Downwardly Global: Women, Work, and Citizenship in the Pakistani Diaspora

225 Pages·2017·8.241 MB·English

by  Lalaie Ameeriar

DOWNWARDLY
GLOBAL
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lalaie ameeriar
DOWNWARDLY
GLOBAL
W omen, Work,
and Citizenship in the
Pakistani Diaspora
Duke University Press Durham and London 2 017
© 2017 Duke University Press. All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer ic a on acid- free paper ∞
Text designed by Courtney Leigh Baker
Typeset in Garamond Premier Pro by Westchester Publishing Services
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Ameeriar, Lalaie, author.
Title: Downwardly global :
women, work, and citizenship in the Pakistani diaspora /
Lalaie Ameeriar.
Description: Durham : Duke University Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2016033439 (print)
lccn 2016034172 (ebook)
isbn 9780822363019 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822363163 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 9780822373407 (e- book)
Subjects: lcsh: Pakistanis— Canada. |
Women immigrants— Employment—C anada. |
Pakistani diaspora. | Cultural pluralism— Canada.
Classification: lcc f1035.p34 a44 2017 (print) |
lcc f1035.p34 (ebook) | ddc 305.8914/122071— dc23
lc rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016033439
Cover art: Sausan Saulat, Maybe tomorrow / (details). Private collection.
Courtesy of the artist.
Duke University Press gratefully acknowledges the support of the
Hellman Foundation, at the University of California Santa Barbara,
which provided funds toward the publication of this book.
contents
Acknowle dgments vii
introduction 1
one. BODIES AND BUREAUCRACIES 2 5
two. PEDAGOGIES OF AFFECT 5 3
three. SANITIZING CITIZENSHIP 75
four. RACIALIZING SOUTH ASIA 101
five. THE CATASTROPHIC PRES ENT 127
conclusion 1 53
Notes 1 69 References 181 Index 201
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ac know ledgm ents
I would like to begin by thanking all the p eople in Toronto, Lahore, and
Karachi who shared their lives and their stories with me. In order to protect
their confidentiality, I cannot name them here, but I am forever indebted to
them. I also wish to thank the numerous organ izations that allowed me to
conduct research within their walls, and the patience they had in answering
my unending questions. A special thanks goes to Mazeena.
I am also grateful for several institutions and centers whose generosity
made this research and writing pos si ble. This research was supported by
funding from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation; the uc President’s Fac-
ulty Research Fellowship in the Humanities; the National Bureau of Eco-
nomic Research at Harvard University; the Department of Anthropology
at Stanford University; the Institute for International Studies at Stanford
University; the Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and
Ethnicity at Stanford University; the Clayman Institute for Gender Re-
search at Stanford University; the Department of Asian American Studies
at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California
Academic Senate; the ucsb Interdisciplinary Humanities Center; the uc
Center for New Racial Studies; and the Hellman Fellows Program.
My thinking has been deeply inspired by James Ferguson and Akhil Gupta,
who introduced me to critical studies of globalization long before I arrived
at Stanford University. James Ferguson’s willingness to read drafts at every
stage and his critical engagement with my work has been invaluable. Akhil
Gupta’s mentorship, guidance, and writings helped inspire me throughout
my time at Stanford, and I thank him for helping me conceptualize this
proj ect. I thank Purnima Mankekar for her constant encouragement of my
work in South Asian diaspora studies and her critical engagement with
my research and writing. I also wish to thank Shahzad Bashir, Renato
Rosaldo, S. Lochlann Jain, Sylvia Yanagisako, Miyako Inoue, and David
Palumbo- Liu, for their support and guidance throughout my dissertation
research and write-up. I wish to thank Ellen Christensen and Shelly Cough-
lin for their administrative and emotional support in the Department of
Cultural and Social Anthropology and the Department of Anthropology.
I cannot thank Ellen and Shelly enough.
I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends and colleagues at Stanford University
for their critical insights, observations, feedback, and support during my time
there: Tania Ahmad, Nikhil Anand, Hanna Appel, Elif Babul, Falu Bakrania,
Aisha Beliso-de Jesus, Jocelyn Chua, Maya Dodd, Maura Finkelstein, Kelly
