[GreenYouth] Fwd: Women's Bodies Remain Battlegrounds in the Culture Wars
-- Forwarded message -- From: Maya philom...@yahoo.co.in Date: Jun 17, 2009 1:14 PM Subject: Women's Bodies Remain Battlegrounds in the Culture Wars To: feminist india feministsin...@yahoogroups.com Cc: maya.sssmgu2...@gmail.com *Women's Bodies Remain Battlegrounds in the Culture Wars* *By **Sarah Seltzer* http://www.alternet.org/authors/9178/*, **RH Reality Check* http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/*. Posted **June 15, 2009*http://www.alternet.org/ts/archives/?date%5bF%5d=06date%5bY%5d=2009date%5bd%5d=15act=Go/ *.* Recently released feminist books offer multifaceted critiques of gender and the culture wars. This spring and summer have been remarkable ones for books about sex, gender and reproduction -- the avid women's issues reader has been up to her ears in provocative feminist tomes. What's amazing about the books discussed below is not just the powerful arguments they make individually, but the way they together paint a complete picture of our culture wars at home and abroad. That broad picture reveals the ugly truth that women's bodies remain battlegrounds for ideological struggles all over the world. But there is something heartening in the lifting of voices both within the books and by the authors themselves. Robust, articulate, and multifaceted critique of patriarchy in its many forms storming bookshelves all at once has to be a good sign. *The Purity Myth** *(Seal Press) Jessica Valenti's *The Purity Myth** *addresses the virgin-whore dichotomy as it manifests itself in our modern lives. Anyone who knows their basic feminist theory is aware that what are purportedly opposite ends of the spectrum of women's behavior - the slut and the virgin - are actually two sides of the same coin. Both the over-sexualization of girls and the obsession with their purity reduces women to their bodies and sexuality. Whether - as Valenti relates - we're equating them to used gum in abstinence-only classes, urging them to join the modesty movement, or buying high heels for prostitots, we're participating in the Purity Myth. Valenti goes even further by reminding us that the losing-your-virginity/giving-it-up terminology we use to describe first sexual encounters is dated and demeaning, implying that being sexually untouched is something of great value. What's amazing about the publicity surrounding Valenti's book is how controversial her thesis remains. Today Show hosts Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotbe responded to Valenti's well-reasoned argumentshttp://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/04/23/video-gabbing-about-abstinence-and-giving-it-upwith trite platitudes about the consequences of sex while Observe and Report demonstratedhttp://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/04/13/the-date-rape-heard-round-worldhow far the rape culture Valenti describes has permeated the mainstream. The American psyche seems unable to conceive of a culture in which rejecting degrading objectification of women does not mean corralling them into a chaste corner. Valenti argues powerfully for a middle ground where women are more than the sum of their sexual parts. *Quiverfull** *(Beacon Press) If Valenti's book explores the pervasive myths and rotten information that dogs most American girls, Kathryn Joyce's *Quiverfull** *examines the extreme margins of that spectrum, in the midst of a home-schooling, housewife-centric culture of fundamentalist Christianity. We know the Quiverfull advocates through their websites, which advocate an extreme anti-abortion, anti-birth control mentality and lifestyle. But Joyce goes far deeper. These aren't just the tongue-speaking evangelicals mocked by Borat and the culture at large, but also a growing movement within the reformed Calvinist church (i.e some mainline Protestant denominations unhappy with the egalitarianism in their faiths). This movement emphasizes the ideals of male headship and wifely submission claiming the belief that man is to woman as Jesus is to his worshippers, a guide to be followed and a voice to be heeded. Liberation through submission is the gospel for womanly duty within this paradigm. *Quiverfull** *in some ways is reminiscent of Jon Krakauer's incredible *Under the Banner of Heaven*, in that it spends time amongst the devotees of the Quiverfull doctrine and its spiritual kin, depicting a different kind of life on the edge. Joyce documents the rivalries, feuds, excommunications, and sometimes extreme poverty which families experience when they embrace Christian Patriarchy, all evidence that makes its cult-like properties apparent. But Joyce is not merely telling a story that affects one group - her message is one of concern for all of us. The Quiverfull movement is more than a cult on the sidelines. Its members see their flocks of children as armies, crusaders against feminism, secularism and hedonism. And perhaps more ominously, their numbers are potent enough to effect political change. Some of those public policy echoes are seen in Valenti's book and
[GreenYouth] Another kind of red terror in bengal
*After CPM goonda raj against people, now the turn of maoist RED TERROR*
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*The CPM office at Lalgarh being vandalised by supporters of the Police
Santras Birodhi Public Committee. On Tuesday. - AFP*
Maoists rule, state stirs
Central forces head to Lalgarh after govt call
PRONAB MONDAL IN LALGARH AND OUR BUREAU (Above) Lakshmi Mahato
surrenders a gun on behalf of her husband Ashis Mahato, a CPM worker who was
nowhere to be seen after Maoists took control of Dharampur, to a
representative of the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities. (Below)
The Lalgarh police station where the cops locked themselves in on Tuesday.
Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha
June 16: The Bengal government today called central forces to Lalgarh but
did not declare if they would be sent into action against Maoists who
enforced their writ through the day like a militia in a conquered territory.
The Maoists ransacked and burnt a CPM zonal committee office in Lalgarh,
imposed conditions for the return of villagers to Dharampur and oversaw the
“surrender of arms” by CPM cadres involved in the gun battle that had raged
over the weekend.
Police made the Maoists’ task easier, continuing to stay away from even the
outskirts of the “liberated zone” in West Midnapore.
The rebels also warned that after Dharampur, the “occupied” belt 11km from
Lalgarh, it would be the turn of adjoining Salboni “to get a feel of the
wrath of the people” if the CPM tried to put up any “resistance”.
By evening, the state government sought to address charges of inaction by
announcing that it had sought five companies (around 600 personnel) of the
CRPF from the Centre. In Delhi, the CPM politburo also called upon the
Centre to “rush the required number of paramilitary forces” as requested by
the state government.
“One company of central armed forces has reached the state and is already on
its way to the Lalgarh area which saw renewed violence in the last couple of
days,” chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said at Writers’ Buildings.
“We had asked for five companies of armed forces from the Centre but have
received one so far. More forces will be sent in shortly. We have to
understand that it is not always possible for Delhi to sanction whatever
states ask for immediately.”
javascript:MM_openBrWindow('../../images/17minbig.jpg','ThumbNail','resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,width=500,height=400')
Official sources did not give any indication whether the political
leadership had given the go-ahead for tough action. The CPM state
secretariat meeting discussed the issue for three hours this evening but did
not announce any step specific to Lalgarh.
However, a CPM statement urged citizens to come out for
*pratibad-pratirodh*(protest and resistance) — considered a euphemism
for strikeback. But party
sources said the call to retaliate was addressed more at cadres in
strongholds like Burdwan which has witnessed murders blamed on the Trinamul
Congress.
The sources said the final decision on using force in Lalgarh was unlikely
to be taken before the chief minister meets the Prime Minister in Delhi on
Friday.
Had the state government wanted to launch an operation earlier, some central
forces were available in the state. The chief secretary said that “around
seven companies” of central forces were already working in the state. Asked
if the administration is taking a “soft stance”, Chakrabarti said: “We are
doing what we think is best to return normality in the area as soon as
possible.”
On the outskirts of Lalgarh, the Maoists used the day to further tighten
their grip. About 5,000 residents of Dharampur, for 30 years a CPM bastion,
returned to their homes today from neighbouring areas where they had taken
shelter.
Party supporter Biswajit Mahato said the Maoists had “sent word to us that
if we joined” the People’s Committee Against Police Atrocities and backed
their movement, “we could return home and live peacefully”. “Since all our
CPM leaders had fled and accepted defeat, we decided to accept the terms set
by the Maoists.”
After the villagers returned to Dharampur, a dozen CPM cadres surrendered
their arms to representatives of the People’s Committee Against Police
Atrocities.
Later in the evening, committee leader Chhatradhar Mahato warned at a rally
in Lalgarh bazaar attended by 20,000 people that Salboni could be the next
target.
“We have information that the CPM in Salboni is bringing in arms and men
from Panskura (a CPM stronghold in East Midnapore). I’m warning them they
will face the same fate as the people of Dharampur if they don’t stop their
designs to hit at us,” Mahato said.
CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Gour Chakraborty later said: “We have been with
the committee and wherever armed resistance is required, we’ll be there with
them.”
After the meeting, as the crowd dispersed, about 2,000 people converged on
the Lalgarh CPM office and ransacked it.
