Book Review
Johnson Thomas
Title: Whistling in the Dark
Sub-Title: 21 Queer Interviews
Edited by R Raj Rao & Dibyajyoti Sarma
Paperback Edition, 264 pages, Price: Rs. 375/-
ISBN 978-81-7829-921-1
Sage Publications
www.sagepublications.com
In 1999 a few former residents and R.Raj Rao, got together to form the Queer Studies Circle, a support group that was concerned with the intellectual , cultural, social and political aspects of being gay in India. They believed, a stage had come, thanks to worldwide propaganda, when homosexuality came to be seen as synonymous with HIV/AIDS and they wanted to veer away from this grim penchant and focus on the celebration of gayness itself. At meetings which were held in the Department of English, University of Pune, they encouraged people to talk so that they could get acquainted with their personal histories.
It was an attempt to put these histories on record and the people who came to these meetings were given pointers about queer sex identities and an attemot was made to find out how each of these people belonging to specific identities, viewed themselves with respect to societal obligations which they may or may not have entered into. The idea for this book took shape during those meetings and interviewees include several people from countries like Canada, Spain, SriLanka, Mauritius and even Iran. They also include MSM’s from plebian society such as auto rickshaw drivers and masseurs. Interviews were facilitated in a relaxed ambience in different locations and over a period of time. The aim was to present the life stories as they actually exist, without vetting or editing them in the interest of propriety. They were also aiming for a work of non-fiction, that like fiction, would be able to sustain the interest of the general reader.
The facilitators were seen to be out gay men, icons, who could be taken to be one amongst them and therefore it was easier to get the interviewees to open up with as much honesty as possible. The writings encompass several issues that have troubled the community over the years. The attempt to start an MA level course on Alternate Sexuality, Naz foundation’s case for repeal of article 377, cultural taboos reinforced by heterosexism, issue of masculinity, patriarchy, paedophilia, the metaphor of third world colonization, AIDS, the use of condoms, religion and sexuality, the use of aliases among gay men and lesbians and homosexuality in prisons are some of the issues that find prominence in the writings that have been chosen to be among the 21 queer interviews entrenched in this book. Co-editor Dibyajyothi Sarma was also responsible for the incisive probing that lead to the thought provoking narratives that have been included in this book. These narratives go beyond the commonplace and conventional, providing a rare insight into the private lives of people, some of whom were( at some point of their lives) forced to live their true lives in hiding rather than leave themselves open to the ridicule of society and imprisonment due to the antiquated laws of our country. This book is a revelation of sorts for those who have little understanding of issues that arise due to unconventional sexual preferences. It can also be a useful resource for PG students, academics and any and everyone who has an interest in humanity and social welfare.
Johnson Thomas( johnsont307@gmail.com)
About the Editors
R Raj Rao: A professor in the Department of English, University of Pune, India, he is the author of the cult novel ‘The Boyfriend’ which has also been translated into French and Italian. He has another novel all set for release called ‘Engineering College Hostel.’
The cult film ‘BomGay’ was based on six of his poems. Rao is the public face of Indian Gay writing all over the world.
Dibyajyoti Sarma: He wrote his M.Phil thesis in Western Queer Theory and how it differs from Indian Queer experience. His book of poems ‘Glimpses of a Personal History’ and published in 2004. He is also working on his first novel.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A Space of her Own & Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India
A SPACE OF HER OWN
Personal Narratives of Twelve Women
edited by: Leela Gulati & Jasodhara Bagchi
ISBN: 0-7619-3315-8
Published : March 2005 Pages : 276 Price: Rs.340 Paperback Edition
Publisher: SAGE India www.indiasage.com
WOMEN HEROES AND DALIT ASSERTION IN NORTH INDIA
Culture, Identity and Politics (Series:Cultural Subordination and the Dalit Challenge, 5)
Author: Badri Narayan
Published : September 2006 Pages : 186 Paperback Edition
ISBN: 0-7619-3537-1
Publisher: Sage India www.sageindia.com Price: Rs.295.
Very often myths are more influential than reality, they also give new meaning to reality. Memories too often help to triumph over an oppressive present and the past is often invented in new forms to overcome such a present. This can be seen in the case of many historically marginalized communities who give new interpretations to their past to suit the needs of their present in order to move towards a better and brighter future. The Dalit castes of UP in north India form one such group. This group though large in numbers has always been looked down upon and reviled by the hegemonic upper castes who are small in number. The volume, Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India explores cultural repression in India and ways in which it is overcome. The book studies the burgeoning Dalit politics in North India and shows how Dalit women heroes (viranganas) of the 1857 Rebellion have emerged as symbols of Dalit assertion in Uttar Pradesh and are being used by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to build the image of its leader, Mayawati. Our caste-ridden society subaltern castes have had an inhuman, subjugated existence for a very long time. Over a period of time they began to resist upper-caste hegemony and began the quest for political and cultural space. With awareness setting in, the Dalit identity is taking a concrete shape today. Among the factors contributing to this evolution are politics and the process of fashioning alternate history through the resurrection of memories and myths regarding Dalit heroes – both men and women – of yore covering the time span ranging from the two epics to the more recent 1857 War of Independence and even later.
