A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Yarash, Nasratullah; Mielke, Katja Working Paper The social order of the bazaar: Socio-economic embedding of retail and trade in Kunduz and Imam Sahib ZEF Working Paper Series, No. 79 Provided in Cooperation with: Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung / Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn Suggested Citation: Yarash, Nasratullah; Mielke, Katja (2011) : The social order of the bazaar: Socio-economic embedding of retail and trade in Kunduz and Imam Sahib, ZEF Working Paper Series, No. 79, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/88387 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. 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Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. www.econstor.eu Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung Center for Development Research University of Bonn Working Paper Series ZEF 79 Nasratullah Yarash, Katja Mielke „The Social Order of the Bazaar: Socio-economic embedding of Retail and Trade in Kunduz and Imam Sahib“ ISSN 1864-6638 Bonn, June 2011 ZEF Working Paper Series, ISSN 1864‐6638 Department of Political and Cultural Change Center for Development Research, University of Bonn Editors: Joachim von Braun, Manfred Denich, Solvay Gerke, Anna‐Katharina Hornidge and Conrad Schetter Authors’ addresses Nasratullah Yarash Kunduz University, Department of Social Sciences E‐mail: [email protected] Katja Mielke Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Walter‐Flex‐Str. 3 53113 Bonn, Germany Tel. 0049 (0)228‐73 1728: Fax 0228‐731972 E‐mail: kmielke@uni‐bonn.de www.zef.de The social order of the bazaar Socio‐economic embedding of retail and trade in Kunduz and Imam Sahib Nasratullah Yarash & Katja Mielke 2 Abstract Afghanistan’s economy is undergoing change with recently surging GDP‐growth. This empirical paper looks at two urban markets to investigate how the positive economic performance is based on local retail and trade in Kunduz and Imam Sahib. Against the backdrop of an historical overview, the main features of local production, marketing and sales are linked with an analysis of the institutional and social embeddedness of shopkeepers and craftsmen. The findings show a close interdependence of the bazaar with its rural hinterland, as the district population constitutes the main purchasers of goods and suppliers of agricultural produce. Both bazaars are linked with regional and world markets. As centres of economic activity in Kunduz province, the markets provide the main revenue source for the respective municipal administration. Contrary to the national trend expressed in GDP‐growth, it is shown that, at the local level, profits, employment, livelihood‐making and public works are an outcome of constant negotiation and the ever‐present competition of multiple ordering ideas, institutions and values ingrained in the different stakeholders present. Keywords: bazaar, retail, trade, local governance, Afghanistan, Kunduz Province Note on writing: Dari terms for which no standardized English translation exists, because the terms in many cases designate local peculiarities, have been transcribed and written in italics. To keep it simple, plurals are formed as if the words were English, e.g. kalāntar becomes kalāntars instead of kalāntarān, as it would be in Dari. All locations are given in the style of popular usage, e.g. Chardarah (instead Chahārdarah), Kabul, Khanabad, Jalalabad, Imam Sahib, etc. Terms that have entered Anglophone discourse already are used in their anglicized versions and not marked in italics, e.g. mujahedin, Taliban. 3 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................6 1.2 Methodology and conceptual approach ..................................................................................................7 2 Historical sketch of the commercial significance of Kunduz and Imam Sahib ........................................... 8 3 Business activities in the bazaar: production, trade, sales and marketing ............................................. 10 3.1 Shopkeeping and trade between local demand and translocal chains of supply ................................. 10 3.2 Money flows in retail and beyond: shopkeepers, customers, banks and sarāfi ................................... 20 3.3 Households and consumers: the goods baskets of different income groups in Kunduz ...................... 24 3.4 The bazaar as a market for local products: cases of wheat, rice, almonds and carpets ....................... 25 4 Relationship of the bazaar with municipality and government agencies ............................................... 29 4.1 Property patterns in the bazaar ............................................................................................................ 29 4.2 The bazaar as a source of revenue for municipality and government.................................................. 33 4.3 Local government in the bazaar: mayor, municipality, velāyat, police, NDS ........................................ 37 5 Social Embedding ................................................................................................................................. 39 5.1 Representation in guilds, streetwise and through the National Craftsmen Union .............................. 40 5.2 Conflict mediation through middlemen: kalāntarān, raīshā‐ye senf, ‘itehādiyah ................................ 49 5.3 Vocational training and local employment with masters of crafts ....................................................... 50 5.4 The subliminal: on bazaar ethics, ‘bribe eating’ and shopkeepers’ livelihood‐making ........................ 54 6 Case study: Imam Sahib’s women’s bazaar ........................................................................................... 62 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 66 8 References ........................................................................................................................................... 68 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................. 71 A1 – Glossary ............................................................................................................................................... 71 A2 – Overview of types of craftsmen interviewed...................................................................................... 76 A3 – Overview of types of shopkeepers interviewed ................................................................................. 77 A4 – Overview of guilds’ representatives interviewed ............................................................................... 79 A5 – Overview of other interviews conducted ........................................................................................... 80 A6 – Map of Kunduz bazaar ........................................................................................................................ 81 A7 – Map of Imam Sahib bazaar ................................................................................................................. 82 A8 – Afghan shamsi (solar) calendar ........................................................................................................... 83 4 “The economy of the farmers is very weak; we live on them. God knows whether the economy of the people will improve. At the time of Zahir Shah, people were safe and the government was building something in the city but now there is killing instead of building. […] It is due to insecurity. People are busy with reaping and get killed in the fields.” (Interview with a shopkeeper in Kunduz bazaar, June 12, 2010) 1 Introduction As recently as 2009‐10 Afghanistan saw its real GDP‐growth surge by 17.1% after having been very low (2.3%) the year before due to a long‐lasting drought which affected the most important economic sector – agriculture (CSO 2009, 103).1 The sectoral contributions to the GDP can be itemized with 31.4% agriculture, 21.3% industry and 43.8% services for the same period. Retail and