*From The Telegraph*
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You received
[GreenYouth] Short note on IT Amendment Act, 2008
Short note on IT Amendment Act, 2008 - http://cis-india.org/advocacy/digital-governance/information-technology-act/short-note-on-amendment-act-2008 Pranesh Prakash of the Centre for Internet and Society wrote a short note in February 2009 on the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. This is being posted as a precursor to a more exhaustive analysis of the Act and the rules sought to be promulgated under the Act. Thus, this does not cover the regulations that have been drafted under the Act. The new amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 that got passed by the Lok Sabha last December deserve a careful reading. There are a number of positive developments, as well as many which dismay. Positively, they signal an attempt by the government to create a dynamic policy that is technology neutral. This is exemplified by its embracing the idea of electronic signatures as opposed to digital signatures. But more could have been done on this front (for instance, section 76 of the Act still talks of floppy disks). There have also been attempts to deal proactively with the many new challenges that the Internet poses. Freedom of Expression The first amongst these challenges is that of child pornography. It is heartening to see that the section on child pornography (s.67B) has been drafted with some degree of care. It talks only of sexualized representations of actual children, and does not include fantasy play-acting by adults, etc. From a plain reading of the section, it is unclear whether drawings depicting children will also be deemed an offence under the section. Unfortunately, the section covers everyone who performs the conducts outlined in the section, including minors. A slight awkwardness is created by the age of children being defined in the explanation to section 67B as older than the age of sexual consent. So a person who is capable of having sex legally may not record such activity (even for private purposes) until he or she turns eighteen. Another problem is that the word transmit has only been defined for section 66E. The phrase causes to be transmitted is used in section 67, 67A, and 67B. That phrase, on the face of it, would include the recipient who initiates a transmission along with the person from whose server the data is sent. While in India, traditionally the person charged with obscenity is the person who produces and distributes the obscene material, and not the consumer of such material. This new amendment might prove to be a change in that position. Section 66A which punishes persons for sending offensive messages is overly broad, and is patently in violation of Art. 19(1)(a) of our Constitution. The fact that some information is grossly offensive (s.66A(a)) or that it causes annoyance or inconvenience while being known to be false (s.66A(c)) cannot be a reasons for curbing the freedom of speech unless it is directly related to decency or morality, public order, or defamation (or any of the four other grounds listed in Art. 19(2)). It must be stated here that many argue that John Stuart Mill's harm principle provides a better framework for freedom of expression than Joel Feinberg's offence principle. The latter part of s.66A(c), which talks of deception, is sufficient to combat spam and phishing, and hence the first half, talking of annoyance or inconvenience is not required. Additionally, it would be beneficial if an explanation could be added to s.66A(c) to make clear what origin means in that section. Because depending on the construction of that word s.66A(c) can, for instance, unintentionally prevent organisations from using proxy servers, and may prevent a person from using a sender envelope different form the from address in an e-mail (a feature that many e-mail providers like Gmail implement to allow people to send mails from their work account while being logged in to their personal account). Furthermore, it may also prevent remailers, tunnelling, and other forms of ensuring anonymity online. This doesn't seem to be what is intended by the legislature, but the section might end up having that effect. This should hence be clarified. Section 69A grants powers to the Central Government to issue directions for blocking of public access to any information through any computer resource. In English, that would mean that it allows the government to block any website. While necessity or expediency in terms of certain restricted interests are specified, no guidelines have been specified. Those guidelines, per s.69A(2), shall be such as may be prescribed. It has to be ensured that they are prescribed first, before any powers of censorship are granted to any body. In India, it is clear that any law that gives unguided discretion on an administrative authority to exercise censorship is unreasonable (In re Venugopal, AIR 1954 Mad 901). Intermediary Liability The amendment to the provision on intermediary
[GreenYouth] Fwd: A Fairytale Account of Maoist Insurgency in West Bengal
Here is a far more realistic assessment of the Lalgarh movement: Quote Just like in Nandigram, the footsoldiers of this campaign — more violent in its scale than any — have come under a “rainbow coalition” of political forces where everyone except the Marxists are welcome. So if there was the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee in Nandigram, it’s the Police Atyachar Birodhi Jangana Committee here (PABJC). It’s led by Chhatradhar Mahato, who was with the Trinamool Congress until late last year. Unquote [Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/477698/] Also for a public speech of Chhatradhar Mahato in recent past: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHE0aqp1P_Q That speaks for and clearly contrasts itself from the Maoist insurgency in Dantewada or Andhra or elsewhere. Sukla In Maoist violence against CPM, TMC Cong give outside support *Subrata Nagchoudhury* Posted online: Wednesday, Jun 17, 2009 at 1039 hrs *LALGARH (West Bengal) : *The body of 65-year-old Shaflu Soren, a member of the local CPM for over 20 years, has been lying outside the party office, draped in a blood-spattered white sheet — for the last six days since he was shot dead by Maoists. His brothers walk by the body several times a day but they don’t dare remove