Freidenfelds, Patrick Gallagher, Rachael Joo, Yoon-J ung Lee, Bakirathi Mani,
Tomas Matza, Ramah McKay, Jisha Menon, Zhanara Nauruzbayeva, Marcia
Ochoa, Bruce O’Neill, Kevin O’Neill, Flavio Pania gua, Natalia Roudakova,
Robert Samet, Peter Samuels, Sima Shakhsari, and Thet Win. Thank you
to Tania Ahmad, Rachael Joo, Zhanara Nauruzbayeva, and Kevin O’Neill
for their unwavering support, incisive feedback, and for believing in my
work. Thank you to Maura Finkelstein for being a close friend and sup-
porter during my years in San Francisco and beyond. My research also
benefitted from my time as an ihum postdoctoral fellow and the col-
leagues and compatriots I met t here: Renu Cappelli, Kathleen Coll, Mat-
thew Daube, Michael Hunter, Tomas Matza, Christy Pichichero, Jeremy
Sabol, Candace West, and Joshua Wright. A special thank you to Abigail
Heald and Uzma Rizvi, who sustained me with Little Star Pizza and Proje ct
Runway in San Francisco after long teaching days. For our friendship, I
will always be grateful.
New colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have
helped shape this book at critical moments. My colleagues in the Depart-
ment of Asian American Studies, Feminist Studies, Anthropology and
Global Studies offered productive feedback and provided critical support
when I needed it. I thank my colleagues Diane Fujino, erin Ninh, John
Park, Lisa Park, Sameer Pandya, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Xiaojian Zhao,
Sucheng Chan, Paul Amar, Kum- Kum Bhavnani, Eileen Boris, Eve Darian-
Smith, Brian Donnelly, Bishnupriya Ghosh, Mary Hancock, Zaveeni
Khan- Marcus, George Lipsitz, Kate McDonald, Ross Melnick, Dean Mel-
vin Oliver, Leila Rupp, Bhaskar Sarkar, Barbara Walker, and Casey Walsh.
I want to thank in par tic u lar se nior faculty members who have shown me
steadfast support and guidance and have taught me what it means to live
viii ac know ledg ments
one’s politics. Thank you to Leila Rupp who is an incredible mentor and
role model for feminist scholars. Thank you to Eileen Boris for her unwav-
ering support for my research and writing, reading drafts at critical stages
in the writing pro cess. Thank you to George Lipsitz for reading drafts and
offering incisive feedback which has helped shape this book. Thank you
to Dean Melvin Oliver for his support and guidance as I navigated the in-
tricacies of assistant professor life. Thank you to Eve Darian- Smith for her
support and encouragement and for drawing me into the world of Global
Studies at ucsb. Thank you to Lisa Park who was a new addition to the
department, but has helped me in ways I will always be im mensely grateful
for. I want to thank Sucheng Chan for her careful reading and insightful
feedback on the introduction. A special thanks goes to Kum- Kum Bhav-
nani for her amazing mentorship and guidance as I navigated life as a ju nior
faculty member. Our friendship has been invaluable. I would also like to
thank Arlene Phillips, Elizabeth Guerrero, Redilyn Mesa, Paula Ryan, and
Gary Colmenar for their administrative support.
I am grateful to my friends and colleagues across the uc and beyond:
Attiya Ahmad, Jessica Cattelino, Aisha Finch, Inderpal Grewal, Sarah Haley,
Sunaina Maira, Minoo Moallem, Kalindi Vora, and Neha Vora. In my first
year at ucsb, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Eileen Boris to join
her in the intellectually stimulating environment of the uc- wide working
group Working at Precarity. Th ere I met Aisha Finch, whose kindness and
encouragement have sustained me as I navigated ju nior faculty life and Ka-
lindi Vora, who read drafts and offered support and friendship, showing me
how to live a progressive feminist politics. Sarah Haley, my fellow Wood-
row Wilson cohort member who taught me the value of a well- timed drink
and who provided support in critical moments. To my Woodrow Wilson
mentor Minoo Moallem, thank you for your guidance and critical readings
of my work, for which it is stronger. Thank you to Inderpal Grewal for of-
fering comments and insights on my work as well as encouragement and
mentorship.
Thank you to my friends and accomplices in San Francisco and Los An-
geles, in par tic u lar Hannah Appel, Nicole Duffy, Jason Freidenfelds, Katie
Hasson, Abigail Heald, Anna Krakus, Flavio Paniagua, and Brian Yarish, who
have been great friends and allies during the long dark days of writing. I
also wish to say thank y ou to Kelly Freidenfelds for her intellectual en-
gagement at all stages of my research and her steadfast support throughout
ac know ledg ments ix