%0 Journal Article
%T Bystander Tactics: Life on Turf in Karachi
%A Tania Ahmad
%J South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal
%D 2012
%I Centre dĄŻEtudes de lĄŻInde et de lĄŻAsie du Sud
%X This article posits an analytic of the bystander, as a supplement to studies of perpetrators and victims, in relation to political affiliation, mobilization and violence in Karachi. In particular, I use ethnographic findings to elucidate the tactics of anticipation used by Karachi residents of neighborhoods widely considered the turf of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The examples of studentsĄŻ and teachersĄŻ reactions to a college rumble between rival groups, parentsĄŻ attempts to keep their sons from being recruited into party politics, and young people confident in their ability to navigate an economy of affiliation demonstrate a range of bystander tactics, in which subjection and subversion are aligned. Although metanarratives of democratization frequently elide the everyday activity of standing by, it constitutes a pervasive mode of participation in KarachiĄŻs political landscape.
%K Karachi
%K political parties
%K violence
%K bystanders
%K participation
%K anthropology
%K MQM
%U http://samaj.revues.org/3267