it. For, barely yards away, the demolished CPM party office in Lalgarh’s Dharampur is a pointer to the rapidly changing political power equation in this tribal belt of West Midnapore. The plight of Soren’s family captures the Lalgarh story — it’s a story of the clout of the new Maoist-backed “rulers” in this belt and a story of the shocking collapse of the legendary CPM-controlled administrative machinery. In many ways, it’s similar to the violent agitation in Nandigram but while land acquisition and the proposed SEZ were the objects of public ire there, here the CPM is the single target. And with the comrades paralysed by the rout in the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition is energized like never before. Just like in Nandigram, the footsoldiers of this campaign — more violent in its scale than any — have come under a “rainbow coalition” of political forces where everyone except the Marxists are welcome. So if there was the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee in Nandigram, it’s the Police Atyachar Birodhi Jangana Committee here (PABJC). It’s led by Chhatradhar Mahato, who was with the Trinamool Congress until late last year. He is the brother of Sashodhar Mahato, the prime accused in last November’s suspected plot to kill Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and then Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in a blast in Salboni, barely 40 km away. When Chhatradhar and the Maoists put up a massive show of strength in Lalgarh today, Trinamool Congress Block president Banobihari Roy was present all through the proceedings that lasted nearly four hours and ended with the Lalgarh CPM party office being set on fire. The rally displayed the fast growing ranks of the PABJC and the Maoists. “There will be no let-up in the assault on those who tortured and exploited the people with the collusion of the police for all these years,” said Mahato. Like Banobihari, Kali Maity, the district president of the Congress, could not make it to the rally today but had to send his relatives. “That was the diktat from the organizers,” Maity told The Indian Express, “either be present or send someone to represent one’s family and show solidarity with the PABJC.” So were the Congress and Trinamool supporting the Maoists and their violent campaign? Both Maity and Ray evade a direct answer but, when pressed, there’s no mistaking the political message. Said Roy: “It’s the Communists versus all others now.” And Maity said: “This is a price the Communists are paying for suppressing the people.” With no one other than the CPM providing political opposition, the field is wide open in Lalgarh. It wasn’t a surprise, therefore, that today the belligerent crowd responded to Mahato’s call for “revenge,” marched to the Lalgarh CPM office this evening and set it on fire. Scores of angry villagers climbed up to the second floor of the newly built party office and began demolishing it with iron rods. Another group collected furniture, tarpaulin sheets, sacks of rice and party documents and threw them into a blazing bonfire right in front of the party office. Few tears were shed for Soren’s body. Said Rohini Mahato, who stays in a ramshackle hut just across the road where Soren’s body is: “It’s like living with a dead man by your side. Nobody is removing the corpse which now smells. It’s been on display with blood stains on the cloth covering it. Even his family can’t do anything. And look at the police, they are not sending the body for post mortem, let alone initiate an investigation.” Puspa Sahish, a tribal woman staying next door to Mahato, joins him: “No one even dares to take a close look at the demolished Dharampur CPM party office out of fear. Local villagers normally pass through the area in groups instead of travelling
[GreenYouth] Fwd: [Zen Studio Gallery] Interventions : “On Collectives”
Panel Discussion curated by V.Divakar 19.06.2009 6.30 p.m. Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan In collaboration with Artflute.com and Goethe-Institute, Bangalore All are welcome! “The relation between aesthetic and historical is neither one between ‘levels’ within the text, nor between the work as aesthetic fact and its encircling historical conditions; it is rather that those historical conditions, in the form of the ideological, become the very determinant structure of that process of textual self-production which is in its entirety, ‘aesthetic’,” - Terry Eagleton (Criticism and Ideology) The Art and Activism seminar organised by the Department of Art History and Aesthetics, M.S.University, Baroda in 2004, was a significant attempt to bring together activists from various disciplines pertaining to the arts to debate upon issues regarding activism in resisting elitist tendencies and other inconsistencies within the practice of art making. Interventions, the present curation of a series of lectures/discussions takes its references from this seminar and attempts to work as an alternative space in order to critically engage with the works of few artists who have intervened in the cultural milieu through their artistic practices. So also, this initiative attempts to draw insights from the critics who have been vocal in articulating their concerns regarding the aspects of the social and the political in cultural practices. The intention is to engage in a serious dialogue where both disciplines of art writing and art making can necessarily share identical areas of concern for action. Interventions then is aiming at a gathering of artists and writers who would share with students, cultural practitioners, art lovers and concerned public their respective experiences regarding their practice. The peculiarities/specificities of each strategy the artists/writers have employed would enable the younger generation of art practitioners and writers to widen the possibilities of approaching their own practices with a more nuanced understanding of society in general. In this regard the first Interventions panel discussion was held at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in February 2009 with participation from Alex Mathew, Hyderabad and art critic Santhosh Sadanand from Baroda. In continuation of the series, the second Interventions will be structured around the theme “On Collectives”. The participants include: Professor Shivaji K. Panikkar Archana Prasad Raghavendra Rao K.V. Sunil G. Professor Suresh Jayaram Related links: Goethe-Institute, Bangalorehttp://cms.goethe.de/ins/in/bag/kue/en4629199v.htm www.zenstudiogallery.com -- Posted By Zen Studio Gallery to Zen Studio Galleryhttp://zenstudiogallery.blogspot.com/2009/06/interventions-on-collectives.htmlat 6/09/2009 02:15:00 AM --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Fwd: Multitudes - A Group Show,19 - 27.06.2009,Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan,Bangalore
