The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, organised a ceremony to launch Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar's book, 'The Struggle for Hegemony in Pakistan: Fear, Desire and Revolutionary Horizons' at the IBA City Campus. Attendees included the IBA faculty, students and alumni and members from the academia.
The discussion featured, Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director, IBA Karachi; Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Associate Professor of Political Economy, National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaide-Azam University and Leader, Awami Workers Party (AWP); Ms. Abira Ashfaq, Visiting Faculty, IBA Karachi and Member, Karachi Bachao Tehreek; and Faisal Siddiqui, Civil and Human Rights Lawyer at the Supreme Court and High Courts of Pakistan. Dr. Zaidi gave an introduction of panelists.
He introduced Dr. Akhtar as an exceptional author. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Akhtar said that using his poetic licence, he has taken the book in various directions. He talked about the digital age and how politics has evolved in the past 20 years due to digitalisation.
Reviewing the book, Siddiqui classified the book as theoretical and said that the author wants to transform the readers into revolutionary agents. He said that the book goes back to the Grand theory, Marxism and revolves around universal politics. The book explains why the middle-class desires and accepts dominance as per Gramsci's ideology.
Ms. Ashfaq said that the case studies on Bahria Town and Thar Coal were enlightening. Shedding light on the hegemony of leading international financial aid organisations and multinationals, she said that their obsolete policies should be challenged and revised for the betterment of the common people. Concluding the discussion, Dr. Zaidi said that "After all the revolutions, it is ironic that the world is back to the time when the middle-class is the savior."
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