Blogs

The Sound of Silence: Rethinking Resistance

Author : Ronjinee Chattopadhyay

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By : Ronjinee Chattopadhyay Department of Sociology, UG - 3 

The human tendency to fall back on binaries, unsurprisingly, also infiltrates social scientific notions of cultures of protest. Conventionally, speech has been seen as the only way to resist injustice, while silence has been equated to complicity or apathy. At a time when ideological polarization has gone on to reach new heights, such a dichotomous perception gets magnified throughout popular discourse. Notably, even studies which seek to interrogate the speech-silence binary replicate the very framework they seek to transcend. By locating silence in either of the extremities of collusive violence or unabashed resistance, they impede attempts to take a nuanced look at the potential that silence holds as a mode of expression, dissenting or otherwise. However, the novelty of silence lies in the space that it opens up for interpretation by virtue of the absence of any fixity of meaning (Ferguson 2002). This piece attempts to demonstrate how silence can operate as a mode of resistance by feigning complicity while also bolstering speech. Investigating the role of silence in popular movements becomes all the more significant when considered in the current context of growing public discourse protesting the ongoing violence being unleashed in Palestine. 

Virtual Connection or Real Affinity: A Reading of Fincher’s The Social Network

Author : Meenakshi Daga

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By: Meenakshi Daga, PG (English) 4th Sem.

By tracing the evolution of social media over the years, we can identify the complexity it has gradually wrought over human relationships. The Social Network (2010) is an example of how personal anxieties are reflected upon society and its mechanisms. By reflecting upon David Fincher’s take on Meta’s (then Facebook) Mark Zuckerberg’s life, in this paper I would like to discuss how the movie deals with themes beyond its core subject of the founding of Facebook. Although superficially seen as a series of sequenced conversations, Fincher takes inspiration from real life events and presents a fascinating story of identity and friendship. The complex portrayal of Zuckerberg by Jesse Eisenberg in terms of his complicated social relationships and his manipulative, egotistical approach serves as an ironical foreshadowing of the menacing impact social media would have on normal human interactions in the following years. 

The Perils of an Information-State

Author : Allen David Simon

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By: Allen David Simon, Third Year (PLSA), Roll No. 0123

While the repeal of a colonial law and its replacement by an updated, indigenous legislation is good cause for euphoria amongst the Indian public, the swift substitution of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 with the proposed Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 prompts reason for grave concern. A hammer might have been replaced with a wrecking ball.

A tool of state surveillance against the Indian Nationalist Movement in pre-1947 India, the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 survived independence as an investigative and record keeping sanction in collect identifiable information from convicted criminals; primarily, pictures and handprints. Its replacement has expanded the required “measurements” to include finger, palm and foot impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological sample (including semen and blood), as well as behavioral attributes including signatures and handwriting. This extensive detail of record for any arrestees (in judicial or police custody)or convicts indiscriminately, without regard for the nature of their accusation, goes over and beyond the justification by the government to employ the act. The Act simply super cedes the reasonable limits to its clientele to empower any police or prison officer, as authorized by an executive or judicial magistrate, to seek such “security” from both a convict murderer and an arrested pickpocket. The missing limitations in the Act hides behind layers of unanswered provisos to empower the coercive and surveillance arms of the police. 

The Information-State & its Controls: Niyati ya Niyat?

Author : Allen David Simon

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By: Allen David Simon, Third Year (PLSA), Roll No. 0123

While the repeal of a colonial law and its replacement by an updated, indigenous legislation is good cause for euphoria amongst the Indian public, the swift substitution of the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 with the proposed Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 prompts reason for grave concern. A hammer might have been replaced with a wrecking ball.

A tool of state surveillance against the Indian Nationalist Movement in pre-1947 India, the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 survived independence as an investigative and record keeping sanction in collect identifiable information from convicted criminals; primarily, pictures and handprints. Its replacement has expanded the required “measurements” to include finger, palm and foot impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological sample (including semen and blood), as well as behavioral attributes including signatures and handwriting. This extensive detail of record for any arrestees (in judicial or police custody)or convicts indiscriminately, without regard for the nature of their accusation, goes over and beyond the justification by the government to employ the act. The Act simply super cedes the reasonable limits to its clientele to empower any police or prison officer, as authorized by an executive or judicial magistrate, to seek such “security” from both a convict murderer and an arrested pickpocket. The missing limitations in the Act hides behind layers of unanswered provisos to empower the coercive and surveillance arms of the police. 

Survival and Security in the ‘Last Map’: A Socio-Political Analysis of Securitization of Refugees in the 21st Century

Author : Satantika Biswas

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By: Satantika Biswas, MPLS (Second Year)., Roll No.: 0111

“… developments that will prompt mass migrations and, in turn, incite group conflicts – will be the core foreign policy challenge from which most others will ultimately emanate, arousing the public…” – “The Coming Anarchy” (1994). (Kaplan, 1998).