On the other hand the collection of twelve narratives, A Space of Her Own focuses not so much on women’s subservient position vis-a-vis men, but on women’s relations with each other. With the authors locating their personal struggles within those of three generations of women in their families, these narratives span a period of over a 100 years, and intersect both the private and public domains. Each narrative in A Space of Her Own is a tale of how the author fought to establish her own personhood and create a sphere of autonomy where she is able to make decisions to nurture herself and those around her.
While demonstrating how myths and memories of the role of Dalits in India’s freedom struggle are employed for constructing identity, and then reconstructed for political mobilization, Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India narrates some of the tales used to develop political consciousness at the grass-roots level. It also reveals how stories picked up from among the people themselves are reinterpreted, packaged and disseminated orally and via pamphlets, describing how gods, heroes and other cultural resources of each caste are converted into political capital by giving them a visual image through calendars, statues, posters and memorials and also shows how the BSP creates and recreates historical material to expand its electoral base.
Four themes emerge prominently from the narratives in A Space of Her Own, reflecting on the emotional lines of matriliny within the social structure of patriliny. They include the role of the renegade predecessors in the family who set out a pattern of independence that paved the way for her inspirational act, the presence of mothers or grandmothers who come forward in situations of stress to exhibit unforeseen strengths, stories of obstacles overcome and stories of external social change that shaped the lives of these women. Eight of the narratives were written for a workshop of women’s lives hosted by the center for developmental studies in Trivandrum. 12 narratives form the core of this book edited by edited by Leela Gulati formerly at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvanthapuram & Jasodhara Bagchi West Bengal Commission for Women, Kolkata .The authors include women of substance namely; Bagchi herself, Zarina Bhatty, Priti Desai, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Carolyn Elliott, Leela Gulati, Arlie Hochschild, Saroja Kamakshi, Maithreyi Krishna Raj, Vina Mazumdar, Vijaya Mehta, Sushil Narulla, Mary Roy and Hema Sundaram. Each narrative is a tale of how the author established her own parenthood. Several of the authors recount how previous generations of women found personal space under the ‘bushel of domesticity’.
Badri Narayan of G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, author of Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India has attempted to examine the relationship between cultural politics and the democratic participation of marginalised communities of UP. He also highlights "hidden issues related to identity construction, which underlie the obvious issues related to the fulfillment of basic needs and socio-economic development`85" and how they are used to mobilise the Dalits at the grass-roots level.
Based on field studies and secondary information, the author outlines the politics of dissent which uses historical and cultural resources as identity markers in political mobilization. This book, therefore, becomes invaluable for students of politics, sociology and history and all those engaged in Dalit studies.
It is inevitable that in Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India the BSP, especially the Mayawati factor is given due attention here and that’s not a minus in any form. The Mayawati faction has emerged because of social malaise and it’s only fair on the part of the author to recognize that fact. What is important about this book though, is the community-wise examination of the evolution of Dalit consciousness in UP. And this especially makes this book an invaluable text , well researched and lucidly told!
It is stories such as in A Space of Her Own ,when repeated over generations, have the power to inspire women to live with dignity and to create and defend lives for themselves, their families, and the women who follow them. The book dwells at length on women in relation to other women within families. It does not follow the trend of caricaturing the mother-in-law daughter-n-law stereotype. Here women together derive strength from ea ch other and is therefore a revelation. Can these narratives be considered the social history of previous generations? They are certainly not eyewitness accounts of the past and can be seen to be clearly mediated by each authors contemporary effort to express herself and her own reasoning of her life story so far. Despite this short-coming this book has all the makings of a more often than not realistic construct of a historic past.
Johnson Thomas
Personal Narratives of Twelve Women
edited by: Leela Gulati & Jasodhara Bagchi
ISBN: 0-7619-3315-8
Published : March 2005 Pages : 276 Price: Rs.340 Paperback Edition
Publisher: SAGE India www.indiasage.com
WOMEN HEROES AND DALIT ASSERTION IN NORTH INDIA
Culture, Identity and Politics (Series:Cultural Subordination and the Dalit Challenge, 5)
Author: Badri Narayan
Published : September 2006 Pages : 186 Paperback Edition
ISBN: 0-7619-3537-1
Publisher: Sage India www.sageindia.com Price: Rs.295.
Very often myths are more influential than reality, they also give new meaning to reality. Memories too often help to triumph over an oppressive present and the past is often invented in new forms to overcome such a present. This can be seen in the case of many historically marginalized communities who give new interpretations to their past to suit the needs of their present in order to move towards a better and brighter future. The Dalit castes of UP in north India form one such group. This group though large in numbers has always been looked down upon and reviled by the hegemonic upper castes who are small in number. The volume, Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India explores cultural repression in India and ways in which it is overcome. The book studies the burgeoning Dalit politics in North India and shows how Dalit women heroes (viranganas) of the 1857 Rebellion have emerged as symbols of Dalit assertion in Uttar Pradesh and are being used by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to build the image of its leader, Mayawati. Our caste-ridden society subaltern castes have had an inhuman, subjugated existence for a very long time. Over a period of time they began to resist upper-caste hegemony and began the quest for political and cultural space. With awareness setting in, the Dalit identity is taking a concrete shape today. Among the factors contributing to this evolution are politics and the process of fashioning alternate history through the resurrection of memories and myths regarding Dalit heroes – both men and women – of yore covering the time span ranging from the two epics to the more recent 1857 War of Independence and even later.
