In this latest Asia Research Brief, Ayyaz Mallick (Environmental Studies) summarizes his dissertation which aimed to understand the decline of Karachi, Pakistan’s vibrant labour movement and the proliferation of exclusivist ethnic politics in the post-1970s era. He mobilizes Marxist dialectics to delve into the polarized contemporary theoretico-political debates that pit “class” against “identity politics,” “Marxism” against “post-colonialism,” and “universal politics/emancipation” against “particularistic demands.”

Click on the following link to download the pdf: The (Un)Making of the Working Class in Karachi (Pakistan), 1980s–2010s

— — —

Asia Research Briefs provide short summaries of research by YCAR Associates. Other publications from our centre can be perused by clicking here.