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For the past fifteen years or so, situations of chronic civil strife have been the object of increasing attention from the social sciences. Until now, however, few studies have focused on the ways in which the productive economy and work-based solidarities are reproduced in times of apparent collapse of the political and social order. Synthesizing the results of an investigation conducted from 2014 to 2022 on the construction of corporate order in Karachi, this article attempts to fill this gap by observing the effects of three decades of urban conflict on relations of production within the textile and garment industry. This case study allows us to put capitalism’s presumed aversion to instability and irregularity into perspective. By bringing to light the windfall effects of armed conflicts for the capitalist class, as well as the breaches opened up by these same conflicts in the corporate order, I also aim to extend the discussion on contemporary forms of re-incorporating the economy into the social and political spheres. Finally, the recent resurgence of inter-ethnic mobilizations in Karachi’s textile industry provides an opportunity to reflect upon the conditions of survival of subaltern cosmopolitanism within societies strongly polarized by decades of armed confrontations.