On the other hand the collection of twelve narratives, A Space of Her Own focuses not so much on women’s subservient position vis-a-vis men, but on women’s relations with each other. With the authors locating their personal struggles within those of three generations of women in their families, these narratives span a period of over a 100 years, and intersect both the private and public domains. Each narrative in A Space of Her Own is a tale of how the author fought to establish her own personhood and create a sphere of autonomy where she is able to make decisions to nurture herself and those around her.
While demonstrating how myths and memories of the role of Dalits in India’s freedom struggle are employed for constructing identity, and then reconstructed for political mobilization, Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India narrates some of the tales used to develop political consciousness at the grass-roots level. It also reveals how stories picked up from among the people themselves are reinterpreted, packaged and disseminated orally and via pamphlets, describing how gods, heroes and other cultural resources of each caste are converted into political capital by giving them a visual image through calendars, statues, posters and memorials and also shows how the BSP creates and recreates historical material to expand its electoral base.
Four themes emerge prominently from the narratives in A Space of Her Own, reflecting on the emotional lines of matriliny within the social structure of patriliny. They include the role of the renegade predecessors in the family who set out a pattern of independence that paved the way for her inspirational act, the presence of mothers or grandmothers who come forward in situations of stress to exhibit unforeseen strengths, stories of obstacles overcome and stories of external social change that shaped the lives of these women. Eight of the narratives were written for a workshop of women’s lives hosted by the center for developmental studies in Trivandrum. 12 narratives form the core of this book edited by edited by Leela Gulati formerly at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvanthapuram & Jasodhara Bagchi West Bengal Commission for Women, Kolkata .The authors include women of substance namely; Bagchi herself, Zarina Bhatty, Priti Desai, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Carolyn Elliott, Leela Gulati, Arlie Hochschild, Saroja Kamakshi, Maithreyi Krishna Raj, Vina Mazumdar, Vijaya Mehta, Sushil Narulla, Mary Roy and Hema Sundaram. Each narrative is a tale of how the author established her own parenthood. Several of the authors recount how previous generations of women found personal space under the ‘bushel of domesticity’.
Badri Narayan of G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad, author of Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India has attempted to examine the relationship between cultural politics and the democratic participation of marginalised communities of UP. He also highlights "hidden issues related to identity construction, which underlie the obvious issues related to the fulfillment of basic needs and socio-economic development`85" and how they are used to mobilise the Dalits at the grass-roots level.
Based on field studies and secondary information, the author outlines the politics of dissent which uses historical and cultural resources as identity markers in political mobilization. This book, therefore, becomes invaluable for students of politics, sociology and history and all those engaged in Dalit studies.
It is inevitable that in Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India the BSP, especially the Mayawati factor is given due attention here and that’s not a minus in any form. The Mayawati faction has emerged because of social malaise and it’s only fair on the part of the author to recognize that fact. What is important about this book though, is the community-wise examination of the evolution of Dalit consciousness in UP. And this especially makes this book an invaluable text , well researched and lucidly told!
It is stories such as in A Space of Her Own ,when repeated over generations, have the power to inspire women to live with dignity and to create and defend lives for themselves, their families, and the women who follow them. The book dwells at length on women in relation to other women within families. It does not follow the trend of caricaturing the mother-in-law daughter-n-law stereotype. Here women together derive strength from ea ch other and is therefore a revelation. Can these narratives be considered the social history of previous generations? They are certainly not eyewitness accounts of the past and can be seen to be clearly mediated by each authors contemporary effort to express herself and her own reasoning of her life story so far. Despite this short-coming this book has all the makings of a more often than not realistic construct of a historic past.
Johnson Thomas
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Gender Stereotypes in Corporate India, A Glimpse, Book review by Johnson Thomas
Book Title: Gender Stereotypes in Corporate India
Sub-title: A Glimpse
Author: Sujoya Basu
Response, Business Books from Sage
ISBN 978-81-7829-851-1
Pages :219 Price: Rs.270/- Paperback Edition
www.sagepublications.com
Author Sujoya Basu’s infinite curiosity as to why a large number of Indian women did not make it to the managerial cadre led her to a research and investigation that encompasses this book titled ‘Gender stereotypes in corporate India’. Firstly, She reviewed literature on western management which seemed to suggest that most negative outcomes for women managers in organizations right from inception to progression could largely be a consequence of the inaccurate perceptions regarding women managers. This led her to a comparative study of the Indian management scenario, looking into the exixting perceptions regarding women managers in India, what led to those perceptions and whether those perceptions or stereotypes could be altered to bring about a positive change in organizations. Three studies addressing each of these issues- the first giving a set of managerial gender stereotypes held by men and women in India, the second looked at the antecedents of inaccurate managerial gender stereotypes while the third helped verify whether having women managers in organizational task situations help change inaccurate stereotypes in organizations. The effort is laudatory. This has never been attempted in India before and Sujoya Basu, a member of the faculty of Behavioural sciences at the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India, should get due credit for her singular effort in clearing out the cobwebs regarding gender stereotypes in Indian corporations. Sujoya hopes to make this book a bridge that could fill in the gap that exists in the Indian gender management scenario. Her findings are important in that there is now a record on inaccurate perceptions and stereotypes that divided genders in Indian Industry. This book will help corporates manage their human resources in a much more dignified and humane manner, giving equal respect and providing equal opportunities to both genders. This book also has implications for educators, trainers and society in general. There is no doubt that gender stereotypes have affected the very fabric of the society we depend on for the past decades. It is time now to confront those very perceptions with facts, introducing a greater deal of understanding regarding a very intricate issue of capabilities viz-a-viz gender.
