Jasmine Mirza. Between Chaddor and the Market: Female Office Workers in Lahore. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002. 266 pages. Hardbound. Rs 395.00.

Pakistani society at present is in a state of transition from the traditional to the modern. Recent decades have witnessed marked changes in social values and norms, particularly those pertaining to the gendered structure of society. More and more women of the urban lower-middle class are seeking employment outside their homes—in offices, factories, and shops, etc. Not only that; they have started working in what are generally considered to be exclusively ‘male occupations’. With this change, a process of de-segregation of the life-worlds has been initiated affecting the entire social life and gender order of the society. This is the central theme of an interesting and insightful book by Jasmine Mirza, who is a sociologist by training.