Aizaz Younas

Matriculated September 2020

Research Interests

Contemporary practices and cultural politics of youth in urban Pakistan

About

Aizaz is interested in exploring the emergent, subterranean forms of political practices adopted by Pakistani youth. He hopes to study how Lahori youth push the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior and seek to escape (and in the process reshape) society’s increasingly restrictive standards by engaging in activities such as: fashion, social media, illicit dating, and substance use. Some of the key questions defining Aizaz’s research are: What is the political potential of “fun” in the Islamic Republic? To what extent do such “fun” activities empower Pakistani youth to push the multifarious restrictions that diminish and limit their lives? And what does it mean, subjectively, for these youth to reclaim power over their bodies, selves, and create alternative spaces?

Prior to beginning a PhD program at Boston University in 2020, Aizaz served as a research assistant at Lahore University of Management Science (LUMS), where he researched on youth subcultures in Lahore. He also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from LUMS (2015-2019), where his undergraduate thesis titled, “The Presentation of Black Magic in Pakistan,” examined the intersections of black magic and mental health among young men in Lahore.

Awards & Grants

• Long-Term (GRAF) Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship. (AY23-24)
• CURA Colloquium Fellow, “Religion & Authoritarianism.” (Summer 2023).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. (Summer 2023).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. (2022).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. (2021).
• Boston University Dean’s Fellowship. (deferred to Fall 2021, Spring 2022).

Publications

• forthcoming