Producing neoliberal citizens: critical reflections on human rights education in Pakistan

AbstractThis paper challenges the celebratory uptake of human rights education (HRE) in postcolonial contexts by making visible the ideological and political entanglements of the discourse with neoliberal assumptions of citizenship. I draw evidence from, and critically reflect on, a specific HRE programme – a series of summer camps for girls entitled, Women Leaders of Tomorrow (WLT) – that a colleague and I implemented in Pakistan. Using narrative inquiry methodology, I examine the kinds of citizens imagined in and through its curriculum, and the norms of leadership and community promoted by it, to argue that the programme can be interpreted as a technology of neoliberalism in that it was productive of neoliberal rationalities. Individuals, however, are not simply objects of knowledges; they co-opt, resist, negotiate, and compromise. I, thus, disturb my own linear reading of the unfolding of WLT by reflecting on moments of resistances where participants not only interrogated its assumptions but also engaged in self-stylisations that produced new mutations of HRE. This unfolding of a globalist discourse in a local setting directs me to call for a re-conceptualisation of HRE in postcolonial contexts that is multiple, contingent, and fluid.Keywords: human rights educationneoliberalismgirls' empowermentPakistan Notes1 The National Report submitted by Pakistan to the Human Rights Council, for instance, notes that 'In practice, access to these avenues [human rights via the legal channels by women] is limited for reasons such as the low level of literacy and also lack of awareness of one's rights' (Human Rights Working Group 2008, 7), implying that once such awareness has been achieved, people would be able to exercise their rights.2 The recent UNESCO advocacy campaign entitled, 'Stand Up For Malala' (www.unesco.org) seeks to raise awareness about the rights of women to obtain an education. The campaign is a response to an assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai, a young activist in Pakistan.