Migrants and militants : fun and urban violence in Pakistan / Oskar Verkaaik.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Verkaaik, Oskar, author.

Series:

Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics ; 13

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnicity--Pakistan.

Ethnicity.

Islam and politics--Pakistan.

Islam and politics.

Political violence--Pakistan.

Political violence.

Muhajir (Pakistani people)--Politics and government.

Muhajir (Pakistani people).

Pakistan--Politics and government.

Pakistan.

Muhājir Qaumī Mūvmenṭ.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 214 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Being part of a violent community in revolt can be addictive--it can be fun. This book offers a fascinating inside look at present-day political violence in Pakistan through a historical ethnography of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of the most remarkable and successful religious nationalist movements in postcolonial South Asia. The MQM has mobilized much of the "migrant" (Muhajir) population in Karachi and other urban centers in southern Pakistan and has fomented large-scale ethnic-religious violence. Oskar Verkaaik argues that urban youth see it as an irresistible opportunity for "fun." Drawing on both anthropological fieldwork, including participatory observation among political militants, and historical analyses of state formation, nation-building, and the ethnicization of Islam since 1947, he provides an absorbing and important contribution to theoretical debates about political--religious and nationalist--violence. Migrants and Militants brings together two perspectives on political violence. Recent studies on ethnic cleansing, genocide, terrorism, and religious violence have emphasized processes of identification and purification. Verkaaik combines these insights with a focus on urban youth culture, in which masculinity, physicality, and the performance of violence are key values. He shows that only through fun and absurdity can a nascent movement transgress the dominant discourse to come of its own. Using these observations, he considers violence as a ludic practice, violence as "martyrdom" and sacrifice, and violence as "terrorism" and resistance.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations

Foreword / Piscatori, James / Eickelman, Dale F.

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

CHAPTER ONE: Ethnicizing Islam

CHAPTER TWO: The Muhajir Qaumi Movement

CHAPTER THREE: Pakka Qila

CHAPTER FOUR: Fun and Violence

CHAPTER FIVE: Making Martyrs

CHAPTER SIX: Terrorism and the State

Epilogue

Calendar of Events

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. [199]-209) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9780691187716

0691187711

OCLC:

1132219003