A political party worker who produces crowds for electoral rallies. A “prison specialist” who serves other people’s prison sentences in exchange for a large fee. An engineer who is able to secure otherwise impossible building permits. These and other dealmakers—whose expertise and labor are often considered morally suspect—can be indispensable for navigating everyday life in Bombay, one of the world’s most complex, dynamic, and populous cities. Bombay Brokers collects profiles of thirty-six such “brokers.” Written by anthropologists, artists, city planners, and activists, these character sketches bring into relief the paradox that these brokers’ knowledge and labor are ethically fraught yet essential for Bombay’s functioning. Their centrality reveals the global-scale paradoxes and gaps that these brokers mediate and bridge. In this way, Bombay Brokers prompts a reconsideration of what counts as legitimate and valuable knowledge and labor while offering insight into changing structures of power in Bombay and around the globe.
Contributor(s): Lalitha Kamath, Tobias Baitsch, Prasad Khanolkar, Llerena Guiu Searle, Uday Chandra, Yaffa Truelove, Lalit Vachani, Sangeeta Banerji, Ratoola Kundu, Leilah Vevaina, Aneri Taskar, Ka-Kin Cheuk, Lubaina Rangwala, Ken Kuroda, Tarini Bedi, Anjali Arondekar, David Strohl, Maura Finkelstein, Swaminathan Ramanathan, Edward Simpson, Gautam Pemmaraju, Michael Collins, Rohan Shivkumar, Kathryn Hardy, Sarthak Bagchi, Simon Chauchard, Bhushan Korgaonkar, Ajay Gandhi, Srimati Basu, Atreyee Sen, Sahana Udupa, Annelies Kusters, Prasad Shetty, Rupali Gupte, Amita Bhide, Lisa Mitchell, Rachel Sturman, Daisy Deomampo, Shailaja Paik
Author(s): Lisa Björkman
Publisher: Duke University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Tags: Anthropology, Asian Studies, South Asia, Sociology,Urban Studies, India
Cover
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Urban Ethnography in The Global Interregnum / Lisa Björkman
Part I. Development / Rachel Sturman
1. Bunty Singh: Builder of Dreams / Lalitha Kamath
2. Imran: Housing Contractor / Tobias Baitsch
3. Dalpat: Manager of Services / Lisa Björkman
4. Mehmoodbhai: Toilet Operator / Prasad Khanolkar
5. Kaushal: Land Agglomerator / Llerena Guiu Searle
6. Janu: Sister-Supervisor of Migrant Construction Workers / Uday Chandra
Part II. Property / Lisa Björkman
7. Dr. K: Middle-Class Social Worker / Yaffa Truelove
8. Ashok Ravat: Shivaji Park’s Sentinel / Lalit Vachani
9. Shazia: Proof Maker / Sangeeta Banerji
10. Nirmala: Kamathipura’s Gatekeeper / Ratoola Kundu
11. Farhad: “Sue Maker” / Leilah Vevaina
Part III. Business / Tarini Bedi
12. Ramita: Surrogacy Agent / Daisy Deomampo
13. Muhammad: Revalorizer of E-Waste / Aneri Taskar
14. Deepak: Making Mumbai (In China) / Ka-Kin Cheuk
15. Lubaina: Framing “Development” / Lubaina Rangwala
16. Shankar: Delivering Authenticity / Ken Kuroda
17. Manal-Muna: Cooking Up Value / Tarini Bedi
18. Ramji: Business Energizer / Lisa Björkman
Part IV. Difference / Anjali Arondekar
19. Bhimsen Gaikwad: Singer of Justice / Shailaja Paik
20. Sultan: Image Manager / David J. Strohl
21. Raj: Carting Cosmopolitanism / Maura Finkelstein
22. Laxmi: Dealer in Emotion / R. Swaminathan
23. Dharamsey: Assembler of Tradition / Edward Simpson
24. Dalvi: Speaker of Cities / Gautam Pemmaraju
Part V. Publics / Lisa Björkman & Michael Collins
25. Shashi: Dot Connector / Rohan Shivkumar
26. Anil Prakash: Amplifier of Cinema-Industrial Connections / Kathryn Hardy
27. Gauravpant Mishra: Crowd Maker / Sarthak Bagchi
28. Srinivasan: Kingmaker / Simon Chauchard
29. Madhu: Door Opener / Bhushan Korgaonkar
30. Poornima: Designing Relations / Ajay Gandhi
Part VI. Truth / Lisa Björkman
31. Rajani Pandit: Detector of “Truths” / Srimati Basu
32. Afzal Taximan: Rumor Navigator / Sahana Udupa
33. Pawan: Prison Master / Atreyee Sen
34. Sujit: Master Communicator / Annelies Kusters
35. Chadda: Report Maker / Prasad Shetty & Rupali Gupte
36. Prakash: Data Entrepreneur / Amita Bhide
Conclusion. Other Places, Other Times / Lisa Mitchell
Glossary
About the Contributors
Index
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