Axis A6 · scored on 56 books
Othering intensity
Is the out-group an adversary in a story, or a kind of person?
The distinction that carries this axis is between conflict and essence. A book can narrate a great deal of Hindu–Muslim conflict and still treat it as politics with causes; the score rises when difference is relocated from history into nature.
How the five bands are defined
Fixed before any book was read. A score without cited evidence is not a score.
| Score | Operational test |
|---|---|
| 1 | Out-groups treated neutrally or warmly; shared heritage acknowledged. |
| 2 | Neutral-descriptive. |
| 3 | Out-group as historical adversary only. |
| 4 | Collective negative characterisation of a group. |
| 5 | Essentialised hostility; group framed as inherently threatening. |
Board means English-medium only
Urdu and Sindhi material is theme-grade under this project's evidence rules and is excluded from every mean. Means over small n are shown with their n and should not be quoted without it.
| Board | Mean | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sindh | 1.57 | 7 | |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 1.71 | 7 | |
| Federal | 2.25 | 4 | |
| Punjab | 2.54 | 13 | |
| Balochistan | 2.54 | 13 |
Lowest is Sindh (1.57), highest is Balochistan (2.54). A gap this size may be an artefact of curriculum vintage rather than province — the synthesis separates the two.
Distribution across the corpus
| Score | Books | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | |
| 2 | 22 | |
| 3 | 20 | |
| 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | 0 |
Poles are descriptive, not evaluative. A high score is a measured property of a text, not a verdict on a board, an author or a teacher.
Books at the top of this axis
| Score | Book | Board | Class | Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Pakistan Studies - Grade 9 | Balochistan | 9 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 4 | Pakistan Studies - Grade 9 | Federal | 9 | Single National Curriculum (federal) |
| 4 | Islamiat 6 KPK | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 6 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 4 | Pakistan Studies IX (2020-21, Urdu-only) | Sindh | 9 | NC 2006 / 2004 approval |
| 3 | Geography - Grade 6 | Balochistan | 6 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 3 | 6th Class History English Medium Text Book by BTBB | Balochistan | 6 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
Books at the bottom
| Score | Book | Board | Class | Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Secondary Stage English Book Two For Class X (2022-23) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | The Textbook of Biology For Grade 10 (2021-22) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | My English VI (2020-21) | Sindh | 6 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | Biology 10 EM (PECTAA 2026) | Punjab | 10 | PECTAA 2026 |
| 1 | English 9 KPK | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 9 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | English 8 KPK (legacy) | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 8 | National Curriculum 2006 |
Where this axis is weakest
It is scored on 56 of 167 current books. Coverage is uneven by design: a lens reads the books where its question is live, so a science volume may carry three axis scores and a Pakistan Studies volume seven. That means board means on this axis rest on different books from board means on another, and the two are not interchangeable. The full per-book tables, with page-cited evidence for every score, are in the othering lens report.