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SUMMARY:Living the Security City: Navigating Karachi’s Enclaves - Sobia 
 A. Kaker (LSE / Newcastle University)
DTSTART:20140520T163000Z
DTEND:20140520T180000Z
UID:TALK51845@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:29816
DESCRIPTION:In an environment of increased urban insecurity\, ‘a new mil
 itary urbanism’ (Graham\, 2010) dictates the logic of urban form. In glo
 bal cities such as Karachi too\, there an obsession with attaining total s
 ecurity—especially around financial centers\, ports\, residential areas 
 and embassy districts. As a result\, passage-point architectures most fami
 liar to airports are transcribed on everyday urban landscapes. The emergin
 g enclaves are created in response to heightened perceptions of vulnerabil
 ity within a city wrecked by frequent bouts of unexpected violence. But it
  is important to look beyond the already familiar physical architectures o
 f enclaved cities per se. By focusing merely on the physical architectures
  of securitized cities—their fortified walls\, checkpoints\, and barrier
 s—risks an environmentally deterministic perspective. It suggests that t
 hese constructions work completely or that their effects can be assumed fr
 om their appearance. Complex interconnections between gated enclaves and t
 he rest of the city are easily overlooked. This is especially so when it b
 ecomes clear that immense and ongoing labor is required to even create the
  pretense that relations between the inside of enclaves and the broader ci
 ty can ever be fully scrutinized and filtered within huge\, dynamic\, and 
 highly mobile megacities.\n\nThis presentation draws on empirical referenc
 es from Karachi\, a dynamic Pakistani megacity of 20 million residents. It
  will centre on the dynamic relationships between those who perform and wo
 rk the boundaries of enclaves and those who live and use enclaved spaces. 
 Through this perspective it will highlight everyday circulations--an other
 wise neglected aspect of urban enclaves—as a productive force. By addres
 sing the neglected question of how the transformation of megacity landscap
 es into uneven patchworks of securitized enclaves works to produce novel e
 xperiences and forms of urban political life\, this presentation answers i
 mportant questions: How is the new security city\, the archipelago of gate
 d enclaves\, lived and experienced? And with what consequences?
LOCATION:Room SG1 of the Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, CB39DT\, 
 Cambridge
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