Johnson Thomas
Sub-title: A Glimpse
Author: Sujoya Basu
Response, Business Books from Sage
ISBN 978-81-7829-851-1
Pages :219 Price: Rs.270/- Paperback Edition
www.sagepublications.com
Author Sujoya Basu’s infinite curiosity as to why a large number of Indian women did not make it to the managerial cadre led her to a research and investigation that encompasses this book titled ‘Gender stereotypes in corporate India’. Firstly, She reviewed literature on western management which seemed to suggest that most negative outcomes for women managers in organizations right from inception to progression could largely be a consequence of the inaccurate perceptions regarding women managers. This led her to a comparative study of the Indian management scenario, looking into the exixting perceptions regarding women managers in India, what led to those perceptions and whether those perceptions or stereotypes could be altered to bring about a positive change in organizations. Three studies addressing each of these issues- the first giving a set of managerial gender stereotypes held by men and women in India, the second looked at the antecedents of inaccurate managerial gender stereotypes while the third helped verify whether having women managers in organizational task situations help change inaccurate stereotypes in organizations. The effort is laudatory. This has never been attempted in India before and Sujoya Basu, a member of the faculty of Behavioural sciences at the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, India, should get due credit for her singular effort in clearing out the cobwebs regarding gender stereotypes in Indian corporations. Sujoya hopes to make this book a bridge that could fill in the gap that exists in the Indian gender management scenario. Her findings are important in that there is now a record on inaccurate perceptions and stereotypes that divided genders in Indian Industry. This book will help corporates manage their human resources in a much more dignified and humane manner, giving equal respect and providing equal opportunities to both genders. This book also has implications for educators, trainers and society in general. There is no doubt that gender stereotypes have affected the very fabric of the society we depend on for the past decades. It is time now to confront those very perceptions with facts, introducing a greater deal of understanding regarding a very intricate issue of capabilities viz-a-viz gender.
Johnson Thomas
Saturday, January 3, 2009
News Values, Authors: Paul Brighton & Dennis Foy, Book Review by Johnson Thomas
Book Title: News Values
Authors: Paul Brighton & Dennis Foy
Sage Publications
Paperback, 205 pages, 18.99 Pounds
Sage Publications, ISBN 978-1-4129-4600-1
www.sagepublications.com
What are News Values? Is there any specific criteria for selecting news? Does celebrity news warrant more bytes than that of problems faced by the common man? These are questions that have troubled me for a long time. In fact ever since liberalization happened and news became a commodity to be sold and purchased just like any other. It’s a deplorable trend but with a large number of Media players in the market and a distinct dearth in creativity and social understanding it is something that was just waiting to happen…especially in India. In the purest sense everything that happens in the world is a new event and it’s eminently likely that someone , somewhere will have some level of interest in that occurrence. But what takes it from being different to being news? The approach to the delivery and packaging of news has altered with the passage of time, and the shape of the media in the 21st century is quite different from how it was 40 years ago.
The set of values applied by different media are also as varied as the media themselves. Therefore some form of a matrix system was needed to prioritise those events , to filter them into levels of applicability and relevance to the audience. Johan Galtung and Mari Homboe Ruge’s paper titled ‘Structuring and selecting news’ was the groundbreaking research paper that has become the core text for the purpose of evaluating ‘news values’. The current book under review is basically an expanded and more extensive in-depth version of that core text. Galtung and Ruge concentrated solely on Normay for their data analysis and this works against their validity today.
Monikered ‘News Values’, co-authored by Paul Brighton and Dennis Foy, this is a book that draws up a set of rules for journalists and editors to follow –by which to work, from which to plan and execute the content of a publication or a broadcast. Previous accounts of news values tended to be of two kinds-the first examined news stories from the perspective of the working journalist and tried to isolate the features of an event which make it likely to qualify as newsworthy. The second attempts a broader approach- incorporating areas such as ideology, cultural conditioning, technological determinism and others. The authors of ‘News Values’ are convinced that a third approach is needed in conjunction with these two existing schools of thought. They opine that that third approach is necessary because of changes within individual media and because of the shift in the nature of the relationships between providers and consumers of news.
