[IndyMedia Bombay] Re: Prickliness and radical chic

[george jose]

Dear Boud,Shekhar,Sanjay and others,

I have been a lurker on this list for some time
now...but equally, I have been following the committed
and concerned voices that have engaged with the
'labour pains' of imc-mumbai with excitement and
interest.

and i want to emphasise along with sanjay, that boud's
engagement - with the issues that imc-mumbai have had
to deal with - and his concern - for imc-mumbai's
future commitment - is exemplary.

I understand Boud's concern that issues involving 
'language', and 'identity' be addressed directly.
Equally however I share shekhar and sanjay's
prickliness when this concern translates (is
adapted?)into a set of (formulaic?)prescriptions.

my own sense is that boud is perhaps not very familiar
with the complexity of the 'dalit' question (for
instance, i did check out the dalit website that boud
recommended in one of his postings, and found it very
disappointing for reasons i will not go into at this
point in time. 

But at the same time i think it would be interesting
for imc-mumbai to collectively assess this website,
and indeed other such media-related attempts that have
engaged with these concerns.)

To that end I want to say a thing, and ask a question:


1. (say a thing)to imc-mumbai friends: while i think
it is legitimate for shekhar and sanjay to register
their protest, i think it is also important for
imc-mumbai to (perhaps independent of boud's
'condecension') begin thinking and addressing these
issues rightaway.

2. (ask a question)to boud: especially in the
beginning of this effort, boud, is there an viable
alternative to 'trust'? (and i know i am echoing
sanjay here). i mean it doesnt really matter that you
have the best solutions and the most radical
roadmaps...the fact is that imc-mumbai will need to
chart their own course...nai?
 
For another occasion I think there are two more
important issues that have cropped up in this harvest
of prickliness: 

one, the issue of 'barriers' to working with
marginalised groups: while boud characterises it as
'psychological', i am sure that we need to understand
these (barriers) better, in order to engage more
substantially than 'crossing the street and talking to
an adivasi' 

second: the issue of identity politics. while i feel
that themes realting to identity have enabled us to
understand power and its workings better, i do also
think that there are 'limits' to identity politics.
For instance, while it is of course true that adivasi
and dalit issues continue to be marginal to mainstream
media, 'flagging off' adivasi issues in the media is
not quite the same as insisting that the dalit across
the street should wear her identity on her sleeve,
right?

(i hope these last two paragraphs are not too
cryptic.)

more later
 
cheers
george


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