| | A presentation of an ethnography of the relationship
between urban spaces, new cultures of consumption,
the state, and the making of middle class identities in
India. Firstly, the discussion explores the making of new
urban spaces by focusing upon the Akshardham Temple
complex on the banks of the Yamuna river in Delhi.
Surrounded by a network of flyovers, highways,
toll-ways, and residential developments, the complex is
designed as a hi-tech religious and nationalist theme
park. The Delhi government-sponsored bhagidari
(sharing) scheme that brings together representatives of
the Residents’ Welfare Associations, Market Traders
Associations, and key government officials at
periodically organised workshops forms the second site
of focus.
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