
Beyond Honour
A Historical Materialist Explanation of Honour Related Violence
"Misperceived, ill-informed and narrowly-researched documentaries, research studies and newspaper reports presented in the US and Europe have created an impression that honour related violence against women occurs only in Asian and African Muslim communities, mainly due to their backward and conservative cultural and religious beliefs. Such misinterpretations and ethnocentric portrayals of multi-faceted violence have invoked criticism from various communities across the globe." "The main focus of previous studies on the subject has been on the socio-cultural aspect of honour and its implications for female bodies and sexuality. This study is an attempt to look beyond the cultural notion of honour as the only motive behind gender based violence." "Focusing on honour related violence in the Muslim world, and especially in Pakistan, this study attempts to explain the origin and persistence of the honour code by applying Marx's historical materialist approach. It takes readers through the histories of religious, legal, social and political institutions from ancient times to the present day and its comparative historical approach identifies the economic basis of the origin and persistence of honour related violence in some societies, and its absence in others."--Jacket.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Nonfiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
Catalog signals suggest warfare and conflict, violence, death, or criminal harm, sexual material. These notes may not be complete; consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Dark tone · Steady pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
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This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-1959-7902-2
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL7395626M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
- Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
- How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.







