PERENNIAL JOURNAL OF HISTORY

Historical Evolution of Ideas and Theories Related to the Concept of Civil Society

Abdul Mueed Kamran — 2023-12-01

The article presents the historical origin and growth of civil society. The philosophies of many philosophers show the ever-changing dimensions of civil society from time to time. The historical debate starts from classical political economists’ views, continues with Hegelian, Marx’s and Gramsci’s notions of civil society and ends at the current debate on civil society. Classical scholars considered civil society as an economic sphere and the property of emerging industrial societies that were characterized by complex segmentation of labor, the centrality of production and economic interactions. They give more importance to the state rather than individuals. Hegel, Karl Marx and Gramsci are the main philosophers of the classical school of thought. Other scholars like Herbert Marcuse, Jurgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michal Sandel, Charles Tayler and Michal Walzer also contributed in the debate of relationship between the state and civil society. Current scholars like Foucault, Derrida, Deliuze, Lyotard, Fradric Jameson and Francis Fukuyama have discussed the term of civil society with new directions and ideas. The main focus of these scholars is state, human rights, morality, socialism, liberalism and social movements. Their main point is that individuals are more important than the state. The major analysis of this article is based on qualitative approach. The article concludes that the nature of ideas about relationship between the state and civil society and the influence of civil society on state and that of state on civil society have shaped civil society in different dimensions in different periods of history.

Historic Disclosures About Blurry Motives of Politicization in Pakistan’s Judiciary

Muhammad Riaz — 2023-12-12

The constitutional role of state institutions is very important for the stability of an independent state. Every independent state has three main pillar Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. While the judiciary being an important pillar in any state, plays a crucial role in maintaining of law and order, and peace along with political stability. In case of Pakistan judiciary as seen under politicization. Thus in Pakistan, there state institutions have been facing inner political interference in every era. Therefor the Constituent Assembly and Judiciary had completely failed to play its own constitutional role. The Constituent Assembly real task is legislation and Executive’s work to implement it. But the work of Judiciary is more important than these two institutions, it reviews and also interprets the laws made by the Constituent Assembly. So that, the supremacy of justice has been established in the country. But the judiciary involved along with the Executive remained the seat of politics for their own benefits. The basic purpose of this research article is to identify historic disclosures about blurry motives of politicization in Pakistan’s judiciary.

The judiciary must be strengthened and

released from political. interference.

----Aung San Suu Kyi---

The Study of Speech Acts in Pakistani Universities’ Vice Chancellors’ Messages: A Pragmatic Lens

Mamona Yasmin Khan — 2023-12-13

This research aims to explore the manners Pakistani educational leaders/Vice Chancellors perform actions through language in their messages in the educational context. Furthermore, VCs of universities promote education and motivate students to get education reflecting their aims and strategies to infuse positivity and love for knowledge along with responsibility for the country’s progress in their blood. Moreover, this is significant for decoding their messages in an educational context because this inspires the learners. This is a mixed-method inquiry, primary data in the form of VC messages is selected from the official websites of Pakistani universities and analyzed under The Speech Act Theory (Searle, 1969). The findings reveal three types of speech acts in their messages. The percentages of these speech acts are representative (40%), commissive (36%) and Expressive (24%). These speech acts interact with the context and give the intended meaning. Thus, Pakistani Universities’ vice-chancellors in their messages perform representative commissive and expressive speech acts to promote education and to motivate students for the future another function is the role of these speech acts in the promotion of universities to increase the admission ratio.

Historical Insights of Global Power Transitions: Implications on US-China Relations

