Market Power: Traders, Farmers, and the Politics of Accumulation in Pakistani Punjab Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies by Asha Amirali St. Catherine’s College University of Oxford TT 2017 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP Name (in capitals): Asha Amirali Candidate number: 2850643 College (in capitals): St. Catherine’s College Supervisor: Barbara Harriss-White Title of thesis (in capitals): MARKET POWER: TRADERS, FARMERS, AND THE POLITICS OF ACCUMULATION IN PAKISTANI PUNJAB Word count: 99,574 Please tick to confirm the following: I have read and understood the University’s disciplinary regulations concerning conduct in examinations and, in particular, the regulations on plagiarism (The University Student Handbook ü Section 8.8; available at https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/student-handbook). 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I agree to make any such electronic copy available to the examiners should it be necessary to ü confirm my word count or to check for plagiarism. 1 Where a thesis builds upon preparatory work previously submitted (such as a Research Design Essay or Research Proposal etc) this is permissible. http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills Date: 18/05/2017 Candidate’s signature: Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................... 10 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 12 Glossary .................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter One .............................................................................................................. 18 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 18 Contributions of the Thesis ................................................................................................................................ 25 Picking a Peephole: Confessions of a Situated Self ................................................................................... 29 Studying Aarthis and Small Towns ................................................................................................................. 31 The Mandi Town of Okara ................................................................................................................................... 36 Figure 1: Map of Pakistan, Showing Okara .................................................................................................. 37 The Mandi .................................................................................................................................................................. 44 Figure 2: Linkages within the Mandi .............................................................................................................. 50 Table 1: Land Area and Distribution in Okara District ........................................................................... 52 Overview of Chapters ............................................................................................................................................ 61 Chapter Two .............................................................................................................. 66 Theoretical and Historical Departures ....................................................................... 66 Domination, Accumulation, and Capital: Some Definitions .................................................................. 67 A Framework for Studying Markets ............................................................................................................... 72 Salvaging Embeddedness .................................................................................................................................... 75 The State in Capitalist Markets ......................................................................................................................... 86 The Intermediate Classes .................................................................................................................................... 91 Business Associations ........................................................................................................................................... 99 Caste and Biraderi in Punjab ........................................................................................................................... 101 Biraderi or Faction? ............................................................................................................................................. 105 Understanding Patronage ................................................................................................................................. 108 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 115 Chapter Three ......................................................................................................... 120 Methods and Methodological Considerations ......................................................... 120 The Dynamics of Data Collection and Use .................................................................................................. 121 Chasing Theory from Below: Focusing on the Local ............................................................................. 125 No Blank Slate ........................................................................................................................................................ 130 Interviews and Informal Encounters ........................................................................................................... 133 Zooming In: Case Studies Within a Case Study ........................................................................................ 140 Four Cases ................................................................................................................................................................ 142 Table 2: Four Cases .............................................................................................................................................. 145 Contextualizing ‘Thick’ Data: Conducting a Mandi Survey ................................................................. 145 A Woman in a Man’s World .............................................................................................................................. 147 Missing Piece of the Puzzle: Islam ................................................................................................................. 151 Ethical Dilemmas .................................................................................................................................................. 155 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 161 Chapter 4 ................................................................................................................ 163 The Making of the Rural-Commercial Classes: A Brief Historical Background ........... 163 Canal Colonization ................................................................................................................................................ 165 Partition .................................................................................................................................................................... 172 The Green Revolution and Basic Democracies ........................................................................................ 176 Bhutto’s Nationalizations and the Intermediate Revolt ...................................................................... 180 The Zia Years: Feeding at the Trough .......................................................................................................... 184 The 1990’s and Beyond ...................................................................................................................................... 186 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 189 Chapter Five ............................................................................................................ 192 ‘My Blood, My Sweat, His Gain’: Setting the Scene for the Aarthi-Farmer Struggle .. 192 The Gold Rush ........................................................................................................................................................ 193 Table 3: Aarthi Background ............................................................................................................................. 198 Changes in Production Costs ........................................................................................................................... 199 Why Do Farmers Borrow? ................................................................................................................................ 203 How Many Borrow? ............................................................................................................................................. 206 Alternative Sources of Credit ........................................................................................................................... 208 Reluctant Lenders and Reluctant Borrowers ........................................................................................... 213 Difficulties of Lending: the Economic-Structural .................................................................................... 216 Difficulties of Lending: The Moral-Political ............................................................................................... 221 Weapons of the Weak ......................................................................................................................................... 227 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 232 Chapter Six .............................................................................................................. 235 Contract Enforcement in the Aarthi-Farmer Relationship ........................................ 235 Who Shall We Lend To? ..................................................................................................................................... 240 ‘Known’ Debtors .................................................................................................................................................... 243 Banking on Fear ..................................................................................................................................................... 249 The Rare Recourse to Law ................................................................................................................................ 250 Social Sanction ....................................................................................................................................................... 256 Displaying Muscle ................................................................................................................................................. 259 Authority, Legitimacy, and ‘Judicious Restraint’ ..................................................................................... 262 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 269 Chapter Seven ......................................................................................................... 272 The Politics of Business and the Business of Politics in Okara................................... 272 Patronage and Politics in the Everyday State ........................................................................................... 274 The Politics of Business ...................................................................................................................................... 286 The Non-Ideological Bases of Party Loyalty ............................................................................................. 293 The Paradox at the Heart of Patronage ....................................................................................................... 296 The Business of Politics ...................................................................................................................................... 304 What Matters to Clients? ................................................................................................................................... 313 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 319 Chapter Eight .......................................................................................................... 323 Of Oligarchs and Oligopolists: Collective Action amongst Grain Traders .................. 323 Why Associate? ...................................................................................................................................................... 326 The Okara Ghalla Mandi Committee (OGMC) ........................................................................................... 330 Organizational Structure ................................................................................................................................... 332 Biraderi as Regulator .......................................................................................................................................... 333 Challenges to the Establishment .................................................................................................................... 336 ‘Routine’ Matters and the Oligopoly ............................................................................................................. 340 Regulating Labour ................................................................................................................................................ 346 The Anjuman Aarthian Punjab (AAP) .......................................................................................................... 351 How to Cow the State .......................................................................................................................................... 353 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................ 361 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 364 System and Lifeworld in Markets .................................................................................................................. 367 The Rural-Commercial Classes ....................................................................................................................... 378 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 385 Government Documents .................................................................................................................................... 385 Reports ...................................................................................................................................................................... 385 Newspaper articles and reports ..................................................................................................................... 386 Books, Articles, and Conference Papers ...................................................................................................... 387 Abstract This thesis examines traders’ strategies of accumulation in agricultural commodity markets in Pakistani Punjab. It contributes to the literature on markets as social and political institutions as well as to broader debates on patronage, informality, urbanization, and class formation in South Asia. The principal aim of the thesis is to identify the institutions and ideologies facilitating exchange and study how they function in the market. It also aims to account for the increased political importance of traders, understood as members of Pakistan’s intermediate classes, and reflect on the nature of their political participation. Non-programmatic, functional alignments are shown to be the norm and compatible with both military and democratic regimes. Through a close look at activities in one agricultural commodity market – or mandi, as it is known in Punjab – the present work explores the practices and linkages traders cultivate to bolster their economic and political power. Plunging into everyday mandi life in small-town Punjab, it illustrates how customary institutions articulate with the state and capital to co-regulate economic activity and create conditions for durable domination. Enmeshment in patron-client relations, links with the local state, associational activity, ownership and control of capital, and thick social ties are demonstrated to be key means by which wealth and power are accumulated. Class is shown to articulate closely with caste and kinship while being