CADS Research Seminar
Dissent into Disaster: Reciprocity as Protest in Karachi, Pakistan
- Date
- Monday 16 February 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Agora
Wassenaarseweg 52
2333 AK Leiden - Room
- 0B13
Decades of political violence and instability once crowned Karachi as the “city of death” and the “world’s most dangerous city.” Recent years have seen a sharp decline in armed violence, yet the city’s dilapidated infrastructure, lack of sanitation services, and unsafe conditions still contribute to a climate of urban disaster. Karachiites commonly refer to describe an overwhelming sense of meḥrūmī (alienation or deprivation) as the city is left lāwāris (abandoned or heirless) due to government corruption and negligence. Yet, Karachi is also home to a robust giving economy. Motivated by the city’s disastrous conditions, charitable workers repair roads, clear garbage heaps, unclog sewage drains, and provide rescue services. Many even protest against the local and provincial governments as part of their service (ḵẖidmat). Drawing upon fieldwork conducted in Karachi from 2021-2023, this paper explores the relationship between dissent, reciprocity, and ethics through an analysis of two protest events organized by a local charitable organization. The events demonstrate how the discourse and practice of dissent (or “dissident ethics”) is mobilized in service of the city and its residents. Dissident ethics, in turn, serves as a framework to understand opposition through obligation.
About Salwa Tareen
Salwa Tareen is a postdoctoral researcher here at CADS. Her research explores religion, gender, and the politics of care in urban South Asia. At Leiden, Salwa collaborates on the ERC-funded project “Entangled Universals of Transnational Islamic Charity,” where she traces genealogies of reciprocity and humanitarianism across the Muslim world. Salwa received her Ph.D. in anthropology from Boston University in 2025. Her dissertation, “Of the City and the Soul: Urban Disaster and Dissident Ethics in Karachi,” examines how residents of Pakistan’s largest city utilize charitable giving to address perceived urban disasters. The project considers the material and ethical dimensions of giving as a means to care for one another and the city itself. Salwa also holds a M.T.S. in religion, ethics, and politics from Harvard University. In addition to her academic work, Salwa is an arts organizer, poet, and essayist.