SUMMER READING SALE! 30% off all eBooks until Sept 2nd! Reconstruction of the Pakhtun Code of Life in a Changing Pakistan | BERGHAHN BOOKS
Join our Email List Berghahn Books Logo

berghahn New York · Oxford
Browse
Reconstruction of the Pakhtun Code of Life in a Changing Pakistan

View Table of Contents


Series
Volume 10

Lifeworlds: Knowledges, Politics, Histories

Email Newsletters

Sign up for our email newsletters to get customized updates on new Berghahn publications.

Click here to select your preferences

Reconstruction of the Pakhtun Code of Life in a Changing Pakistan

Adnan Khan

226 pages, 21 ills., bibliog., index

ISBN  978-1-83695-345-6 $135.00/£104.00 / Hb / Not Yet Published (February 2026)

eISBN 978-1-83695-346-3 eBook Not Yet Published


View CartYour country: - edit Recommend to your LibraryAvailable in GOBI®

Reviews

“The book offers a valuable and detailed exploration of Pakhtun culture, with a specific focus on Pakhtunwali and the dynamics of gham khadee. It provides fresh ethnographic insights and challenges stereotypical narratives about Pakhtuns, filling a significant gap in anthropological literature on the region. The integration of personal narratives adds authenticity and accessibility, making it a compelling academic contribution.” • Aamir Jamal, University of Calgary

“This is a well written and persuasive book...it effectively provides an ethnographic challenge to one of the more dominant narratives about Pakhtun culture. This work sits alongside the classics of Charles Lindholm or Fredik Barth in its aspiration to develop a salient cultural framework.” • Stephen Lyon, Aga Khan University

Description

Since the 1970s, the transformation of Pakhtun areas has brought far-reaching changes to all aspects of society. This book investigates evolving patterns of social relations among Pakhtuns, focusing on the practice of gham khadee (participation in sorrows and joys) as a key mode of social and political engagement. Given that political standing among Pakhtuns is tied to honour, the book also explores how gham khadee and the doing of favours enable leaders to build profiles and political followings. Offering a faithful account of Pakhtun reality, this study contests the stereotypical representation of Pakhtunwali and considers gham khadee to be a manifestation of the code of life.

Adnan Khan teaches anthropology as an Assistant Professor at the University of Malakand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His research interests focus on contesting the stereotypical images of the Pakhtuns from an ethnographic perspective by analysing the ways in which the Pakhtun code of life has changed due to the broader socio-economic and religio-political changes in the region.

Subject: Political and Economic AnthropologyCultural Studies (General)Sociology
Area: Asia


Contents

Back to Top



Library Recommendation Form

Dear Librarian,

I would like to recommend Reconstruction of the Pakhtun Code of Life in a Changing Pakistan for the library. Please include it in your next purchasing review with my strong recommendation. The RRP is: $135.00

I recommend this title for the following reasons:

BENEFIT FOR THE LIBRARY: This book will be a valuable addition to the library's collection.

REFERENCE: I will refer to this book for my research/teaching work.

STUDENT REFERRAL: I will regularly refer my students to the book to assist their studies.

OWN AFFILIATION: I am an editor/contributor to this book or another book in the Series (where applicable) and/or on the Editorial Board of the Series, of which this volume is part.