In order to explore their thesis the authors have conducted detailed analysis of news output in print , broadcast and new media. Through the course of this book the authors analyse the various branches of the media and it’s key players with a view to establishing the values which apply for this great new age of media. The authors take note of the fact that in broadcast news issues of programme format contend with more traditional news values in determining which stories are selected for mainstream network television news bulletins. They examine how stories’ inclusion and prominence in television bulletins are shaped by stylistic as well as aesthetic factors. They investigate the role of story treatments in broadcast news- such factors as the overall shape of the programme package, the live two-way exchange between studio and on-location reporter, live voice-piece etc. which affect the editorial decision making process. They also examine how far the same issues govern story selection in radio, role of planning in news output, the role of the change in newspaper(evolution from fact to comment in print journalism) and what are the criteria adopted in the decision to include or exclude events which are not of immediate significance.
This book though very useful to journalists for the understanding it gives them about newsworthiness of events, is not going to be applicable in the heat of a newsroom(where the journalist is usually led by instinct). Instead it is a system which helps explain what makes news newsworthy for the benefit of students and analysts of all media forms. Journalism colleges and Media training Institutes should have it in their curriculum.
Johnson Thomas
Authors: Paul Brighton & Dennis Foy
Sage Publications
Paperback, 205 pages, 18.99 Pounds
Sage Publications, ISBN 978-1-4129-4600-1
www.sagepublications.com
What are News Values? Is there any specific criteria for selecting news? Does celebrity news warrant more bytes than that of problems faced by the common man? These are questions that have troubled me for a long time. In fact ever since liberalization happened and news became a commodity to be sold and purchased just like any other. It’s a deplorable trend but with a large number of Media players in the market and a distinct dearth in creativity and social understanding it is something that was just waiting to happen…especially in India. In the purest sense everything that happens in the world is a new event and it’s eminently likely that someone , somewhere will have some level of interest in that occurrence. But what takes it from being different to being news? The approach to the delivery and packaging of news has altered with the passage of time, and the shape of the media in the 21st century is quite different from how it was 40 years ago.
The set of values applied by different media are also as varied as the media themselves. Therefore some form of a matrix system was needed to prioritise those events , to filter them into levels of applicability and relevance to the audience. Johan Galtung and Mari Homboe Ruge’s paper titled ‘Structuring and selecting news’ was the groundbreaking research paper that has become the core text for the purpose of evaluating ‘news values’. The current book under review is basically an expanded and more extensive in-depth version of that core text. Galtung and Ruge concentrated solely on Normay for their data analysis and this works against their validity today.
Monikered ‘News Values’, co-authored by Paul Brighton and Dennis Foy, this is a book that draws up a set of rules for journalists and editors to follow –by which to work, from which to plan and execute the content of a publication or a broadcast. Previous accounts of news values tended to be of two kinds-the first examined news stories from the perspective of the working journalist and tried to isolate the features of an event which make it likely to qualify as newsworthy. The second attempts a broader approach- incorporating areas such as ideology, cultural conditioning, technological determinism and others. The authors of ‘News Values’ are convinced that a third approach is needed in conjunction with these two existing schools of thought. They opine that that third approach is necessary because of changes within individual media and because of the shift in the nature of the relationships between providers and consumers of news.
In order to explore their thesis the authors have conducted detailed analysis of news output in print , broadcast and new media. Through the course of this book the authors analyse the various branches of the media and it’s key players with a view to establishing the values which apply for this great new age of media. The authors take note of the fact that in broadcast news issues of programme format contend with more traditional news values in determining which stories are selected for mainstream network television news bulletins. They examine how stories’ inclusion and prominence in television bulletins are shaped by stylistic as well as aesthetic factors. They investigate the role of story treatments in broadcast news- such factors as the overall shape of the programme package, the live two-way exchange between studio and on-location reporter, live voice-piece etc. which affect the editorial decision making process. They also examine how far the same issues govern story selection in radio, role of planning in news output, the role of the change in newspaper(evolution from fact to comment in print journalism) and what are the criteria adopted in the decision to include or exclude events which are not of immediate significance.
This book though very useful to journalists for the understanding it gives them about newsworthiness of events, is not going to be applicable in the heat of a newsroom(where the journalist is usually led by instinct). Instead it is a system which helps explain what makes news newsworthy for the benefit of students and analysts of all media forms. Journalism colleges and Media training Institutes should have it in their curriculum.
Johnson Thomas
The Internet and the Mass Media, Authors: Lucy Kung, Robert G Picard, Ruth Towse, Book Review by Johnson Thomas
Book Title: The Internet and The Mass Media
Authors: Lucy Kung, Robert G. Picard, Ruth Towse
Paperback edition, Pages :182
ISBN- 978-1-4129-4735-0
Sage publications
www.sagepublications.com
This is probably the most opportune time to discuss the impact of the Internet and mass media on our day-to-day lives. When technological changes take place , they are exciting, sometimes destructive and confusing and even have the power to alter the status quo. Young people adopt them faster than old people and richer countries and people have access to them much before poorer countries and people. There are many dimensions to these changes and they have to be considered from many points of view-as economic, social and political opportunities and threats. These changes impact on the whole of society both within a country and in the international context.
The 26/11 ambush on Mumbai orchestrated by terrorists allegedly from across the border, found incessant expression on the internet and mass media. Live telecasted shot-by-shot accounts by Indian news channels and individual bloggers have in fact created a storm of public opinion in favor of and against the indiscriminate use of mass media.
