Migrants and Militants: Fun and Urban Violence in Pakistan

Oskar Verkaaik

Published by Princeton University Press 2004

Migrants and Militants

Fun and Urban Violence in Pakistan

Oskar Verkaaik

Volume 81 in the series Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691187716

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Oskar Verkaaik is Assistant Professor at the Research Center for Religion and Society, University of Amsterdam, and head of the branch office of the International Institute for Asian Studies. He is the author of A People of Migrants and a popular book in Dutch based on his experiences in Pakistan.

Reviews

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2004"

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Maps and Illustrations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Foreword James Piscatori and Dale F. Eickelman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
CHAPTER ONE: Ethnicizing Islam Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	20
CHAPTER TWO: The Muhajir Qaumi Movement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
CHAPTER THREE: Pakka Qila Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
CHAPTER FOUR: Fun and Violence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
CHAPTER FIVE: Making Martyrs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
CHAPTER SIX: Terrorism and the State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Calendar of Events Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211