ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

Blogs

Hate Is Up for Sale. Licence to Kill Comes Free

Afghanistan is burning. Right now, as I write these words, Afghanistan is burning. 

 

Out of Print and On the Line — Part 2

For the most part of last year, we quite literally went out of print for a bit. With no clarity in the early part of the lockdown as to when normalcy would descend, the publication of the print issue was on the line—and exclusively online—till September 2020. Little did I know, the title of my previous—and only—blog in 2019, would hold much more relevance today to justify a Part 2.

The Individual is Greater than the Malady

You feel listless sitting in a room full of people, unable to make sense of all that is going on around you. While there is a general air of merry and mirth, you feel numb. And this listlessness is not just about that one day or that particular hour, it has been there for a while now, slowly claiming a large part of your mind and personality. 

Reflections On the Future of Work

When Charles Handy’s The Future of Work was published in 1984, it created quite a sensation. Handy has been described as “prophetic” by his admirers, and his books on the nature of employment, the need for different forms of work following the disintegration of full-time employment and the possibilities that opened up for individuals as a result, have been much read and discussed. In fact, even decades later, The Future of Work and his other books remain sources of study. 

First-past-the-post Electoral System and the Majoritarian Turn of Indian Democracy

Maharashtra finally has a government in place after more than a month-long impasse over the government formation, following the declaration of Assembly election results. Signalling the germination of—what is being read as—anti-BJPism in the country, diametrically opposite political parties, Shiv Sena, the Congress, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) formed a government in the state. Despite their decades-old alliance and ideological convergence, the Shiv Sena and the BJP snapped ties over the coveted chief minister post.

Ways to Learn and Unlearn

I took a class titled “Heterosexualities: Past, Present and Future” in the last quarter of my undergraduate degree in gender and sexuality studies. In my college, it was rare to be offered a class that made a hegemonic formation—heteronormativity in this case—its centre of analysis. The recurring feelings I had throughout my undergraduate programme were those of discomfort and guilt, particularly owing to how my coursework treated inequalities and injustices of various kinds as distant and atomised “objects” of study.

Kashmir Through the Cinematic lens

Though Kashmir is omnipresent in political discourse, very little is truly known of Kashmiri culture or the effects of territorial conflict on the Kashmiri way of life. A recent example of this is the communication lockdown in the days leading up to, and after, the abrogation of Article 370 by the current government. However, this discursive violence is perpetrated not only through official channels, but also through media, art, and films. 

Gandhi’s Power of Symbolism

Mahatma Gandhi in his communication with the masses made effective use of both symbols and symbolic language. He used symbols in order to mobilise the masses against both colonial and local configurations of power. In the colonial configuration, he used symbols such as salt, charkha, and khadi in order to mobilise the masses against the British imperialists. He picked up a fistful of salt only to drive home the point that the British were working against the interests of the people of India.

Out of Print and On the Line

Working with print publication in a digital era often makes one feel like an anachronism. In the race to compete with online-only publications that have mushroomed in the last decade, online-first has become the publication model to which many print publications have transitioned. The advent of digital publishing has also brought in a great amount of flexibility, especially for news, media, and opinion publishing in terms of both format and time. 

Dharmanand Kosambi: Socialist Shraman and Shramanic Socialist

In this proposed series of blogs I seek to discuss some relatively unknown/overlooked works by Marathi thinkers/activists/scholars engaging with the ideas of socialism. This is not meant to be treated as exhaustive, but should be seen as an annotated translation with questions for further inquiry.

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