Navigating the city: brokers and political order in Bangladesh
Lead Research Organisation:
School of Oriental and African Studies
Department Name: Development Studies
Abstract
"When I met Liton he was living in a side alley of a bazar at the centre of Dhaka city. His story was unusual. Unlike other labourers I knew who had run away from home and grown up on the streets, Liton had fallen from a middle class life. He moved to the streets for reasons he kept guarded, and was either because his wife had died, because of mental illness, or 'politics', said as if the word alone provided sufficient explanation of his circumstances. Transporting sacks of vegetables by night, and sleeping by day, he resented his lowly place within a group of labourers known by the name 'jupri' (meaning shack), and for months designed to regain status, and become a 'boro bhai' (big brother) once again. He would often describe to potential followers how he would join a wing of the ruling political party, the Awami League, keep 'bodyguard' to protect him, and run the local extortion racket. As the jupri group fractured, with leaders facing police cases and state suppression for their loyalty to the opposition party, Liton decided to make his move for power, only to fail dramatically." (case of Liton, a labourer in Dhaka)
My research examines everyday politics in urban Bangladesh, portraying the lives of people like Liton, and the ways in which they navigate the city. It is common to perceive such narratives as symbolizing a deeply dysfunctional society, where violence is used entrepreneurially, and corruption and criminality are widespread. This project builds on a growing body of literature which challenges such a view (North et al 2009; Khan 2010; Goldstein and Arias 2010; Arias 2017). To see such dynamics as indicating dysfunctionality or disorder is to base analysis in the ideals of a Western liberal democracy (Goldstein and Arias 2010), where political order stems from a state holding a monopoly on the means of violence. But central states rarely dominate society, and political order in most societies in fact comes from balancing the interests of diverse 'violence specialists' (Tilly 1985; North et al 2009). These take many forms, and to name only a few, include mafia, gangsters, street gangs, militia, trade unions and political parties; as well as state bodies such as the police and military. Rather than see such figures as mutually incompatible or contradictory, this approach focuses on how they are in fact interdependent and collaborative, an observation that resonates deeply with literature worldwide (Blok 1974; Auyero 2001; Volkov 2002; Berenschot 2011; Siniawer 2012; Arias 2017; Martin and Michelutti 2017).
My doctoral thesis asked the question: how does this model of political order inform an understanding of state-society relations in Bangladesh? The answer I proposed is that state-society relations are mediated by 'brokers' or 'intermediaries', who are either violence specialists themselves, or who are deeply influenced by those who are. In the urban political economy of Dhaka this incorporates a complex web of low-level brokers who have not been examined to date, including informers (former, "source"), extortionists (linemen), labour leaders (sardar), political muscle ('killer', goonda, mastan) and above them political leaders organised across a myriad of different factions associated with the ruling Awami League party. To date my research has examined how subaltern groups such as labourers, beggars or scavengers navigate the city through such figures, maintaining complex relationships characterized by love, friendship and support, as well as violence and oppression. This proposal will build on this research agenda and my extensive ethnographic experience and networks, by directly examining the roles and lives of these brokers themselves. By deploying life histories to examine how these brokers navigate the juncture between the masses and those in power, we can shed deeper light on the nature of state-society relations in Bangladesh, and illuminate the complex relationships between violence specialists.
My research examines everyday politics in urban Bangladesh, portraying the lives of people like Liton, and the ways in which they navigate the city. It is common to perceive such narratives as symbolizing a deeply dysfunctional society, where violence is used entrepreneurially, and corruption and criminality are widespread. This project builds on a growing body of literature which challenges such a view (North et al 2009; Khan 2010; Goldstein and Arias 2010; Arias 2017). To see such dynamics as indicating dysfunctionality or disorder is to base analysis in the ideals of a Western liberal democracy (Goldstein and Arias 2010), where political order stems from a state holding a monopoly on the means of violence. But central states rarely dominate society, and political order in most societies in fact comes from balancing the interests of diverse 'violence specialists' (Tilly 1985; North et al 2009). These take many forms, and to name only a few, include mafia, gangsters, street gangs, militia, trade unions and political parties; as well as state bodies such as the police and military. Rather than see such figures as mutually incompatible or contradictory, this approach focuses on how they are in fact interdependent and collaborative, an observation that resonates deeply with literature worldwide (Blok 1974; Auyero 2001; Volkov 2002; Berenschot 2011; Siniawer 2012; Arias 2017; Martin and Michelutti 2017).
