Bombay Brokers

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. Contributors. Anjali Arondekar, Sarthak Bagchi, Tobias Baitsch, Sangeeta Banerji, Srimati Basu, Tarini Bedi, Amita Bhide, Lisa Björkman, Uday Chandra, Simon Chauchard, Ka-Kin Cheuk, Michael Collins, Daisy Deomampo, Maura Finkelstein, Ajay Gandhi, Rupali Gupte, Kathryn C. Hardy, Lalitha Kamath, Prasad Khanolkar, Bhushan Korgaonkar, Ratoola Kundu, Ken Kuroda, Annelies Kusters, Lisa Mitchell, Shailaja Paik, Gautam Pemmaraju, Lubaina Rangwala, Llerena Guiu Searle, Atreyee Sen, Prasad Shetty, Rohan Shivkumar, Edward Simpson, David Strohl, Rachel Sturman, R. Swaminathan, Aneri Taskar, Yaffa Truelove, Sahana Udupa, Lalit Vachani, Leilah Vevaina 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 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z 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 behind-the-scenes expertise and labor are often invisible—have an intrinsic role in the city's functioning and 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 simultaneously invisible 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. Contributors. Anjali Arondekar, Sarthak Bagchi, Tobias Baitsch, Sangeeta Banerji, Srimati Basu, Tarini Bedi, Amita Bhide, Lisa Björkman, Uday Chandra, Simon Chauchard, Ka-Kin Cheuk, Michael Collins, Daisy Deomampo, Maura Finkelstein, Ajay Gandhi, Rupali Gupte, Kathryn C. Hardy, Lalitha Kamath, Prasad Khanolkar, Bhushan Korgaonkar, Ratoola Kundu, Ken Kuroda, Annelies Kusters, Lisa Mitchell, Shailaja Paik, Gautam Pemmaraju, Lubaina Rangwala, Llerena Guiu Searle, Atreyee Sen, Prasad Shetty, Rohan Shivkumar, Edward Simpson, David Strohl, Rachel Sturman, R. Swaminathan, Aneri Taskar, Yaffa Truelove, Sahana Udupa, Lalit Vachani, Leilah Vevaina

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.Contributors. Anjali Arondekar, Sarthak Bagchi, Tobias Baitsch, Sangeeta Banerji, Srimati Basu, Tarini Bedi, Amita Bhide, Lisa Björkman, Uday Chandra, Simon Chauchard, Ka-Kin Cheuk, Michael Collins, Daisy Deomampo, Maura Finkelstein, Ajay Gandhi, Rupali Gupte, Kathryn C. Hardy, Lalitha Kamath, Prasad Khanolkar, Bhushan Korgaonkar, Ratoola Kundu, Ken Kuroda, Annelies Kusters, Lisa Mitchell, Shailaja Paik, Gautam Pemmaraju, Lubaina Rangwala, Llerena Guiu Searle, Atreyee Sen, Prasad Shetty, Rohan Shivkumar, Edward Simpson, David Strohl, Rachel Sturman, R. Swaminathan, Aneri Taskar, Yaffa Truelove, Sahana Udupa, Lalit Vachani, Leilah Vevaina

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 "Bombay Brokers is a collaborative ethnography about people whose material and practical expertise animate the everyday workings in and of one of the world's more dynamic cities, but whose labors are simultaneously (and paradoxically) subject to much moralizing hand-wringing. The book takes this paradox-the ethically fraught yet indispensable character of certain kinds of knowledge and labor-as a methodological and analytical jumping-off point for exploring broader questions about global-level transformations: economic, technological, political, socio-material, ideational"-- Provided by publisher "Bombay Brokers collect thirty-six character profiles of men and women whose knowledge and labor--which is often seen as morally suspect--are essential for navigating everyday life in Bombay, one of the world's most complex, dynamic, and populous cities."-- Provided by publisher