Sense of community a weapon of survival: an ethnographic study on Korail

Abstract

Korail, from other side of the lake might seem as an inadequate piece of land which is occupied by ‘illegal settlers’ or from the research of the NGOs, people may assume that Korail is just a plot for manufacturing different social and economic problems. But from my research I want to deconstruct the lens through which we see Korail. In this research, I tried to bring the insights from the people’s life and their daily struggles by living and participating with them. I observed what makes a community in a slum? How does diversity help or hinder the coping strategies in Korail? And what are the sites through which sense of community is forged in Korail? My findings gave me some unique aspects of people’s life which helped me to come in my own theory. I tried to prove how housing pattern, bazars, NGOs, community based functions and role of women and fear of eviction generate sense of community among the people of Korail which they use as a weapon in daily survival.