ASR RESOURCE CENTRE FOR WOMEN

Although ASR is not a women's centre, its ideological underpinnings are socialist feminist. This bias and ASR's holistic view of development has led ASR to experiment with a range of activities, and also to explore and create the space necessary for such experiments.

Realising that there was a dearth of training material in Pakistan, especially one that was simply written or written in Urdu, ASR began with translating and publishing a number of training materials, research reports and other writings in both Urdu and English. Encouraged by the success of these, ASR opened an avenue for creative and academic writers to publish in Pakistan, as an attempt not only to increase the body of knowledge within the country, but to expose the works of Pakistani writers outside Pakistan.

To make art more accessible and to bridge the gap between fiction, academia and art, ASR has used art works of women artists for covers of its publications. Besides this, the work of feminist artists is also printed in the form of posters and cards for wider dissemination. At present ASR is the only alternative feminist publisher in Pakistan, with a list of over 70 titles. ASR also tries to demystify writing and assists women to develop this form of expression.

ASR acts as a catalyst, a network and a resource centre for several women's groups, social action groups,theatre and other communication groups, trade unions and peasant organisations in terms of trying to link them to each other and also to link smaller initiatives/groups to larger and more "established" ones.

ASR believes that action cannot be divorced from theory and activism is an important and indispensable element for social transformation. ASR workers are also active members of several other organisations particularly of Women's Action Forum, Joint Action Committee, various peace committees, human rights initiatives, youth forums, cultural and literary forums and those upholding and supporting women's rights activism etc.

ASR has also moved substantially into the production of audio-visual materials and has its own film unit. Their films include a short film called Untangling The Knot; on women and Islam, a docu-drama on the girl child in the brick kiln industry; Mother I Have Many Desires and a short film on Islamisation and Women's resistance to it; When This Day Is Named. As part of its attempt to redefine development and politics, the ASR Resource Centre has made concerted efforts in encouraging women's creativity and collective expressions. Apart from theatre and films mentioned above, ASR has encouraged artists, craftswomen, writers and poets to be part of development processes.

ASR can be contacted at:

Flat No.5, 6, 7, 3rd Floor
Sheraz Plaza,
Main Market Gulberg II
P.O. Box No. 3154,
Lahore,
Pakistan

Phone:877613-5757448
Fax:5711575

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UNVEILING THE ISSUES; Pakistani women's Perspectives on Social, Political and Ideological Issues.
Edited, translated and compiled by the ASR group

This collection of essays discusses the effects and relationship, of women with a range of issues from global militarisation, media, dance and writing, reproductive rights to the women's movement and various other issues. These essays are the outcome of presentations and discussions from the National Conference of Development Activists and Cultural Festival (Process to Beijing and Beyond) organised by ASR in April 1995.

This volume also has an Urdu version called NAI ZAVIAY: ISLAM AND FEMINISM, by Nighat Said Khan (Ed)

This collection of work, done mainly by Muslim women living primarily in the Islamic world, is an attempt to understand the phenomenon of religious fundamentalism at the global level. It includes Islamic scholarship by women, anthropological case studies, analysis of women's movements in the Islamic world and debates among feminists on Islam.

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SHADOWS OF TIME
by Mehr Niga Masroor

Set around the time leading to the partition of the subcontinent, this novel moves along two parallel lines, the political and the personal. A good deal of commentary provides a backdrop to the main human drama of love, passion and tragedy of the family members from different communities over three generations.

UP AGAINST THE STATE; Essays on Islamisation and Women in Pakistan
by Nighat Said Khan

Nighat Said Khan is an activist on many levels and a founding member of Women's Action Forum. In this volume she reflects on the impact on the impact of Islamisation on women and of state policies articulated through the law, education and the media; on women's resistance, challenges and strategies. The role and limitation of the Women's Action Forum as a platform of protest is also discussed.

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WOMAN AT POINT ZERO
by Nawal el Saadawi

Set in Egypt, this book tells the painful life story of a woman condemned to death for killing a pimp. It provides critical reading for Pakistan, where like Firdaus, women have sought death as the ultimate rebellion against oppressive socio-religious regimes.

BEYOND BELIEF; Contemporary Feminist Urdu Poetry
Rukhsana Ahmad (Ed. and Trans)

This is a bilingual (Urdu and English) collection of poetry including works by Fehmida Riaz, Zehra Nigaah, Kishwar Naheed and Ishrat Aafreen.

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HIDDEN FROM HISTORY: FORGOTTEN QUEENS OF ISLAM
by Fatima Mernissi

This book came out of a debate in the Muslim world on whether a woman can be Head of State or Government in an Islamic Republic. Fatima Mernissi argues that not only can women head a state or government but have done so throughout Muslim history.

THE HEART DIVIDED
by Mumtaz Shah Nawaz

Set in the Subcontinent between 1930 and 1942, this novel speaks of the turbulent years before Partition. It highlights the situation of middle-class Muslim women for whom those years proved to be a watershed for their struggle for liberation as women.

BECOMING A WOMAN
Samina Rehman (Ed and Trans)

This is an English translation of Azra Abbas' MERA BACHPAN. The book explores the world of a young girl as she discovers manifestations of her sexuality in a patriarchal society while passing through various phases of her life.

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