Drawing the line

Bonds and bounds of civility in a Christianbastiof Karachi

Bibliographic Data

ID2401970
AuthorsLaurent Gayer (CNRS/CERI-Sciences Po, Paris, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume18
Issue2-3
Pages382-408
Publication date2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1463-4996 • E-ISSN: 1741-2641
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1463499618757894
OpenAlexW2886854621
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

What do situations of chronic violence and resulting polarizations do to civility, and especially to its more horizontal forms? Using an account of everyday pluralism in an impoverished Christian neighbourhood of Karachi, this article addresses this question by examining how marginalized groups of that embattled city have been cobbling together forms of coexistence in the midst of ethnic and sectarian conflicts. Focusing in particular on the moral career of a local strongman, the practical and ethical dilemmas encountered by populations surviving at the margins of the city are considered, as they try to engage with others while struggling with the often violent economy of scarcity that structures their experience and vulnerability. In doing so, this article makes a case for a conceptualization of civility as a matter of building bonds as much as setting certain limits, in relation to identity and violence in particular. Civility, here, does not amount either to the preservation of peaceful coexistence or to the orderly reproduction of society. It thrives on various forms of connections and multiplicities, contesting hegemonic discourses on difference; instead of being external to violence, it operates within a world of violent possibilities, to which it aims to put some bounds

Civility · Conceptualization · Culturalism · Environmental ethics · Ethnic group · Hegemony · Indigenous · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

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