While the Indian newscasters upped their celeb and shrill quotient to grab maximum TRP’s, the foreign channels like BBC and CNN played it cool by calling in their experts, Christianne Amanpour and Co, when necessary, while the regular newscasters kept to their schedules with frequent updates on the terror attacks on Mumbai. The Indian counterparts were seen to be scrambling for one-upmanship, rattling off the number of shots fired, number of grenades thrown, number of terrorists, NSG, Marcos and police commandos in action while throwing in live interviews with the culprits, in an effort to pack the air waves with maximum bytes. And the fact was that none of it was entirely accurate, thus exposing their lack of expertise. It also compromised the whole operation as revealed by Naval Chief Admiral Mehta in a recent press conference when he called the media a ‘disabling instrument of the country.’
The strangely hypnotic and trancelike dance of death as relayed by the newscasters was like a c-grade bollywood product that went on and on, seemingly never ending in it’s narrative elongation and ridiculous in it’s numerous mini-climaxes. In fact when the inhuman bloodbath found it’s logical end, everyone from the security forces, the politicians to the newscasters were found wanting and were left red in the face! And , the viewers were in a state of shock; when it wore off the shock turned into anger. Of course, the erstwhile newscasters, not realizing their own susceptibility, continued to ply their idiot-box faithful with their seemingly holier-than-thou craft.
The internet, on the other hand played a much more mature role of news disseminator, providing a detailed view of what transpired without resorting to jingoism or melodrama. Blogs, file sharing websites and other websites like Twitter.com which provided short text updates were hotting up with messages at the press of a button. Bloggers relayed messages and pictures much faster than the news channels could. News appeared to be more accurate and precise on the net than on the news channels. Citizen journalists also joined in with first person accounts and on-the-spot frames. There were a few bloopers too, but they were few and less compromising than what was shown on television and this despite the fact that the internet is a wild untamed, uncontrolled and unregulated space. During the sixty hour siege of Mumbai there was a time when the news channels were blocked for a few hours but the internet carried on unhindered. The impact of this multi-media news-rush is there for all to see. People are enraged and becoming more demonstrative, Politicians are slipping out of their comfort zones, intelligence agencies are getting the short end of the public ire and media persons are forced to defend their ethics. Events like the one in Mumbai have definitely propelled new media to the forefront, it has not only gained recognition but also a faithful following.
But this was not the case five or even ten years ago. Take the case of music; five years ago when P2P and MP3 were setting shop, the industry were all jittery perceiving file-sharing as something likely to precipitate a crisis, reducing sales and cutting off revenue streams. But today the industry reckons that the internet has made business more secure and easier to expand. Sales have increased tremendously and revenues from licenses have added many zeros to the returns. Electronic books were similarly perceived as a hindrance to paper book sales but today not much has progressed on that front. There are many more examples to demonstrate the effect of the internet and the mass media but examples quickly date: what is attempted in this book is an overview not so much of the outcomes of the use of the internet but more of how social scientists set about analyzing the processes involved in the adoption of, adaptation to and acceptance of the internet in the context of media studies.
This book is the result of an initiative by the European Science foundation’s Committee on Science and Technology(COST) procedures that led to the COST A20 Project, that measured the ‘Impact of the Internet on the Mass Media.’ Spearheaded and Planned by Professor Colin Sparks, the moving force behind this initiative, a group of people from different countries, experts from different disciplines, met regularly to exchange intellectual viewpoints on a topic that was arguably difficult to analyze. The authors of this book are social scientists from all across Europe doing research in the field of media industries and specializing in a range of disciplines media and business economics, communications, cultural economics, cultural studies, media management, media technology, political science and sociology. They also share an interest in the impact of the internet on mass media. This book draws together what the authors have jointly concluded about the impact of the internet on the media industries. The book’s standpoint is multi-lens, interdisciplinary and cross national. The aim of this book was to present a contemporaneous account of researches arising out of objective academic investigation and this I say has been achieved without much difficulty!
Johnson Thomas
Authors: Lucy Kung, Robert G. Picard, Ruth Towse
Paperback edition, Pages :182
ISBN- 978-1-4129-4735-0
Sage publications
www.sagepublications.com
This is probably the most opportune time to discuss the impact of the Internet and mass media on our day-to-day lives. When technological changes take place , they are exciting, sometimes destructive and confusing and even have the power to alter the status quo. Young people adopt them faster than old people and richer countries and people have access to them much before poorer countries and people. There are many dimensions to these changes and they have to be considered from many points of view-as economic, social and political opportunities and threats. These changes impact on the whole of society both within a country and in the international context.
The 26/11 ambush on Mumbai orchestrated by terrorists allegedly from across the border, found incessant expression on the internet and mass media. Live telecasted shot-by-shot accounts by Indian news channels and individual bloggers have in fact created a storm of public opinion in favor of and against the indiscriminate use of mass media.
While the Indian newscasters upped their celeb and shrill quotient to grab maximum TRP’s, the foreign channels like BBC and CNN played it cool by calling in their experts, Christianne Amanpour and Co, when necessary, while the regular newscasters kept to their schedules with frequent updates on the terror attacks on Mumbai. The Indian counterparts were seen to be scrambling for one-upmanship, rattling off the number of shots fired, number of grenades thrown, number of terrorists, NSG, Marcos and police commandos in action while throwing in live interviews with the culprits, in an effort to pack the air waves with maximum bytes. And the fact was that none of it was entirely accurate, thus exposing their lack of expertise. It also compromised the whole operation as revealed by Naval Chief Admiral Mehta in a recent press conference when he called the media a ‘disabling instrument of the country.’
