Political Kinship in Pakistan

In Political Kinship in Pakistan, Steve Lyon draws on more than two decades of ethnographic research to depict descent and marriage networks as a critical mechanism for the maintenance of the Pakistan government and the construction of allies.

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In Political Kinship in Pakistan, Stephen M. Lyon illustrates how contemporary politics in Pakistan are built on complex kinship networks created through marriage and descent relations. Lyon points to kinship as a critical mechanism for understanding both Pakistan’s continued inability to develop strong and stable governments, and its incredible durability in the face of pressures that have led to the collapse and failure of other states around the world.