The mohol

The hidden power structure of Bangladesh local politics

Bibliographic Data

ID3865672
AuthorsArild Engelsen Ruud (0000-0002-4545-3690, University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume54
Issue2
Pages173-192
Publication date2020-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContributions to Indian Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0069-9659 • E-ISSN: 0069-9667
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0069966720914055
OpenAlexW3034213294
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited20

It is a common view that power in Bangladesh is exercised through patron-client forms of exchange. These patron-client relationships are held together by moral proximity and intimacy and are diffused and multidimensional. Most recently, Basu et al. (2018, Politics and Governance in Bangladesh: Uncertain Landscapes, 1-16. London: Routledge) argue for the persuasive presence of patron-client relationships and its role as the informal, 'real' structure as opposed to the formal state structure. The portrait, however, leaves us with the image of a vast undifferentiated web where the only node is the one at the centre. This article seeks to temper this portrait by arguing that at a certain point the web is no longer undifferentiated. It has locally real, tangible nodes of substantial power-often referred to as mohol (quarter) in Bangla. These nodes of power are often albeit not invariably centred on the local MP. The existence of these nodes indicates a decentralised power structure, wherein power is located in numerable nodes across the country rather than centralised in Dhaka

Art history · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Political structure · Politics · Portrait · Power (physics · Power structure · Quarter (Canadian coin · Sociology · State (computer science · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · Computer Science · History · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies