Affective materiality of women's markets: The role of objects in conflict and post-conflict settings

Abstract

This paper explores the agentic capacities of inanimate objects and their role in shaping the affective atmospheres of women's markets in a post-conflict setting. To analyse this material affectivity, I draw on women's markets of Swat in Pakistan and the role of four selected objects including posters/notices, bras, mannequins and curtains in the generation, transmission and manipulation of affect. I ask, how objects matter in shaping the affectivity of women's markets during and after Swat's conflict? To answer this question, I draw on 36 semi-structured interviews with men traders (N = 18) and women customers (N = 18) along with my field notes. I found that centring our analyses upon gendered materiality of mundane objects allow us to capture nuances of unruly capacities and gendered affectivities of objects in the context of war and post-conflict environments. Moreover, my findings suggest that focussing on agentic capacities of objects enhance our understanding of the affective materiality of women's markets in the post-conflict setting.