Robert D. Kaplan, in the above-quoted excerpt, underlined the era of the post-Cold War politics and society to be marked by ‘threats’ from displacement and migration, among others leading the “Last Map” of the world to be an “ever-mutating representation of chaos” (Kaplan, 1998). With the gradual development of the traditional security framework these threats from the non-state actors adversely affecting the well-being of societies and States, broadly came to be clubbed under the domain of ‘Non-Traditional Security Threats’ (NTS) (Cook, 2017). Refugees, under this frame thus gradually came to be branded as a security threat. The course of this essay aims to highlight the recent trends in international politics vis-à-vis refugee issues and attempts to delineate a shift in the attitude towards the same. It argues that refugee issues have been securitised by States and traces the course of this process concluding with an attempt to trace the impact of the same on politics and society.[1] 

Cinema, Pop Culture and Gender: A study of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (2023)

Author : Rebecca Alisha Matthews

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By: Rebecca Alisha Matthews , MCVA sem 6, Roll No: 0871

Released in 2023, Barbie became of the most talked about films of the year. Having been criticized with varied opinions. One thing that remains prominent in the film is its representation of gender and how Barbie, the doll became a powerful icon in most girls’ life.

The film is a live action adaptation of the classic Barbie doll in contemporary times. Centering around the nostalgia, evolution, history and fading of the iconic female figure, that played a significant part in our lives while growing up. Initially popular amongst the female population, Barbie, from its very invention became the symbol of female representation. For generations girls have looked up to Barbie, the doll, who can be anything she wants, who can have anything she wants, live wherever she wants and achieve her dreams in all spectrum of life. Barbie became a powerful icon that made millions of girls around the world believe that they can do anything they want and do everything that traditionally was done by man. Barbie became the symbol of strength and inspiration for girls and brought the notion that girls are unstoppable and can achieve the same success and power that men hold.

Mariam (2016): on being a Muslim girl in France

Author : Samarjit Chowdhury

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By Samarjit Chowdhury, MSOC (PG), SEM-2

Introduction

In the year 2023, the French Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, was quoted by the press, “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them." (Rfi, 2023) Following that comment, Attal vowed to bring a ban on the wearing of the abaya in public schools. This entailed extending the purview of the existing “laicite” laws that ban any form of religious clothing in state-funded primary and secondary-education institutes. It is an understatement that such statutes have given rise to heated and divisive discourse surrounding religious identity, religious freedom, women’s autonomy, and what it means to be a French citizen. Director Faiza Ambah’s short film “Mariam” (2016) produced by Bizibi Productions grapples with some of these questions and attempts to showcase the perspective of Muslim women, often pushed to the margins in the heated rhetoric surrounding this issue.

Colonized Decolonization

Author : Adrija Das

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By Adrija Das, PG 1^st Year, Roll No: - 249, Department of Sociology. 

The state of the world as we see it, believe it and live in today has inadvertently put many of us in despair. The world affairs have left us wondering where humanity is heading. Is there a final destination for humanity? Did it even exist? However even with the feeling of despair so many of us struggling with, deep down we all predicted it. Injustice and oppression in today’s world is predictable. This nature of injustice and oppression is where humanity has lost unfortunately. Those who are in power and have the privilege are predictable. So why is it that we cannot stop it? Why are we unable to end persecution and a life of turmoil of others even when we know people in power manipulate and control us? There are various ways to approach the question of why are we unable to fight oppression. There is a crucial need to evaluate how we fight oppression. What are our tools that we use to fight for justice? Our tools are still not our own. It belongs to the oppressor and as Audre Lord said, “The Master’s tools will never dismantle the Master’s House.” (Lord, 2018)

GENDER

Author : Meghna Das

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By MeghnaDas, PG English, Roll No: - 0025

Less Equal Among Equals: Analysing Gender-Based Discrimination in India through Social and Legal Perspectives 

Undoing the Gordian knot of gender inequality has been a persisting challenge in India. For a nation whose culture and history is so deeply tethered to patriarchal ideologies, the promise for equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution is much like an effervescent dream. Operating within the very roots of the social structure, patriarchy configures the collective thinking of the nation to remain enmeshed in dogmatism under the garb of tradition. In effect, this causes the national identity to become contingent upon the perpetuation of forces which oppress the powerless on the grounds of gender, caste, religion etc. 

Revisiting Modernism: Unveiling the Layers of Hiroshima Mon Amour

Author : Tania Chakraborty

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By: Tania Chakraborty, Department – English [MENG], Semester – PG 3^rd Semester, Roll Number – 0055

Abstract: This article offers a comprehensive exploration of Alain Resnais' seminal film, ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ employing a multidimensional analytical framework rooted in the French New Wave, Freudian psychoanalysis, Camusian philosophy, and the tenets of modernist literature. By dissecting the film's narrative structure, character development, and thematic elements, this study unveils the intricate layers that contribute to the cinematic masterpiece. Concluding with an existential perspective, the study synthesizes these various lenses to illuminate the film's profound engagement with existential themes. Through this interdisciplinary exploration, it seeks to enrich our understanding of Resnais' groundbreaking film, positioning it within the broader context of cinematic, psychological, and philosophical discourse.