Fighting for the rule of law
Civil resistance and the lawyers' movement in Pakistan
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6252669 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zahid Shahab Ahmed (0000-0003-2084-0253, University of New England), Maria J Stephan (World Health Organization - Afghanistan) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 492-513 |
| Publication date | 2010-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Democratization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13510341003700360 |
| OpenAlex | W2019891255 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 15 |
| References cited | 7 |
Pakistan, sometimes referred to as 'the most dangerous place on earth', is not typically thought of as a place where popular nonviolent resistance could take root, much less succeed. Citizen apathy, poor governance, and fear of regime repression and terrorist violence are barriers to effective civic activism inside Pakistan. Yet, over the past two years, Pakistan's authoritarian ruler was ousted and its independent judiciary restored following a massive grassroots campaign led by lawyers. The 'men in black', whose insistence on the rule of law and embrace of nonviolent struggle captured the hearts and minds of millions of Pakistanis, helped transform the country's political landscape in unexpected ways. The successes tallied by this nonviolent movement, this article will argue, can be attributed to the large-scale non-cooperation and civil disobedience that pressured two successive Pakistani regimes – one authoritarian and one democratic – to yield to its demands. Unity and mass participation, nonviolent discipline, and the creative use of nonviolent tactics were three key ingredients of success. While instability and Islamist extremism continue to plague Pakistan, the lawyers' movement highlights the steadily growing strength of Pakistani civil society have a potential to influence democratic change in the country
Authoritarianism · Civil disobedience · Democracy · Grassroots · Martial law · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Resistance (ecology · Rule of law · Sociology · Terrorism · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Resource Mobilization Analysis of Lawyers' Movement in Pakistan (2007-2009)
Should I stay, or should I go? self-legitimacy of attorneys in an authoritarian state
Compliance with Supreme Court Judgments in Politically Important Cases by Authoritarian and Hybrid Regimes
The Lawyers’ Movement in Pakistan
Cause Lawyering
Resistance against Cyber-Surveillance within Social Movements and how Surveillance Adapts
Citizenship, social rights and judicial review in regime transition
Continuity and change in Pakistani politics 1
Civil Society and the Lawyers’ Movement of Pakistan
Navigating Pakistan’s Religious, Social and Political Fault Lines in the 1980s
Nature versus Nurture
The Legal Profession in Battle
Renegotiating societal-military relations in Pakistan
The legal complex fractured
Identifying the discursive trajectory of social change – a systematic discourse theoretical framework
| Unique citing works | 15 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,07 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 15 |