Being part of a violent community in revolt can be addictive--it can be fun. This book offers a fascinating inside look at present-day political violence in Pakistan through a historical ethnography of the Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), one of the most remarkable and successful religious nationalist movements in postcolonial South Asia. The MQM has mobilized much of the "migrant" (Muhajir) population in Karachi and other urban centers in southern Pakistan and has fomented large-scale ethnic-religious violence. Oskar Verkaaik argues that urban youth see it as an irresistible opportunity for...
Being part of a violent community in revolt can be addictive--it can be fun. This book offers a fascinating inside look at present-day political vi...
Borrowing from a range of theories on spacemaking and material religion, and with contributions from anthropologists working in the United Kingdom, Mali, Brazil, Spain, and Italy, this fascinating and comprehensive study develops an anthropological perspective on modern religious architecture including mosques, churches, and synagogues. "Religious Architecture" examines how religious buildings take their place in opposition to their secular surroundings and, in so doing, function not only as community centers in urban daily life, but also as evocations of the sublime that help believers to...
Borrowing from a range of theories on spacemaking and material religion, and with contributions from anthropologists working in the United Kingdom, Ma...