Asad Ali — 2023-12-22

The history of global power transitions is a complex and multifaceted topic that has far-reaching implications on various aspects of international relations, including US-China relations. Throughout history, there have been numerous instances where the balance of power between nations has shifted, leading to significant changes in the global order. This research is aimed to analyse the prospects and implications of the current global power transition. Since the relative decline of the United States and the rise of China, the US-China relationship is one of the recurring themes in international relations. The pace of rise of the rest, especially China, is shrinking the power gap between the United States and these competitors. This paper suggests that the United States has gone through a relative decline in its military, economic, and soft power capabilities. The current trade war between the two largest economies, COVID-19 and other factors have exacerbated souring US-China relations. The realist theorists suggest that the ‘rising states are always prone to provoke war’, however, as China continues to increase its economic and military capabilities, the US has become increasingly wary of its rise and has adopted a more confrontational approach towards the country. This has led to a series of trade disputes, military tensions, and geopolitical conflicts between the two nations. The rise of China today is possible because of benefitting from the contemporary global order, but at the same time, China is dissatisfied with the role of the United States or a group of certain states in manipulating the laws of international institutions to pursue their self-interest. To avoid hostility, the largest economies should emphasize global issues by endorsing economic interdependence and cooperation.

A Connection Through Stucco Technique with Early Medieval Natural Lighting Systems in Rome and Emphasis on the Role of Light in Islamic Architecture Focusing on Khirbat al-Mafiar 7CE.

Siyana Georgieva — 2023-12-23

This article investigates how, since ancient times, building windows have had grids of stucco, stone, wood, or iron, as well as slabs of glass or other materials. They also appeared as simple apertures in the wall, the arrangement of which frequently served decorative functions. Following a classical tradition, the usage of shuttered windows with glass fixed on timber frames was known in late antiquity. The search for a peculiar architectural taste of the late antique and early mediaeval times is particularly appealing due to the light effects produced by shuttered windows made of translucent material, which provides a mystical and suggestive appearance.

The light that transforms the decoration, using color combinations, sometimes occur in unexpected contexts or in an adjacent architectural form, such as the floor and vault of the royal apse in the bathroom of Khirbat al-Mafjar. The architectural element that includes the lozenges, closer to Khirbat al-Mafjar as a drawing and scheme, to create a particular visual effect, could be seen in three barriers of stucco windows found in situ in the windows of the central nave during the 1930 restorations to Bovino Cathedral. Presence of light during history and in various architectural oeuvres, in addition to functional aspect, as factor for illumination and life conferring to daily activities, it has been abundantly addressed from spiritual aspect and in doctrinal discussions of religions.

An Exploratory Overview of Teacher Educators’ Demographic Based Insight Regarding Standards of Quality of Teacher Education in Public Sector Universities of Pakistan

Muhammad Shahzad Naseem — 2023-12-25

The quality of teacher education is highly contingent on professional standards and teachers’ firm belief in these standards. By following the standards, teacher education can be revolutionized. Keeping in view this utmost need of standards, the present study was envisioned to review teacher educator’s insight regarding standards of quality of teacher education. For this purpose, an exploratory survey was conducted with the help of an open ended questionnaire based on ten national professional standards. Two demographics gender and teachers’ designation were focused. Questionnaire was administered over 55 teacher educators out of which 49 questionnaire were returned. These teacher educators were purposively selected as they were teaching to preservice teachers in teacher education departments of various public sector universities of Punjab, KP and Federal. There were total 15 questions in this questionnaire. Results of the study concluded that majority of teachers were well aware of these standards. In all standards data showed a marginal gender based difference. However,in terms of training teachers revealed that there is lack of training regarding implementation of these standards. Teachers were found weak in standard of professional code of conduct and assessment techniques. Half of the majority of teachers were hopeful that standards can improve quality of teacher education. The study recommends training program for teachers for teachers’ continuous professional development and to empower them for using ICTs and for opting diverse assessment techniques.

Modi’s Urge for Hindu State: A Historical Overview of Identity Doctrine

Isra Sarwar — 2023-12-27

Akhant Bharat with only Hindus are the main agenda of BJP led government which formed its policies -posed as religious extremist Hindu political party- having goals of ethnic cleansing and make its land pure from non-Hindus mainly Muslims. The Hindutva doctrine followed and advocated by BJP actually “sought to define Indian culture in terms of Hindu values”. Which was opposite to Nehru’s approach and critical to secular policies but it incepted, grow and now reach a momentum where orthodox rightest Modi passed citizenship Act in which religion has been used as criteria for citizenship besides its constitutional commitment to secularism. Modi led BJP’s policies disturbs the social fabric of India as what they exactly want that non Hindu believers can only live at sufferance of Hindutva which is actually against Hindu Teachings. This study will highlight Modi Government policies that indicate his urge for Hindu state and will trace the connection between Modi’s practical approach for Hindutva with Hitler’s far-right wing working for the supremacy of his race and its influence on South Asia.

