Empty Homogeneous Time and the Narratives of Nationalism and Marxism A Study of Research Practices in Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad

Abstract

The temporal dimension of human life and the confines it imposed have been the most theorized-upon elements in the studies of sociality and occupy a central place in the contemplations of the philosopher. This dissertation engages with the temporality following Walter Benjamin’s idea of Empty, homogeneous time and its impact on the discourses of Nationalism and Marxism in Pakistani academia in general and Quaid-i-Azam University in particular. Along the way, the formation of Pakistan, its educational progress and Islamist ideological influences have been discussed in order to properly understand the formation of a peculiar pedagogic apparatus in the institutions of higher education. The shortcomings of the dissertations in QAU are elaborated in order to properly situate the research, its locale and the primary texts. The exposition of the discourse of nationalism is construed by identifying and exposing the central tenets which constitute the discursive formations, alongside a historical polemic which helps understand the background in which these defining elements have brewed. The theories of Benedict Anderson and historians of Subaltern school have guided the research and tied a theoretical knot which shows the affinities between the discourses of Nationalism and Marxism in Pakistan. The chief actors in offering different interpretations of nationalism are ethno-nationalists; those wretched of the earth who have found a common solidarity with the inferior classes in the hierarchy established by capitalism. Therefore, it is important to read the chapter on Nationalism and Marxism in tandem. Finally, the research does not offer any ready-made solutions to the problems ailing Pakistan; it remains an indeterminate account of a textual politics which tries hard to evade the oft-imposing determinants of research paradigms.