Adaptation of VB (Vartan Bhanji ) in Urban Centers: Tracking Signs of Cultural Lag in an Evolving Pakistan

Abstract

The scholarship has depicted that Vartan Bhanji (rural social institution of social exchange) has shaped itself in the urban settings of Pakistan (Alia, 2017; Saher & Mayrhofer 2014; Saher, 2010; Chaudhry 1999). While VB has adapted according to the formal expectations of the urban system (by avoiding written records and resorting to less open exchange of gift/services), it has also influenced the formal processes of urban institutions; including political parties, professional organizations, civil services and the military, leading to the personalization of the impersonal. Qadeer (1999) highlights it as a reflection of inconsistency and a sign of cultural lag. To date, this issue has not been explored and no published material is available on it. Considering this gap in literature, this paper is going to unravel this phenomenon and will contribute to the discourse on cultural lag. To meet the objectives of this study, qualitative research with in-depth interviews have been conducted with the female teachers of a public sector school. The results show that the respondents were explicitly aware of VB, they accepted the existence of VB based relations among colleagues, and use the three items
of VB (i.e., daughters' rights, reciprocity and maang-a request for help which must be satisfied) to develop fictive relation (of two types) and an informal support system in a formal organization.