Crucial to the social position of women in Pakistan is their access to and control of material resources. A key factor is the situation of legal pluralism in the country whereby state laws derived from Pakistan's Islamic and colonial heritages are often contradicted by local customary laws and practices. This book is based on extensive fieldwork in four villages in different provinces of Pakistan, and takes both a socio-legal and an anthropological approach. Its focus includes many other areas of life that have a bearing on women's access to property and enables the reader to better envisage the environment. Arguing that official law is largely ineffective in securing property rights for women, the book offers insights into the interaction of customary and state laws in Pakistan, and should be of interest to scholars, lawyers and development specialists. The book also provides background to students, researchers and scholars engaged in studies on Pakistani immigrants in Europe.

Foreword by: Gordon R. Woodman