Empathy industry

Empathy industry investigates how contemporary anglophone Pakistani novels engage with human rights discourse within a global literary economy shaped by Anglo-American tastes. It introduces the concept of the empathy industry to show how narratives about the Global South are structured to generate moral sentiment among readers in the Global North. Through close readings of major works by Mohsin Hamid, Kamila Shamsie, Fatima Bhutto, Nadeem Aslam and Mohammed Hanif, the book examines how depictions of suffering, justice and political identity are shaped by market expectations. Combining literary analysis with political and ethical inquiry, it questions the limits of empathy as a cross-cultural ideal in postcolonial contexts. It offers an analytically grounded account of how human rights storytelling circulates within world literature and how the global marketplace influences the production and reception of Pakistani fiction.

Sauleha Kamal is a writer, cultural critic, and independent scholar working at the intersection of policy, postcolonialism, and human rights. Educated at Barnard College of Columbia University and the University of Cambridge as a Chevening/Cambridge Trust Scholar, she holds a PhD from the University of York. Her work has appeared in publications including The New Yorker and The Atlantic. She is a recipient of the British Council Study UK Alumni Award for Culture, Creativity and Sport.