Government of Paper: The Materiality of Bureaucracy in Urban Pakistan

317 Pages·2012·3.97 MB·English

by  Matthew S. Hull

Government of Paper
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Government of Paper
The Materiality of Bureaucracy
in Urban Pakistan
Matthew S. Hull
University of California Press
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
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University of California Press
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© 2012 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hull, Matthew S. (Matthew Stuart), 1968–
Government of paper : the materiality of bureaucracy
in urban Pakistan / Matthew S. Hull.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-27214-9 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-27215-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Government paperwork—Pakistan—Islamabad.
2. Bureaucracy—Pakistan—Islamabad. 3. Capitals
(Cities)—Pakistan—Planning. 4. City planning—
Pakistan—Islamabad. 5. Public records—Pakistan—
Islamabad. 6. Municipal government—Pakistan—
Records and correspondence. 7. Islamabad
(Pakistan)—Politics and government. I. Title.

js7093.a6r425 2012
352.3'8709549149—dc23 2011042373
Manufactured in the United States of America
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In keeping with a commitment to support environmen-
tally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC
Press has printed this book on 50-pound Enterprise, a
30% post-consumer-waste, recycled, deinked fiber that
is processed chlorine-free. It is acid-free and meets all
ansi/niso (z 39.48) requirements.
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xiii
Note on Translation and Transliteration xiv
Introduction 1
Writing of the Bureaucracy 5
Signs of Paper 11
Associations of Paper 18
Background of the Study 27
1. The Master Plan and Other Documents 34
Splendid Isolation 36
The Dynapolis and the Colonial City 43
Communities of All Classes and Categories 50
From Separation to Participation 57
2. Parchis, Petitions, and Offices 66
At Home in the Office 67
Parchis, Connections, and Recognition 80
Petitions: Citizens, Bureaucrats, and Supplicants 86
Influence 101
3. Files and the Political Economy of Paper 112
The Materiality of Cases 115
Individual Writers and Corporate Authority 126
Tactics of Irresponsibility and the Byproduct of the Collective 134
Particular Projects and Collective Agency 150
A Contest of Graphic Genres 160
4. The Expropriation of Land and the Misappropriation of Lists 162
Problematics of Reference and Materiality 165
Early Planning and Failed Opposition 170
Shifting Houses and Dummy Houses 174
Demolition Certificates 185
Package Deals and Individual Signatures 191
Loose Lists 198
Mediating like a State 204
5. Maps, Mosques, and Maslaks 210
A Mosque for Every Community 214
A Mosque for Every Maslak 216
Claims on the Map 221
Temporality of Maps and Islamic Adverse Possession 227
Squatting according to Plan 240
Conclusion: Participatory Bureaucracy 245
Notes 259
References 275
Index 289
Illustrations
Figures
0.1 Constantinos Doxiadis’s 1960 map of Islamabad. / 3
1.1 Community Class IV, subsector G-6–1. / 52

1.2 Doxiadis drawing showing the spatial distribution of house
types based on income. / 55
1.3 Out of Turn Allotment of Accommodation form. / 64
2.1 Office of a CDA town planner, 1998. / 71
2.2 Office of a CDA director, 1998. / 72
2.3 Zaffar Khan’s office, late 1990s. / 79
2.4 “Parchi letter” allegedly from the desk of the prime
minister’s sister. / 82
2.5 A petition from residents of the village Badia Qadir Bakhsh
in G-11, 1994. / 96
2.6 First page of a petition for a Shia mosque in G-7, 1995. / 98
2.7 Second page of a petition for a Shia mosque in G-7, 1995. / 99
3.1 CDA file opened in 1961. / 117
3.2 The first page of a note sheet in response to a letter, 1986. / 124
3.3 Initials on a note sheet that produce a decision, 1986. / 139
4.1 My rendering of the relation of village Badia Qadir Baksh
to sectors G-11 and G-12. / 176
vii
viii | Illustrations
4.2 A 1967 CDA record of a village holding to be acquired. / 178
4.3 Cloth map (latha) showing property holdings of a revenue
estate in western Islamabad. / 179
4.4 Sheikhpur Package Deal, 1992. / 195
4.5 Signatures on Sheikhpur Package Deal, 1992. / 197
4.6 Page of a compensation award list after official certification,
1992. / 201
4.7 Urbanizing area of former village of Badia Qadir Bakhsh
in 2007. / 206
4.8 Badia Qadir Baksh and G-11 in 2011. / 208
5.1 Daman-e-Koh overlook. / 212
5.2 Demolished Mosque in in G-10/3. / 228
5.3 Martyred mosque in G-10/3. The caption reads:
“Under-construction mosque of G-10/3 Islamabad
as the CDA martyred it.” / 229
5.4 Redevelopment Plan for G-6, 1995. / 231
5.5 Plan of Sector F-7, created 1989, revised through 1996. / 233
5.6 Detail of Plan of Sector F-7, created 1989, revised
through 1996. / 234
5.7 Markazi Jama Masjid, G-11, in 1996 before development
of the sector. / 242
5.8 Markazi Jama Masjid, G-11, in 2011 after sector has
been developed. / 243
Table
1.1 1960s House Types by Basic Pay Scale. / 54
Map
1.1 Pakistan in 1959. / 39
Acknowledgments
This book has benefited from the insight and support of a number
of extraordinary people. I would like to thank first of all those who
provided intellectual guidance for this project when I was a gradu-
ate student at the University of Chicago. John Kelly introduced me to
anthropology when I was an undergraduate and has been an imagina-
tive, rigorous, and encouraging mentor to me ever since. Through bril-
liant teaching Michael Silverstein introduced me to the social study of
language, and he creatively helped me develop my approach to docu-
ments and government. After inspiring me with his insights into colo-
nialism, the late Bernard Cohn sparked my interest in urban planning
and encouraged me to pursue its study in the postcolonial period. Arjun
Appadurai deepened my understanding of South Asia and vigorously
encouraged me to connect my research on contemporary Islamabad to
other disciplines, times, and places. I would also like to thank William
Hanks and Nancy Munn, whose understandings of the role of language
and materiality in social life have guided this project since its initial
stages. Early on, Seteni Shami helped me cope with the complexity of
cities in an anthropological framework. C. M. Naim opened the world
of Urdu to me, enduring my grammar and accent with good humor. I
am grateful to Webb Keane for his early encouragement to pursue my
passion for documents. Anne Ch’ien’s unflagging encouragement and
preternatural management of practical details was an invaluable sup-
port throughout my graduate years.
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