The strangely hypnotic and trancelike dance of death as relayed by the newscasters was like a c-grade bollywood product that went on and on, seemingly never ending in it’s narrative elongation and ridiculous in it’s numerous mini-climaxes. In fact when the inhuman bloodbath found it’s logical end, everyone from the security forces, the politicians to the newscasters were found wanting and were left red in the face! And , the viewers were in a state of shock; when it wore off the shock turned into anger. Of course, the erstwhile newscasters, not realizing their own susceptibility, continued to ply their idiot-box faithful with their seemingly holier-than-thou craft.
The internet, on the other hand played a much more mature role of news disseminator, providing a detailed view of what transpired without resorting to jingoism or melodrama. Blogs, file sharing websites and other websites like Twitter.com which provided short text updates were hotting up with messages at the press of a button. Bloggers relayed messages and pictures much faster than the news channels could. News appeared to be more accurate and precise on the net than on the news channels. Citizen journalists also joined in with first person accounts and on-the-spot frames. There were a few bloopers too, but they were few and less compromising than what was shown on television and this despite the fact that the internet is a wild untamed, uncontrolled and unregulated space. During the sixty hour siege of Mumbai there was a time when the news channels were blocked for a few hours but the internet carried on unhindered. The impact of this multi-media news-rush is there for all to see. People are enraged and becoming more demonstrative, Politicians are slipping out of their comfort zones, intelligence agencies are getting the short end of the public ire and media persons are forced to defend their ethics. Events like the one in Mumbai have definitely propelled new media to the forefront, it has not only gained recognition but also a faithful following.
But this was not the case five or even ten years ago. Take the case of music; five years ago when P2P and MP3 were setting shop, the industry were all jittery perceiving file-sharing as something likely to precipitate a crisis, reducing sales and cutting off revenue streams. But today the industry reckons that the internet has made business more secure and easier to expand. Sales have increased tremendously and revenues from licenses have added many zeros to the returns. Electronic books were similarly perceived as a hindrance to paper book sales but today not much has progressed on that front. There are many more examples to demonstrate the effect of the internet and the mass media but examples quickly date: what is attempted in this book is an overview not so much of the outcomes of the use of the internet but more of how social scientists set about analyzing the processes involved in the adoption of, adaptation to and acceptance of the internet in the context of media studies.
This book is the result of an initiative by the European Science foundation’s Committee on Science and Technology(COST) procedures that led to the COST A20 Project, that measured the ‘Impact of the Internet on the Mass Media.’ Spearheaded and Planned by Professor Colin Sparks, the moving force behind this initiative, a group of people from different countries, experts from different disciplines, met regularly to exchange intellectual viewpoints on a topic that was arguably difficult to analyze. The authors of this book are social scientists from all across Europe doing research in the field of media industries and specializing in a range of disciplines media and business economics, communications, cultural economics, cultural studies, media management, media technology, political science and sociology. They also share an interest in the impact of the internet on mass media. This book draws together what the authors have jointly concluded about the impact of the internet on the media industries. The book’s standpoint is multi-lens, interdisciplinary and cross national. The aim of this book was to present a contemporaneous account of researches arising out of objective academic investigation and this I say has been achieved without much difficulty!
Johnson Thomas
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Good Times for Everyone Author Radhika Chandiramani Book Review Johnson Thomas
Book Title: Good Times for Everyone
Sub-Title: Sexuality Questions, Feminist Answers
Author: Radhika Chandiramani
ISBN- 81-88965-48-0
Paperback edition, Pages 212, Price: Rs.200
Publisher: Women Unlimited(An associate of Kali for Women)
www.womenunlimited.net
Is sex important? And if it is do we ever get around to talking about it? Considering the size of the population in India there’s no doubt that Indians are well versed in the basic concept of reproduction- at least to the extent that they manage to reproduce quite successfully. But is sex about numbers alone or is it also about priming our bodies to the tune of pleasure and ecstasy.
Radhika Chandiramani works and writes on issues of sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is Executive Director of Tarshi, the South and Southeast Asia Resourse center on Sexuality and also co-director of the sexuality and rights institute. She has been the recipient of the Mac Arthur Fellowship for Leadership development and the Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellowship. This collection of Questions and answers on sexuality related concerns is compiled from her highly popular column ‘Midlife Crisis’ in The Asian Age.
We Indians have been programmed since childbirth to believe that talking about sex is ‘chi-chi’ and sexual intercourse is generally proscribed as an act that was more or less meant to procreate and not to pleasure. But globalization has brought in more awareness of the world around us and sexual mores have begun to change with time. Indians living in the metros can no longer be considered conservative or prudish about sex and those living in the small-towns and villages are also becoming more aware of the outside world thanks to television and it’s daily feed of degenerative programming. Even cinema has contributed to this awareness. ‘Kamagni’ , ‘Aastha’ and ‘Rihaee’ are films about sexuality and sex made by well-known directors, that were received with great enthusiasm at the box-office. That was more than ten years ago. The nation is today seen to be talking about it’s sex life with a lot more curiosity and openness but underneath it all are many misconceptions that are never cleared for want of appropriate forums for intimate discussion. Ignorance is definitely not bliss in this case , in fact ignorance in this area can cause grievous harm to the mental and physical well-being of the individual.
