Coercion and Compromise: Militarism and Informality in Everyday Policing
The Pakistani police forces are notorious for corruption and coercion. In both colonial and postcolonial contexts, directives to confront security threats have empowered law enforcement agents, while the lack of adequate reform has upheld institutional weaknesses. Policing in Karachi reveals many colonial continuities. Both civilian and military regimes continue to ensure the suppression of the policed via this institution, itself established to militarily subjugate and exploit in the interests of the ruling class. However, contemporary policing practice is not a simple product of its colonial heritage: it has also evolved to confront new challenges and socio-political realities. This study reveals a distinctly ‘postcolonial condition of policing’. Mutually reinforcing phenomena of militarisation and informality have been exacerbated by an insecure state that routinely conflates crime prevention, public order maintenance, and ensuring national security. This is evident not only in spectacular displays of violence, but also in police officers’ routine work. Caught in the middle of the country’s armed conflicts, their encounters with both state and society are a story of insecurity and compromise.
Date: 8 November 2022, 14:00 (Tuesday, 5th week, Michaelmas 2022)
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Syndicate Room
Speaker: Dr Zoha Waseem (University of Warwick)
Organising department: Asian Studies Centre
Organiser contact email address: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Modern South Asian Studies Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Salter