Hadia Akhtar Khan

I am an anthropologist trained in political economy and gender studies. My research focuses on migration, the patriarchal family and rural capitalism. 

My current book project, Plastic Patriarchy: Family and Capitalism in Rural Pakistan, explores how transnational joint families are simultaneously shaping capitalist development and patriarchal family relations ‘from below.’ Against perspectives that see patriarchy as a rigid relic of the past, I argue that the fluidity of patriarchy allows for its persistence over time, making it a central node through which capitalism develops. This research is based on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork in rural Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.