Sreela Sarkar (NCDG Fellow) to deliver a talk at UMass Amherst

sreela - Version 2On April 24th, Sreela Sarkar (Department of Communication – UMAss, Amherst) is going to deliver a talk entitled “Technology and Modernity at the Boundaries of Global Delhi.”

According to Sreela, ‘the talk explores the promise of inclusion in the global information society for marginalized groups in India, a nation that represents a modular case for technology and modernization initiatives in the global South. Combining approaches from the political economy of communication and from cultural studies, I examine the institutional and cultural politics of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD) initiatives in the rapidly globalizing city of New Delhi. My multi-method study includes archival research and an extended period of fieldwork at the sites of interconnected global and local institutions, markets and communities. In this talk, I trace forms of governance and institutions in the colonial period that provide continuity in understanding digital inclusion initiatives in the 21st century. Through archival and ethnographic research, I locate the beginnings of public-private partnerships in education and the establishment of “technical training” projects to 19th century colonial India, when the British Empire sought to strengthen its rule. Further, I examine the contestations involved in contemporary technology and modernization initiatives.  My ethnographic research follows “urban poor Muslim women” and “slum youth” from the doorsteps of the ICT center into their everyday lives to understand policy shifts from subaltern perspectives. I unpack concepts of the “digital divide” and “access” in the context of complex histories of gender, class, caste, religion and the politics of urban space in global Delhi.’ 

The event is sponsored by the NCDG, and will take place at 12:30 in Gordon Hall STS Conference Room.