Multitudes - A Group Show Exhibition 19 - 27.06.2009 9.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore In collaboration with Zen Studio Gallery and Artflute.com All are welcome! “a fragment still signals to a lost or promised totality…” - Jacques Derrida This exhibition is an effort to bring together multiple concerns in the field of cultural production onto a single platform. If anything is traceable as common in this exhibition, it would be the social commitment of the participating artists and its organisers. It is not an attempt to provide a singular answer to all pertinent questions with regard to cultural practice in general, but rather an initiative to think about newer frameworks which will enable us to deal with these questions from multiple subject positions. As the title indicates, this show foresees a possibility of heterogeneous being and becoming with its distinctness and difference and thereby imagines difference and the right to differ as the quality of the world. The participants and their varying subjective locations and concerns themselves make this show a defender of the right to differ. The political concerns of the participating artists range from engaging with broader questions of gender, sexuality, caste, religion, community and class to the specific questions of violence in the public sphere and everyday life, and systemic marginalization at large. This is not to state that these are the only concerns of the participating artists or that one can bracket each artist into a singular category. On the contrary, many works in this exhibition engage with multiple issues and are also concerned with the linguistic as well as formal aspects of visual idioms. Like in multitudes, these works generate, re-generate and de-generate meanings through active collaborations, contestations and resistances. The current exhibition was originally organised by the Zen Studio Gallery, Eramalloor at the Lalit Kala Akademi in Kochi, Kerala in March 2009. Participating artists: Alok Bal, Ashutosh Bharadwaj, Benoy P.J, Chinnan Vinod, Deepak Wankade, Joseph Mathew, Justin Ponmany, Jyotikumar, K.K. Muhamed, K.P. Pradeepkumar, Kabita Mukhopadyay, Kanak Shashi, Lokesh Kodke, Mohandas N.N, Naniah Chettira, Nishad M.P, Prabhakaran K, Prakakta Potnis, Pramod Prakash, Puja Vaish, Raju Patel, Rashmi Mala, Reji K.P, Riyas Komu, Rollie Mukherjee, Sathyanand Mohan, Saumya Ananthakrishna, Savi Sawarkar, Shefalee Jain, Sreedevi T.R, Sreeja .P, Sunil A.P., T.V Santhosh, Vasudevan Akkitham, Venu R. Related links - Interventions: On Collectiveshttp://cms.goethe.de/ins/in/bag/kue/en4629199v.htm [image: deutsch][image: english] - Zen Studio Gallery http://www.zenstudiogallery.com/ [image: english] --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Re: Left Debacle In Kerala and Elsewhere
While any imaginable genuine Left agenda would make people feel like partaking an egalitarian agenda, the CPI(M) and the LDF, together with the LF in WB seem to have miserably failed. But who else would you look to in a parliamentary set up? You naturally end up with choosing the lesser evil. At the all India level, people seem to have voted in favour of NREGA, Vanvasi Act, BPL Schemes, RTA and such reformist agenda put in place by the UPA. While concerns of national security in the wake of Mumbai terrorist attack were definitely there among vast sections of people, a comparatively qualitative change from that of the Hindutwa , which was characterized by an obsession with communal profiling of terrorism , was visible in the attitude of Congress on this issue. While the LDF's strategy of distancing itself from any direct touch with PDP even while it liked to garner support from PDP might have backfired , viewing the IUML as the natural minority party of Kerala Muslims committed to oppose the communal BJP at the Centre, would not have affected whichever way the voters of Muslim community decide- either for or against the LDF/UDF. So, it appears somewhat like this: An era of political parties treating people as mere vote banks has not only ended anywhere in India, but also that people are matured enough to see through the designs of arhetorical'' Left; In W.B, attempts made toward branding the Nandigram- Singur peasants' resistance as motivated by external forces- Maoists, Media and the foreignerswere simply exposed as big lies. It could be seen that the state repression at Nandigram sent shock waves throughout the country,apart from turning many a supporter of the LF rule to its critic. Even those who were not directly affected by the repressive policy turned against both the rhetorical Left and the far Right (BJP), in preference of a seemingly lesser evil, that is the Centrist Congress and UPA. Thanks and regards, Venu. On 16 June, 14:31, damodar prasad damodar.pra...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Venu: See, AK Antony thanked the CPM for helping the Congress sweep the 2009 Loksabha elections while speaking in a reception programme after he became the Defense Minister for second time. What you say is that it is the resentment against CPM policies and style of leadership that resulted in UPA getting 16 seats. But the question remans how the Congress gained from the resentment. Other than paying some lip service, did the Congress anyway took anysteps in giving land to the landless poor. May be Congress party is more diplomatic on their attitude toweards new social mobilizations- be it adivasis or dalits. But can it be mistaken for democracy. ( for eg: Mayawati has again equated Rahul Gadhi with MKGandhi for the great the dramatics on Dalit empowerement) The UPA were als follwing the policies of neoliberalism. The AP govt had sanctined more no: of SEZs than any other state govt.s, I suppose. NREGA, for instance, has to be seen in the light of reform measures since neoliberal pursuits of UPA. For more on this, see Kalyan Sanyal's article in the recent EPW special issue on Labour. Also see on the problems of election results interpretation, the current EPW editorial- Fractured Social Science. D.Prasad On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 10:14 AM, Venugopalan K M kmvenuan...