Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan: Shenila Khoja-Moolji, 2021, Oakland, University of California Press 288pp., £66.00, $85.00 hardback, £27.00, $34.95 paperback. ISBN 9780520336797 hardback, 9780520336803 paperback

The book "Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan" by Shenila Khoja-Moolji examines the ideological battle between the Taliban and the Pakistani state over political and cultural claims to sovereignty. The author analyzes various cultural outputs, such as autobiographies, television serials, magazines, and songs, comparing those produced by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan with those sanctioned by Pakistani state institutions. The book explores how ideas of sovereignty are constructed through different combinations of masculinity, femininity, affect, and Islam. It also delves into the role of femininities in relation to the masculine sovereign and the ways in which grief is transformed into abstract pride to maintain the performance of sovereignty. The author argues that the construction of masculinity by both the Pakistani state and the Taliban is distinctively modern and distinct from historical discourses. The book offers insights into the contestations of sovereignty in Pakistan and provides a broader understanding of the global crises of national sovereignty. [Extracted from the article]