Description
Book SynopsisA rare, intimate glimpse into the daily lives of middle-class women in urban Pakistan
Trade ReviewZenana is a well-written and highly readable book that neither assumes prior knowledge of the literature on Karachi or Pakistan nor simply rehearses old debates about Pakistan's political history. Ring, rather, introduces the reader to issues cetnral to Pakistani society through a careful consideration of ethnographic vignettes. Volume 44/2—2010
* the Journal of Modern Asian Studies *
. . . living among strangers remains an existential problem for many urban residents. In Karachi, a city riven by ethnic and sectarian violence since the 1980s, such problems take on added significance. In her gracefully written and incisively argued book, Laura Ring contends that the everyday efforts of women in Karachi to transform neighbors into—if not quite kin—something other than strangers, are the labors of peace.
* Anthropological Quarterly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Note to the Reader
1. Introduction: The Zenana Revisited
2. A Day in the Life
3. Tension
4. Anger
5. Intimacy
6. Conclusion: Emotion and the Political Actor
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index
