This chapter sets the stage for the sociopolitical context in which counterpublics are managing to survive. In this regard, it highlights how the process of ‘othering’ works in Pakistani society, with the Establishment as the main player in regulating the public sphere. At the same time, it shares how both the notion of counterpublics and that of agonistic publics offer an essential theoretical spine to understand the publics that oscillate between liberals and conservatives.