Reconstituting Selves in the Karachi Conflict Mohajir Women Survivors And Structural Violence(W-94)
Lubna Nazir Chaudhry
2004
The paper focuses on
the efforts of two Mohajir women survivors to reconstitute themselves in the
wake of violence in Karachi, Pakistan.
For women at the lowest rung of urban society the reconstruction of self
has particular nuances in the face of structural violence. How do these women represent themselves as
agents within the life-worlds they inhabit?
How do post-colonial constructions of ethnicity, gender, and class play
out in these representations? In highlighting
how agency remains delimited by social positioning and circumstances, the paper
argues for a complex understanding of women’s agency and its implications in
contexts of armed conflict.