Sexuality is something that we experience on a daily basis through the way we feel. It is also a subject of much political discussion, academic discourse and clinical research.The recent changes in the media industry and the astonishing reach of satellite television and FM radio has changed not only our lifestyles but also the way we look at ourselves. MTV & V channels’ music videos, American television series like Baywatch, Santa Barbara , Bold and the Beautiful, programs like ‘Meow between the sheets’ on 104.5 FM, popular columns like ‘Midlife crisis ‘ in the Asian Age and organisations like TARSHI( Talking about Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), Sappho, Humjinsi and Humsafar and many more, have all contributed in some form or the other in clearing out the misconceptions and spreading awareness about sexual and reproductive health. Today the Supreme court is being petitioned to amend article 377 and our Union Health Minister, Shri Ambumani Ramadoss has given clear signals that he is in favor of the amendment. We can therefore say in all humility that India is certainly a far more liberal society today than it was a decade or so ago. In light of all these amazing transitions that are taking place in our India it is most fortunate that we are also being gifted this very invaluable anthology by Clinical Psychologist Radhika Chandiramani. This book approaches the topic of sexuality without the acoutrements of clinical gloves, moralistic lenses or preaching pedantic tones. It is based on real questions asked by real people about real problems they face. And the answers are humorous and accurate and given from a sexuality affirming perspective. This collection is truly invaluable for those who place their physical and mental well-being above all else.
Johnsont307@gmail.com
Sub-Title: Sexuality Questions, Feminist Answers
Author: Radhika Chandiramani
ISBN- 81-88965-48-0
Paperback edition, Pages 212, Price: Rs.200
Publisher: Women Unlimited(An associate of Kali for Women)
www.womenunlimited.net
Is sex important? And if it is do we ever get around to talking about it? Considering the size of the population in India there’s no doubt that Indians are well versed in the basic concept of reproduction- at least to the extent that they manage to reproduce quite successfully. But is sex about numbers alone or is it also about priming our bodies to the tune of pleasure and ecstasy.
Radhika Chandiramani works and writes on issues of sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is Executive Director of Tarshi, the South and Southeast Asia Resourse center on Sexuality and also co-director of the sexuality and rights institute. She has been the recipient of the Mac Arthur Fellowship for Leadership development and the Soros Reproductive Health and Rights Fellowship. This collection of Questions and answers on sexuality related concerns is compiled from her highly popular column ‘Midlife Crisis’ in The Asian Age.
We Indians have been programmed since childbirth to believe that talking about sex is ‘chi-chi’ and sexual intercourse is generally proscribed as an act that was more or less meant to procreate and not to pleasure. But globalization has brought in more awareness of the world around us and sexual mores have begun to change with time. Indians living in the metros can no longer be considered conservative or prudish about sex and those living in the small-towns and villages are also becoming more aware of the outside world thanks to television and it’s daily feed of degenerative programming. Even cinema has contributed to this awareness. ‘Kamagni’ , ‘Aastha’ and ‘Rihaee’ are films about sexuality and sex made by well-known directors, that were received with great enthusiasm at the box-office. That was more than ten years ago. The nation is today seen to be talking about it’s sex life with a lot more curiosity and openness but underneath it all are many misconceptions that are never cleared for want of appropriate forums for intimate discussion. Ignorance is definitely not bliss in this case , in fact ignorance in this area can cause grievous harm to the mental and physical well-being of the individual.
Sexuality is something that we experience on a daily basis through the way we feel. It is also a subject of much political discussion, academic discourse and clinical research.The recent changes in the media industry and the astonishing reach of satellite television and FM radio has changed not only our lifestyles but also the way we look at ourselves. MTV & V channels’ music videos, American television series like Baywatch, Santa Barbara , Bold and the Beautiful, programs like ‘Meow between the sheets’ on 104.5 FM, popular columns like ‘Midlife crisis ‘ in the Asian Age and organisations like TARSHI( Talking about Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), Sappho, Humjinsi and Humsafar and many more, have all contributed in some form or the other in clearing out the misconceptions and spreading awareness about sexual and reproductive health. Today the Supreme court is being petitioned to amend article 377 and our Union Health Minister, Shri Ambumani Ramadoss has given clear signals that he is in favor of the amendment. We can therefore say in all humility that India is certainly a far more liberal society today than it was a decade or so ago. In light of all these amazing transitions that are taking place in our India it is most fortunate that we are also being gifted this very invaluable anthology by Clinical Psychologist Radhika Chandiramani. This book approaches the topic of sexuality without the acoutrements of clinical gloves, moralistic lenses or preaching pedantic tones. It is based on real questions asked by real people about real problems they face. And the answers are humorous and accurate and given from a sexuality affirming perspective. This collection is truly invaluable for those who place their physical and mental well-being above all else.
Johnsont307@gmail.com
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