This thesis traces the roots of women's honor killings in the tribal areas of Pakistan from the British rule in South Asia. The British colonial presence gave the tribal areas autonomy through landmark colonial legislations. The colonizers needed a harmonious relationship with tribal and rural notables in order to gain from the land. Thus, the British gave precedence to the tribal legal structure and as a result we see the beginnings of tribal autonomy in today's Pakistan. Women's honor was also dictated by tribal laws thus tribal councils dictated women's mobility and rights. / After the creation of Pakistan in 1947 much colonial legislation was preserved in the Constitution. The tribal areas maintained autonomy and their legal systems also gained legitimacy on a national level. Therefore, cases of women's honor killings were dealt with in the rural areas but moreover, were justified in Pakistani law as well. Thus this thesis seeks to trace this legacy to the modern period and look at the evolution of the relationship between tribal autonomy and women's rights in the context of the pre and post-independence periods.

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This dissertation examines women's lives in a rapidly urbanizing rural community in Southern Pakistan to understand their responses to modernity in developing societies. Applying a mixed-methods approach, socio-demographic data is collected and contrasted with oral history and personal narratives to analyze social change through women's access to education and reproductive health care in the village. The results are framed within a post-modern and post-colonial feminist anthropological discourse to reveal that Sheherpind represents a model of 'multiple modernities' where women's agency and progress could only be contextualized in non-western, local cultural perspectives. Emerging trends in the village are evaluated for their 'Applied' significance to underscore areas of local, national and transnational policy significance. / Graduation date: 2013

So, Fun Hang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-192). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Introduction --- p.1 / Research on Related Areas --- p.3 / Methodology --- p.20 / Summary of Informants --- p.23 / Summary of Chapters --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Background of Hong Kong Pakistanis --- p.7 / Introduction --- p.7 / The Pakistani Diaspora --- p.7 / History and Origins of Pakistanis in Hong Kong --- p.10 / Transnational Pakistani Women --- p.24 / Conclusion --- p.26 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- The Lives of Pakistani Women in Hong Kong and Pakistan --- p.28 / Introduction --- p.28 / Rural Lifestyle in Pakistan --- p.29 / Institutionally Supported Lives in Hong Kong --- p.35 / The Joint Family in Pakistan --- p.38 / The Nuclear Family in Hong Kong --- p.39 / The Experience of Pakistani Women as an Ethnic Minority and Lower Classin Hong Kong --- p.46 / "The Experience of Pakistani Women as an Ethnic Majority, Middle Class and Overseas Pakistanis in Pakistan" --- p.50 / Conclusion --- p.53 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- The Lives of Pakistani Women as Muslims --- p.55 / Introduction --- p.55 / Virtual Identity --- p.62 / Funerals and Dua gatherings --- p.63 / Clothing and Veiling --- p.66 / Seclusion of Women --- p.71 / Charity --- p.74 / Conclusion --- p.76 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- The Lives of Pakistani Women as Marriage Partners and Mothers --- p.78 / Introduction --- p.78 / Transnational Marriage Arrangement --- p.79 / Early Marriage and Lack of Education --- p.81 / Split Households --- p.86 / Extra-marital Affairs and Divorce --- p.91 / Conflicts with In-laws --- p.100 / Conclusion --- p.101 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Sense of Home --- p.103 / Introduction --- p.103 / Making Homes in Hong Kong and Pakistan --- p.104 / Where is Home for Pakistani Women? --- p.115 / Conclusion --- p.128 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- "Senses of Identity: Going Home, Dress and Investment" --- p.130 / Introduction --- p.130 / Reasons for their Abilities to Shift Identities --- p.131 / Changing Physical Appearance through Dress --- p.138 / Performing Moral Appearance through Investment --- p.147 / Conclusion --- p.153 / Chapter Chapter 8 --- Conclusion --- p.157 / Summary of Chapters --- p.157 / The Tension between Two Homes --- p.161 / Implications for the Future of Pakistani Women's Identities --- p.170 / Implications for the Studies of Transnational Migration --- p.177 / The Roles of Pakistani Women and Racial Harmony --- p.180 / Reflections on My Fieldwork --- p.183 / Bibliography --- p.187