and financial liberalization, the set of prescriptions commonly dubbed as ‘neoliberalism’ were macroeconomic orthodoxy for nearly four decades. Now it seems to be dying, transforming our world in the process.
Apr 29, 2025
Trump’s move to freeze humanitarian assistance has left a vacuum in the social and humanitarian sectors in Pakistan. Is this a move to be lauded or bemoaned?
Mar 05, 2025
Why has the PTI emerged as the single most broadly popular political party across Pakistan today?
Jan 09, 2025
Pakistan’s nationalist project has encountered many threats over time, and yet the largely state-led experiment of nation-building is closer to its stated objective, albeit unevenly, than it has at any point in the past eight decades
Jan 06, 2025
The 2024 election results mark the end of a political cycle that began in the early 2000s. At first glance, this may not seem apparent from the outcome
Jan 04, 2025
A reflection on Pakistan’s tryst with democracy and the mammoth challenges along the way