Tracing Order in Seeming Chaos: Understanding the Informal and Violent Political Order of Karachi
May 2016
Megacities in developing countries reporting high incidence of crime, violence, and informality are perceived in policy literature as places experiencing breakdown of governance that may become future hot spots of instability. Evidence from Karachi, Pakistan, however, suggests that although political parties, individual entrepreneurs, and crime groups are involved in service provision, it does not indicate breakdown of governance. Political parties collaborate with crime groups and various state actors to create local orders. These orders, embedded in social, political and economic institutions create constituencies of popular support. However, the state regulates these orders by withdrawing or extending support and through punitive policies. Yet, while the state is organizing order from the top, an order is forming in response to the needs of an increasing population from the ground-up, highlighting negotiation between state and society. Employing process tracing over a period of thirty-five years (1978-2013), this dissertation presents a systematic comparison of the impact of relationships among political parties, crime groups and state actors on informal provision of water and housing and levying of extortion. Analysis shows that once patterns based on actions come into being, they lead to players learning by observation and practice, contributing to shared expectations or informal rules of the game. These results bear relevance for comparable cases.
