Reconstituting Selves in the Karachi Conflict

Abstract

The article focuses on the efforts of two Mohajir women survivors to reconstitute themselves in the wake of violence in Karachi, Pakistan. For disempowered women in urban society, the reconstruction of self divulges particular nuances in the face of structural violence. How do these women represent themselves as agents within the life-worlds they inhabit? How do postcolonial constructions of ethnicity, gender, and class play out in these representations? Highlighting how agency remains delimited by social positioning and circumstances, the article argues for complex understandings of women’s agency in contexts of armed conflict.