The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation

Around half of Karachi’s population resides in localities that started life as unplanned settlements, which acquired different levels of security from eviction. This paper examines the relationship between demand-making by unplanned settlements and urban political process. It interprets the gradual...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Haris Gazdar, Hussain Bux Mallah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud 2011-12-01
Series:South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3248
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850262765968556032
author Haris Gazdar
Hussain Bux Mallah
author_facet Haris Gazdar
Hussain Bux Mallah
author_sort Haris Gazdar
collection DOAJ
description Around half of Karachi’s population resides in localities that started life as unplanned settlements, which acquired different levels of security from eviction. This paper examines the relationship between demand-making by unplanned settlements and urban political process. It interprets the gradual transformation of a cluster originally on the geographic and social periphery of the city into a regularised colony through the lens of collective action. The diverse roles of migration, mobilisation, and collective identity which we find in individual stories and community histories, capture a range of processes and experiences within Karachi’s wide margin. The politics of regularisation thus offers a critical perspective on the dynamics of urban democracy.
format Article
id doaj-art-87c862ce1e954fddb307d1bcfe2ba502
institution OA Journals
issn 1960-6060
language English
publishDate 2011-12-01
publisher Centre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud
record_format Article
series South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
spelling doaj-art-87c862ce1e954fddb307d1bcfe2ba5022025-08-20T01:55:08ZengCentre d’Etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du SudSouth Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal1960-60602011-12-01510.4000/samaj.3248The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of RegularisationHaris GazdarHussain Bux MallahAround half of Karachi’s population resides in localities that started life as unplanned settlements, which acquired different levels of security from eviction. This paper examines the relationship between demand-making by unplanned settlements and urban political process. It interprets the gradual transformation of a cluster originally on the geographic and social periphery of the city into a regularised colony through the lens of collective action. The diverse roles of migration, mobilisation, and collective identity which we find in individual stories and community histories, capture a range of processes and experiences within Karachi’s wide margin. The politics of regularisation thus offers a critical perspective on the dynamics of urban democracy.https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3248Karachiunplanned settlementscollective actionregularisationpolitics
spellingShingle Haris Gazdar
Hussain Bux Mallah
The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
Karachi
unplanned settlements
collective action
regularisation
politics
title The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
title_full The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
title_fullStr The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
title_full_unstemmed The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
title_short The Making of a ‘Colony’ in Karachi and the Politics of Regularisation
title_sort making of a colony in karachi and the politics of regularisation
topic Karachi
unplanned settlements
collective action
regularisation
politics
url https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3248
work_keys_str_mv AT harisgazdar themakingofacolonyinkarachiandthepoliticsofregularisation
AT hussainbuxmallah themakingofacolonyinkarachiandthepoliticsofregularisation
AT harisgazdar makingofacolonyinkarachiandthepoliticsofregularisation
AT hussainbuxmallah makingofacolonyinkarachiandthepoliticsofregularisation