Migrant's Love(s): The Changing Nature of Relationships in Post-Earthquake Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Abstract

The earthquake that struck Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK) in October 2005 brought with it obvious destruction and perceived change. In this article, I analyze the ongoing changes in family relationships in rural PaK following this event. Changes in the domestic organization—perceived as due to the refashioning of housing during post-earthquake reconstruction—often continued pre-existing patterns linked primarily to migration. In other words, rather than creating change, both the earthquake and post-earthquake reconstruction reinforced and crystallized pre-existing processes of social change that were already underway at the level of the house and the home. Using people's narratives of everyday life, as opposed to their narratives of change, I show that there was no breakdown per se of the classical patriarchy, as households continued to create, negotiate and reinforce family ties in their everyday lives, so as to increase their social and symbolic capital, as well as to access informal social protection.