Cityscapes of Violence in Karachi: Publics and Counterpublics

by Nichola Khan (Editor)

Overview

Karachi is a city framed in the popular imagination by violence, be it criminality and gangsterism or political factionalism. That perception also dominates literary, cinematic and scholarly representations and discussions of this great metropolis.

By commenting in different ways on the trials and tribulations of Karachi and Pakistan, the contributors to this innovative book on the city build on past writings to say something new or different — to make their reader re-think how they understand the processes at work in this vast urban space.

They scrutinise Karachi's diverse neighborhoods to show how violence is manifested locally and citywide into protest drinking, social and religious movements, class and cosmopolitanism, gang wars, and how it affects the fractured lives of militants and journalists, among others. Oral history and memoir feature strongly in the volume as do insights gleaned from anthropology and political science

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190656546
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/15/2017
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Nichola Khan is a social anthropologist and principal lecturer in the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton. She is the author of Mohajir Militancy in Pakistan. Her subsequent work analyses migration, mobilities, transnational labor, and kinship networks amongst Afghan migrants in the UK, Peshawar and Afghanistan. She is also a Chartered Psychologist and the author of Mental Disorder: Anthropological Insights.

Table of Contents

List of Images vii

Acknowledgements ix

Contributors xi

Preface: A Transformed Landscape Nichola Khan xvii

Introduction Nichola Khan 1

1 People All Around You: Locating Karachi in the Poetry of Azra Abbas Asif Farrukhi 25

2 1994: Political Madness, Ethics, and Story-making in Liaquatabad district in Karachi Nichola Khan 41

3 Karachi: A Pashtun City? Zia Ur Rehman 63

4 The Sunday Fighter: Doubts, Fears, and Little Secrets of an Intermittent Combatant Laurent Gayer 83

5 Life in a 'No-go Area': Experiences of Marginalisation and Fear in Lyari Nida Kirmani 103

6 'Our Rule': The MQM, the Dawat-i-Islami, and Mohajir Religiosity Oskar Verkaaik 121

7 Prohibition and 'Sharab' as Political Protest in Karachi Nadeem F. Paracha 135

8 The Cost of Free Speech: the Media in the Battlefields of Karachi Razeshta Sethna 153

9 From the Demise of Cosmopolitanism to its Revival: Trends and Repercussions for Karachi Arif Hasan 173

10 Four 'Ordinary' Deaths Kausar S. Khan 187

Afterword I Farzana Shaikh 199

Afterword II Kamran Asdar Ali 213

Select Bibliography 229

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

"This wonderful volume offers a vivid palimpsest of perspectives that brilliantly unpack how urban violence structures people's lives and relations in both contested and contradictory ways. It will undoubtedly become 'the' reference point for understanding Karachi, as well as a model for exploring other violent cityscapes around the world." — Dennis Rodgers, Professor of International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam

"A mesmerising read, presenting original, provocative prose about a city that defines Pakistan in more ways than one. It offers rich perspectives on Karachi's politics, art and culture, and makes sense of its chaos, crime and conflicts. Khan has done a phenomenal job of weaving together the themes in these brilliant essays." — Hassan Abbas, Chair of the Department of Regional and Analytical Studies, National Defense University, Washington, D.C, and author of Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism

"This unusual book does full justice to a dynamic, diverse and troubled metropolis. Each chapter brims with insight, knowledge and affection for Karachi, and sensitive portraits of its residents. Khan's volume strikingly depicts how violence, spectral and real, frames Karachi life, from ethnic fissures and poetry to masculine labour and alcohol." — Thomas Blom Hansen, Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University

"Very engaged and engaging. This volume brings into sharp focus the power of ethnography, oral history, memoir, lived experience and academic authorship to map alternative cartographies of violence in Karachi. It explores the limits and potentialities of translating violence into words, raising fundamental questions of ethics, activism and public engagement." — Nelida Fuccaro, SOAS, University of London, editor of Violence and the City in the Modern Middle East

"Karachi, currently numbering over 23m people, is projected to be the world's largest city by 2030. Khan has marshalled leading authorities to examine from different disciplinary perspectives why violence is integral to the city's workings. The outcome tells us much both about Karachi and about violence in human societies." — Francis Robinson, Professor of the History of South Asia, Royal Holloway University of London

"No ordinary study. . . it gives voice to explorations of violence across many facets." — Environment and Urbanisation

From the Publisher