@gmail.comwrote: I would suggest that in Kerala, it was not just the Lavlin case. The fundamental mistake occurred when the Left lost touch with the masses. The crudely self righteous sermons in favour of what they called 'Development' and the criminal insensitivity toward the plights of victims of a neo-liberal political agenda were never taken without a pinch of salt. This seems true not just of those directly affected by new forms of deprivation but also others, who expected sort of care for human rights and natural justice on such things esp from a Left set up. While these criticisms were totally ignored by the Party, the Kerala leadership( with the backing of the Polit Bureau) even rubbished them as a handiwork of some imagined 'bourgeois media syndicate'. Kerala saw an entire Party being mobilised to defend Pinarayi, in the context of clear accusation of huge misappropriation of public funds and charges of corruption (Lavline). Thousands of landless people, mainly dalits, occupying a big rubber estate land in Chengara (Pathanamthitta dist) demanding it to be distributed to them was seen by the CPI(M) less a land issue than a 'conspiracy' by (foreign funded) NGOs and psuedo intellectuals. Direct assaults were unleashed (ostensibly in the name of protecting the interests of rubber tapping workers unions, and by goondas masquerading as CITU activists) against poor dalits including women and children. An honourable negotiated settlement on the Chengara land struggle was never attempted and is still pending. By and large, the media has been sympathetic to this
[GreenYouth] Rebranding War and Occupation- Two Leading Antiwar Activists, Jeremy Scahill and Anthony Arnove at a Round Table Session
Rebranding war and occupation June 17, 2009 Barack Obama's speech in Cairo was celebrated in the media as a profound statement of a new direction for U.S. foreign policy. But when you look beneath the rhetoric, there's far more continuity with the last eight years of war and occupation than most people who supported Obama last November would have guessed. SocialistWorker.org asked two leading voices of the antiwar movement--*Jeremy Scahill*, author of *Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army*http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBlackwater-Powerful-Mercenary-Revised-Updated%2Fdp%2F156858394X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1239070883%26sr%3D8-1tag=socialistwork-20linkCode=ur2camp=1789creative=9325and the Rebel Reports http://rebelreports.com/ blog, and *Anthony Arnove*, author of *Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal*http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FIraq-Withdrawal-American-Empire-Project%2Fdp%2F0805082727%2Fsr%3D1-2%2Fqid%3D1169579666%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbookstag=socialistwork-20linkCode=ur2camp=17, and coauthor, with Howard Zinn, of *Voices of a People's History of the United States*http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FVoices-Peoples-History-United-States%2Fdp%2F1583226281%2Fsr%3D8-2%2Fqid%3D1171262112%3Fie%3DUTF8%26amp%3Bs%3Dbookstag=socialistwork-20linkCode=ur2camp=1789creative=9325--about Barack Obama's record after five months in office. [image: Barack Obama salutes as he exits Air Force One] MILLIONS OF people voted for Barack Obama last year hoping he would set a new direction for the U.S. in foreign policy. Does the experience match the rhetoric? *Jeremy*: Let's step back and look at what we've seen happen over five months of the Obama administration when it comes to foreign policy. We've seen a radical escalation of the war in Afghanistan. We've seen Obama continue to use a quarter-million U.S. contractors--50 percent of the force that's fighting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's increasing the number of mercenaries in Afghanistan by 29 percent and approximately 23 percent in Iraq. He's continuing the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and maintaining the monstrous U.S. embassy that was built, in part, on the basis of slave labor. He's continuing to dole out contracts to KBR, the single greatest corporate beneficiary of the war, despite the fact that its work has electrocuted U.S. soldiers. He's pumping up the National Endowment for Democracy, the leading organ to promote U.S. neoliberal economic policy and interfere in the elections and democratic processes of countries where the outcome might not be favorable to U.S. interests. He's continuing to use the rhetoric of the war on drugs in Latin America. Overall, he's implementing a U.S. foreign policy that in some ways--or, I think, in many ways--advances the interest of the American empire in a way the Republicans could only have dreamed of doing. What else to read Jeremy Scahill's *Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army*http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FBlackwater-Powerful-Mercenary-Revised-Updated%2Fdp%2F156858394X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1215585410%26sr%3D8-1tag=socialistwork-20linkCode=ur2camp=1789creative=9325climbed into the *New York Times* best-seller list on its release. Now the book has been republished in paperback. Scahill is also the author of the regularly updated Rebel Reports http://rebelreports.com/ blog. The crucial book on Iraq for antiwar activists is Anthony Arnove's *Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal*http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FIraq-Withdrawal-American-Empire-Project%2Fdp%2F0805082727%2Fsr%3D1-2%2Fqid%3D1169579666%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbookstag=socialistwork-20linkCode=ur2camp=1789creative=9325, with a foreword by Howard Zinn. For more on U.S. foreign policy, including a historical analysis, see *In Praise of Barbarians*http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?cPath=41products_id=1589, a collection of essays by Mike Davis. Michael Schwartz's book *War Without End: The Iraq Debacle in Context*http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?cPath=41products_id=1609provides a thorough analysis of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and demolishes the myths used to sell the U.S. public the idea of an endless war on terror. Independent journalist Dahr Jamail's *Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq*http://www.haymarketbooks.org/product_info.php?cPath=41products_id=1580describes his time in Iraq reporting the other side of the story. What people, I think, misunderstand about Barack Obama is that this is a man who is a brilliant supporter of empire--who has figured out a way to essentially trick a lot of people into believing they're supporting radical change, when in effect what
