The field site as a religious frontier: Negotiating blasphemy accusations and reflexive tensions in Pakistan

Abstract

In this article, I explore the reflexive tensions of a Muslim Anthropologist who conducted an ethnography of blasphemy in his own backyard exploring the predicament of fellow Christian Pakistanis in the face of growing blasphemy allegations. My authorial voice influenced by fluid emotional and religious frontiers raised certain critical questions such as how to reconcile my faith, personal judgment, and representation and how to keep a distinction between my positionality as a researcher and an advocate for my faith at a significant juncture when Islam and Pakistan became a focus of the world’s anxiety endangering religious freedom and safety of minorities. The article employs case study and narrative inquiry as a merged method to develop a critical narrative perspective on the blasphemy politics in Pakistan. I suggest that although my faith as an epistemological tool allowed me to investigate the intricacies and nuances surrounding the blasphemy accusations and victims’ plight, my ethnographic revelations could be subject to the severe criticism that I think is an inherent feature of postmodern ethnography.