The Quest for Decolonization: Reimagining Politics, Nation State and Identity in India

Muhammad Kamran Fiaz — 2023-12-27

Was the liberation movement really for liberation? Did the nationalist movements betray the multitudes, the common of the society? Was the liberation of South Asia only a shift of minorities (from native to national minority) and unequal dynamics of power (‘Strongmen’ ruling the weak)? Almost every nation state shares the same attributes. The Empire's colonists and native are the nation state’s national majority and national minority, Mamdani (2020) argued. The study uses Mamdani's theoretical framework of nation state to understand the plight of India’s national minorities. Minorities of the nation state are struggling to belong and find a space of identity in the land of their ancestors. Mamdani, through the example of Apartheid South Africa, proposes that nation state’s violence can be curbed through decolonizing the governing apparatus of state narratives that shapes the identity of the people for its own benefits. The people should not buy into the state narratives based on differences that spread violence for its own strategic and political purposes. But they should reassemble and redefine their subjective truths to reshape their identity, to regain the power of inclusion not exclusion, and to contribute to the land of their ancestors. As Amartya Sen argued, freedom is also the primary objective of development. The struggle to freedom must be fought on all fronts.

Afghan Enghlish Pronunciation Intelligibility: A Historically Segmental Phonetic Approach

Khizra Sardar — 2023-12-30

The increasing demand for English learning and usage; and the instruction supply turns this work a mandatory structure to identify the divergences and convergences. This research examines the English pronunciation intelligibility features – precisely focused on segmentals – in case of Afghanistan. In order to do so, primarily, the recordings are analyzed perceptually and the deviations are verified acoustically. This research employees sociolinguistic variables for examination. The level of intelligibility of this variation along the international platform has been scrutinized. In methodological framework, respondents recorded data has been used as an intelligibility test material in the three concentric circles – inner, outer, and expanding – proposed by (Kachru, 1985). The topic entailment is vast. The researcher intends to comprehensively look into English pronunciation of Afghans pertaining in the context of Phonetic segmentals.

Impact of Firm's Value Relevance of Accounting Information on Stock Returns during Market over and under Reactions in Pakistan

Dil Nawaz — 2023-12-30

Value relevance of accounting information (VRAI) is a fundamental characteristic of influencing stock returns. This study analyzes the impact of VRAI on stock returns during market under and overreaction in Pakistan. The data of 322 non-financial firms listed in PSX from 2005 to 2022 is used. To explain stock returns, we employ the annual stock returns and buying and holding returns model. The data on financial variables has been collected from annual reports published on the company's websites and PSX Data Stream. The outcomes show that the accounting information variables earnings per share and change in earnings per share are positively related to the stock returns during market over and under reaction. Earnings per share, net income and book value are significantly related to the BHAR diuuring market under and overreaction while earnings per share and book value are significantly related to the BHAR during market overreaction of non-financial firms. It is also concluded that balance sheet variables attract more investors to invest in the stock market during the underreaction of non-financial firms. Therefore, it is suggested that the non-financial firms must present adequate accounting information on their financial statements within the specified time frame.

Examining the Historical Trends in the Relationship Between External Economic Aid and Economic Growth Dynamics in Pakistan

Adnan Yasin — 2023-12-31

Recent research aims to explain the empirical ambiguity between foreign aid and economic growth in Pakistan. This study follows the Micro-Macro paradox and reviews critically the role that foreign aid has on economic growth. The study has utilized data from 1972 through 2023, while the ARDL co-integration approach approximates the estimation of the model. Most development projects in underdeveloped economies, particularly Kenya, focus on external resources. Hence, the trend that comes to light in this study. The analysis also unfolds the fact that high inflation holds back economic growth, underlined the potential of what rationally organized foreign economic aid may hold for boosting the economic growth of Pakistan significantly.