SARC Event: The Wild East: Criminal Political Economics in South Asia

Conveners: SARC

Speakers: Barbara Harriss-White (Oxford), Lucia Michelutti (UCL).

Discussant: Matthew McCartney (CSASP)

The Wild East bridges political economy and anthropology to examine a variety of il/legal economic sectors and businesses such as red sanders, coal, fire, oil, sand, air spectrum, land, water, real estate, procurement and industrial labour. The 11 case studies, based across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, explore how state regulative law is often ignored and/or selectively manipulated. The emerging collective narrative shows the workings of regulated criminal economic systems where criminal formations, politicians, police, judges and bureaucrats are deeply intertwined.