This article examines the historical processes by which low or non-caste groups have situated themselves in Pakistan's waste economy. Adopting caste as a category of governance, the colonial regime implemented policies and interventions that not only impacted these groups in the Punjab, but also cemented enduring connections between caste, waste work, and governance, which have subsequently shaped the trajectories of waste work in cities like Lahore. Moving beyond the framework of the “abject,” this article emphasizes caste as a historical category through which social stratification and exclusions have materialized across South Asia, and examines how low or non-caste groups have organized themselves in Pakistan's waste economy, which has resulted from rapid urbanization, bureaucratization and informalization, regional labor migration, consumptive economies, urban development, and sociopolitical relations. Rather than inhabiting the abjectness of capitalism, modernity, or caste hierarchy, this article argues that these groups have carved out a space for themselves and their wider social relations in cities like Lahore in Pakistan, where social inequalities and stratification are undeniable facets of urban life.

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超越目标：种姓与巴基斯坦废物经济中的工作组织

本文考察了低种姓或非种姓群体处于巴基斯坦废物经济中的历史过程。殖民制度将种姓作为治理的一种类别，实施了政策和干预措施，这些政策和干预不仅影响了旁遮普邦的这些群体，而且巩固了种姓，废物工作和治理之间的持久联系，从而塑造了城市中废物工作的轨迹像拉合尔。超越“目标”的框架，本文强调种姓作为一种历史类别，在整个南亚实现了社会分层和排斥，并考察了低种姓或非种姓群体如何在巴基斯坦的废物经济中组织起来，从快速的城市化，官僚化和非正规化，区域劳动力移民，消费性经济，城市发展和社会政治关系。本文认为，这些群体并没有居住在资本主义，现代性或种姓等级制度中，而是在巴基斯坦拉合尔这样的城市中为自己及其更广泛的社会关系创造了空间，那里的社会不平等和分层是城市生活不可否认的方面。