My doctoral thesis asked the question: how does this model of political order inform an understanding of state-society relations in Bangladesh? The answer I proposed is that state-society relations are mediated by 'brokers' or 'intermediaries', who are either violence specialists themselves, or who are deeply influenced by those who are. In the urban political economy of Dhaka this incorporates a complex web of low-level brokers who have not been examined to date, including informers (former, "source"), extortionists (linemen), labour leaders (sardar), political muscle ('killer', goonda, mastan) and above them political leaders organised across a myriad of different factions associated with the ruling Awami League party. To date my research has examined how subaltern groups such as labourers, beggars or scavengers navigate the city through such figures, maintaining complex relationships characterized by love, friendship and support, as well as violence and oppression. This proposal will build on this research agenda and my extensive ethnographic experience and networks, by directly examining the roles and lives of these brokers themselves. By deploying life histories to examine how these brokers navigate the juncture between the masses and those in power, we can shed deeper light on the nature of state-society relations in Bangladesh, and illuminate the complex relationships between violence specialists.
Publications
Goodfellow, T
(2020)
Control the capital: cities and political dominance
Jackman D
(2020)
Students, movements, and the threat to authoritarianism in Bangladesh
in Contemporary South Asia
Jackman D
(2022)
The Party-Police Nexus in Bangladesh
in The Journal of Development Studies
Jackman D
(2018)
The Decline of Gangsters and Politicization of Violence in Urban Bangladesh
in Development and Change
Jackman, D
(2019)
Dominating Dhaka
Jackman, D
(2019)
Political violence in South Asia
Jackman, D
(2018)
Violent intermediaries and political order in Bangladesh
in European Journal of Development Research
Jackman, D
(2019)
Managing coercion and striving for dominance in Bangladesh
Maitrot, M
(2020)
The 2018 Bangladeshi election
Description | The aim of this project was to examine the roles of 'brokers' at the lower echelons of the urban political economy in Dhaka city. In other words, if we view a city such as Dhaka bottom-up, how does it look? The postdoctoral fellowship gave me the opportunity to work on a book project examining this question through four cases: market labourers, street vendors, beggars and municipal sweepers. The project highlighted the significance of political groups controlling 'syndicates' regulating access to economic opportunities, and the roles of 'societies' (grassroots associations) as vehicles for aspiring political leaders, and the perpetuation of hierarchical relationships. |
Exploitation Route | This project aims to unveil the street level political economy of a mega-city, Dhaka, and in so doing may be of relevance to policymakers in international aid agencies and NGOs. |
Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice |
Description | I have had communication with governance advisors in the Department of International Development (DFID) Bangladesh who inform me they have found recent working papers I have published on Bangladeshi politics to be useful in guiding their current policy formulation in the fields of local politics and peace-building. I also presented my research to the UK High Commissioner to Bangladesh in October 2020. |
Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
Description | Impact on the policy of the Department of International Development (DFID) Bangladesh |
Geographic Reach | Asia |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | Presentation to DFID Bangladesh Governance Team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | I presented to the Department for International Development (DFID) Bangladesh governance team in June 2019, offering insight into how Bangladeshi politics is changing, focusing on 1) intra-state power; 2) the situation of the primary opposition; 3) student movements and 4) the 2018 election. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Presented at the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling conference, held at BRAC in Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Presented to the title 'saving money and flexing muscle: capital and political factions in a Bangladesh bazar', at the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling conference, held at BRAC in Dhaka, Bangladesh. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |