Performances and Politics in Pakistan: a Case Study of a Micro Public Sphere

Given decades of military rule and a tightly moderated national public sphere, political participation in Pakistan historically has been extremely constrained and shallow. In contrast, drawing on my ethnographic research conducted from 2013 to 2019, I present the case of the dera, a gathering place for men in villages, where surprisingly there is a measure of public debate. Such spaces have typically been ignored because they are informal and hidden within personal networks. In spite of its informality, I show how the dera has considerable influence over village life. While individuals who manage deras do not have formal authority, they frame local debates, influence social customs and rules within the village, and importantly mediate the relationship between villagers and state representatives. Unlike the Habermasian public sphere, interactions within the dera often contribute to uncivil discourse, fractious interactions, and scandal. I argue that exploring such uncivil dynamics of public life can contribute to an understanding of public participation in Pakistan more broadly, especially highlighting the exclusion of the subaltern or marginalized populations. Beyond Pakistan, I make the case for how decoupling of the public sphere from the state can reveal interstitial spaces such as the dera and the local gatekeepers who manage such spaces, as well as elucidate how micro public spheres influence participation in formal political institutions.