Inequalities and opportunity gaps for two religious' groups: A case study of regularized Katchi Abadi, in Islamabad Pakistan

Abstract

Do slum dwellers represent a homogenous group? Are minority groups always at a disadvantageous position in terms of inequality and opportunity gaps? This paper explores underlying inequalities and similarities among two religious' groups in slums in terms of adult employment and child education. This paper treats slums non-homogenously and takes Charles Tilly's theory of categorical inequality as the theoretical framework, explores the intra-slum inequalities and similarities for child education and adult employment. In the process, this paper highlights how these inequalities create and exacerbate opportunity hoarding, which further amplifies those inequalities. The analysis draws on a qualitative research with a sample of 60 semi-structured interviews conducted with participants from katchi abadis, each representing individual household. We find that structural inequality enables one group to hoarder opportunities in the case of Islamabad slums. Participants faced problems in employment and admissions. But the nature of problems is different for both religious groups. Christians stand at an advantageous position. They hoarder opportunities by having easy access to government jobs, helping them not only generating essential social capital but does also make them financially better off and have easy access to government schools.