[GreenYouth] Fwd: [Reader-list] Talk: Social Media for Mobilisation--Call for questions
-- Forwarded message -- From: Zainab Bawa bawazaina...@gmail.com Date: Wed, Jun 17, 2009 at 9:38 PM Subject: [Reader-list] Talk: Social Media for Mobilisation--Call for questions To: silkl...@lists.hserus.net, urbanstudygr...@sarai.net, Reader-list reader-l...@sarai.net The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, announces a CHANGE IN DATE AND TIMING for Peter Griffin and Dina Mehta's talk on using Social Media for Mobilisation. The talk will be held at the CIS office on Friday, 19 June, at 6.30 pm. If attending, please email bawazaina...@gmail.com with any specific questions on social media and activism that you may want to discuss at the event. Entry is free and registration is not required. For more details on the event and speakers, please see the link or the abstract below. * Using Social Media for Mobilisation -- Friday, 19 June, 2009; 6.30-8.00 pm http://www.cis-india.org/events/using-social-media-for-mobilisation Panel discussion with Dina Mehta and Peter Griffin For some time now, blogs, facebook and other forms of social media have been used extensively for rallying people around an issue or a cause. However, what makes some of these campaigns more successful than others? Does the workability of social media for mobilisation depend on the manner in which information is designed and/or disseminated? This panel brings together two well-known names from the world of social media, Dina Mehta and Peter Griffin, to explore meme engineering and understand what makes some forms of use of social media more effective than others. * Speakers Dina Mehta is a founder and Managing Director of Mosoci India. She has spent twenty years specializing in qualitative research and ethnography. She is at the forefront of technology trend research in India and works with a global portfolio of companies; including learning journeys, and immersions for innovation teams. She brings her unique perspective to understanding the emerging social aspects of new technology and the impact of new media on youth and mobility. Her work has led her to study the impact of technology in rural markets, follow trend-setting youth in urban settings, dig deep into motivations and possible triggers across a wide range of demographic and psychographic groups, explore and identify underlying value propositions and key drivers/barriers in several categories. Peter Griffin is a well-known blogger and has been involved with a number of collaborative projects, including the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami blog (also known as TsunamiHelp), MumbaiHelp, Think Bombay, and the WorldWideHelp group and its associated projects. All of these project have been concerned with bringing together the web and free tools on one hand, and concerned web natives and public goodwill on the other, to assist in disaster relief. Peter is also the co-founder, joint editor and co-moderator of the writing community, Caferati. He is currently the Special Features Editor with Forbes Magazine, India. * Venue Centre for Internet and Society, No. D2, 3rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers, 14, Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560052 (Telephone: 080 4092 6283) - -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Gaining Ground ... http://zainab.freecrow.org http://cis-india.org/research/cis-raw/histories-of-the-internet/transparency-and-politics _ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-requ...@sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/ -- http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Fwd: [goodbookz] The Philosophy of Dr BR Ambedkar
-- Forwarded message -- From: OpenSpace goodbo...@gmail.com Date: Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 4:54 AM Subject: [goodbookz] The Philosophy of Dr BR Ambedkar To: goodbo...@yahoogroups.com http://www.indianexpress.com/news/In-a-new-light/476228 In a new light EXPRESS FEATURES SERVICE Posted online: Sunday , Jun 14, 2009 at 0434 hrs While to most, Dr BR Ambedkar represents a social thinker, the new book based on his ideologies portrays him in the light of a philosopher Indians probably best remember him as the person who drafted the Constitution or the person who led the fight for the equal rights of those people who were pronounced as untouchables by society, successfully, but very few people remember Dr BR Ambedkar as a philosopher who wanted to change the way people perceived things. The new book — The Philosophy of Dr BR Ambedkar, which has recently been released by the Department of Philosophy, of the University of Pune, aims at highlighting this less written aspect about his life. Speaking about it Prof P Gokhale of the University Department of Philosophy, who is also the editor of the book, says, The book is basically a composition of articles, which were written by other writers. It also features Dr Ambedkar's ideologies. Dr Ambedkar has been projected as a social thinker, not many know him as a philosopher, and that is what we are highlighting in the book. The book deals with Dr Ambedkar's own background of western education and also about his interpretation of Buddhism. It deals with a unique style of philosophy wherein his philosophical orientation, which is more social in nature is highlighted. Adding more he says, Even as far as his embracing Buddhism is concerned he didn't accept all the concepts of the religion. He interpreted the religion in his own way. In fact he has not accepted the concepts of Karma and re-birth and according to him Karma has an impact on the universal social actions, and not just on the individual. On the philosophy of Ambedkar, he says that Ambedkar talked about his philosophy in two context, the first one was enshrined in three words- liberty, equality