ABSTRACT
The State of Pakistan has in effect pre-empted the need for co-ordinated voluntary action on the part of local immigrant organisations. Fundamental moral ideas draw the Pakistani elite into public action. The obligation of elites to make large-scale, generous and, indeed, extravagant contributions to common causes has, perhaps, received less attention than other forms of agonistic exchange. In communal terms, Pakistani weddings may also arguably be said to constitute the apex of direct, competitive exchange between familial groups. British Pakistanis, like other groups of immigrants, also regard regional or national causes as being entitled axiomatically to unquestioning support. A distinctive feature of the societies' endeavour is the formal dinners they convene, in which they entertain Pakistani or British dignitaries to large and expensive meals, usually at top class hotels. The State of Pakistan has in effect pre-empted the need for co-ordinated voluntary action on the part of local immigrant organisations.
