Markhor trophy hunting: Understanding the discourse of development in Northern Pakistan

Markhor Trophy Hunting: Understanding the Discourse of Development in Northern Pakistan

Markhor, the iconic national animal of Pakistan, is an endangered species living in the high mountains of the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges. A target of state-governed trophy hunting programs in recent years, the markhor now symbolises the general condition of life in the Gilgit-Baltistan region bordering China—a key site of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (the flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative). This PhD project proposal explores how markhor’s trophy hunting stands at the crossroads of postcolonial governance, masculinity, militarisation of space, and mega-development projects. As the region is seeing massive landscape transformations, which are bringing forth environmental destruction and displacement of flora and fauna along with human communities, this project aims to unravel the current developmental discourse in Gilgit-Baltistan through the lens of transforming human-markhor relationships. 

Speaker

Hassan F. Virk is an HDR candidate at the School of Culture, History & Language (CHL), Australian National University. With a multidisciplinary academic background and research training in Political Science (BA Hons), Public Administration, and Communist Geography (MPA), he has taught courses in Anthropology, Development Studies, Philosophy, and Human Geography at various private and public universities in Pakistan. His research interests include the militarisation of space, displacement due to CPEC megaprojects, animal nationalisms, and multispecies justice.