Zenana: Everyday Peace in a Karachi Apartment Building

Ethnic violence is a widespread concern, but we know very little about
the micro-mechanics of coexistence in the neighborhoods around the world where
inter-group peace is maintained amidst civic strife. In this ethnographic study of a
multi-ethnic, middle-class high-rise apartment building in Karachi, Pakistan, Laura
A. Ring argues that peace is the product of a relentless daily labor, much of it
carried out in the zenana, or women's space. Everyday rhythms of life in the
building are shape...