and fraternity. It was essentially social and normative in nature and in due course assumed a new foundation in Buddhism. In the second context Ambedkar described philosophy, more elaborately, from the perspective of the philosophy of religion in general and Hinduism in particular. He favoured the combination of both critical and normative aspect of philosophy. Elaborating on Ambedkar's idea on religion, the Professor says, Ambedkar's was not religious in the sense of a man of blind faith and devotion. He did not allow his rationality to be overpowered by faith. He was religious in a wide sense — as a person of noble principles and sublime values. He was at the same time practical minded. He was not interested in idealising or mythologising noble principles, but in testing their practicability. However, he considered religion to be necessary for social well-being. According to the articles in the book, Dr. Ambedkar had fixed ideas of religion, which also incorporated the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. In fact according to him both religion and science need to go hand in hand and also it should not distinguish between people as being born of different castes or creeds. In addition to this it also deals with the question of whether suffering should be removed from life, or is death a way to finally escape suffering that a person encounters, he says. The book has articles, which are written by Dr BR Joshi of the University of Pune (UoP), Dr Suresh Mane of the Law department of the UoP, Dr. Lata Chattre (UoP), and Dr K Mahadevan (Mumbai University). __._,_.___ Messages in this topic http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/message/2663;_ylc=X3oDMTM1Y2QxNTluBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRtc2dJZAMyNjYzBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTI0NTI3MTE4MwR0cGNJZAMyNjYz( 1) Reply (via web post) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxaXJvZ2RpBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRtc2dJZAMyNjYzBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTI0NTI3MTE4Mw--?act=replymessageNum=2663| Start a new topic http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmaGVqYm9jBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEyNDUyNzExODM- Messageshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcnY4bGhnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtc2dzBHN0aW1lAzEyNDUyNzExODM-| Fileshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJnYTIwbmp2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNmaWxlcwRzdGltZQMxMjQ1MjcxMTgz| Photoshttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/goodbookz/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZzhkbXI4BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzExNDMwNTcxBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzcwNjg5MwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwaG90BHN0aW1lAzEyNDUyNzExODM-|
[GreenYouth] Fwd: Ask 'But Why?'
-- Forwarded message -- From: Ask 'But Why?': Knowledge is R3volution mitesh.dama...@gmail.com Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 3:37 AM Subject: Ask 'But Why?' To: kmvenuan...@gmail.com Ask 'But Why?' http://www.askbutwhy.com/ http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgsfeedurl=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/AskButWhy -- Help stop the war funding!http://feedproxy.google.com/%7Er/AskButWhy/%7E3/vPVujXY0tkk/help-stop-war-funding.html Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:11 PM PDT Jeremy Scahill has an article on his website detailing which Democratic Congressional Representatives are deciding to no longer provide funding for the war. Apparently, there's some disagreement over funding the IMF too! This list of Democrats is growing and you can help make it bigger! *At the end of the day, the real issue here is: How many Democrats will actually stand up on principle to the funding of the wars, regardless of the bells and whistles the White House and Democratic Leadership attach or the threats they need to endure from their own party? In order to block passage, 39 Democrats need to vote against it in the House. As of this writing, 34 reportedly are committed to voting against it. Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake has been doing great coverage of this issue, much of which can be found here. So too has David Swanson at AfterDowningStreet. This does seem to be one issue where phone calls and letters matter—tremendously. See where your representative stands here. As of this writing, these are the legislators who are reportedly leaning toward a “No” vote, but have not yet committed. They are the people most likely to be convinced by hearing from constituents* [Article] You can help stop the war funding!http://rebelreports.com/post/124088560/will-39-democrats-stand-up-to-stop-the-war-funding https://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/%7Ea/nBQiZ69l0rbdzChIedT3dDY5bHw/0/da https://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/%7Ea/nBQiZ69l0rbdzChIedT3dDY5bHw/1/da You are subscribed to email updates from Ask 'But Why?': Knowledge is R3volution http://www.askbutwhy.com/ To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe nowhttp://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=puXABkXl_vTSBVlcV2WGojIAaOA .Email delivery powered by Google Inbox too full? [image: Add to Google]http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgsfeedurl=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/AskButWhy Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 -- http://venukm.blogspot.com http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
[GreenYouth] Protest Demonstration on 18th June Thursday 2009
* * 2009/6/16 Centenary Commiittee of International Women's Day iwdcenten...@gmail.com http://mc/compose?to=iwdcenten...@gmail.com *Protest Demonstration* *In front of Jammu Kashmir House, 5 Prithvi Raj road ( Near khanMarket)* At 2.30PM On 18th June, Thursday 2009 *Against* *Rape and murder of two young girls in Shopian, in Kashmir.* *Please circulate this message widely * ** *Please come and participate* Vasantha Rajni for Centenary Committee to Celebrate International Women’s Day -- Centenary Committee to Celebrate International Women's Day Delhi -- Ranjit --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Green Youth Movement group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
