From christina112 at earthlink.net Thu Jan 1 06:54:23 2004 From: christina112 at earthlink.net (Christina McPhee) Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 17:24:23 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters Message-ID: .......................... January on -empyre- : Nova Media Storia: Histories and Characters With Jill Scott, Nick Montfort and Noah Wardrip-Fruin Is new media a field? Does it have a history? What history? And, how does it matter? The new year brings us the pleasure of hosting three lively minds from the interdisciplinary worlds of new media science, art and humanities. Noah Wardrip-Fruin (US) and Nick Montfort (US) will explore the genesis and critical issues that have lead to the publication of The New Media Reader (MIT Press 2003), a compendium of intertextually annotated readings from the last century. To the double helix of art and computation in new media, Nick and Noah hope to interweave empyrean comments in the coming month. With Noah and Nick, we are honored to share time and thoughts with a distinguished new media artist, Jill Scott, whose new book, "Coded Characters" (Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2003), explores the mediation and role of the audience, as well as the mythical representation of the human body on both stage and screen, are constantly questioned. Jill's nomadic hegira, from the Bay Area to Australia and to Europe, bears witness to a consistent development of new media art as a series of cyberphysical metaphors--analog figures, digital beings, and mediated nomads. Please join Jill, Nick and Noah this coming month on -empyre- soft-skinned space. Subscribe at: ......................................... Nick Montfort writes on interactive fiction, the literary uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning, game studies, and analogies between new media, narrative and poetry. At the University of Pennsylvania, where he is a PhD candidate in computer science, Nick researches computational aspects of behavioral game theory. Recent publications include "Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction" (MIT Press, 2003), regarding such "text adventures" as Adventure and Zork from literary and computational perspectives. ----------------------------------------------- Jill Scott and her oeuvre have contributed to a new concept of the human body with respect to its functionality as an interface and as a player in the rapidly developing technological spaces and in physical reality. Since 1975, her work has evolved from making surveillance-performance events, to video art, and onto new computer art and interactive cinema. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Noah Wardrip-Fruin is a new media scholar and artist. He has recently edited two books, both from MIT Press - The New Media Reader (with Nick Montfort, 2003) and First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game (with Pat Harrigan, forthcoming). As an artist his work focuses on new media text, including The Impermanence Agent (a storytelling web agent that "customizes" based on reader browsing habits) and Screen (an immersive VR text that interacts with the reader's body). His work has been presented by the Whitney and Guggenheim museums, as well as discussed in reference books such as Information Arts (MIT Press) and Digital Art (Thames and Hudson). cm -- -- Transmedia artist Adjunct, Department of Architecture, c/o Hargrave Studio, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California From coolzanny at hotmail.com Thu Jan 1 18:12:49 2004 From: coolzanny at hotmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 18:12:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: The following books are on sale: Please Contact zainabbawa at yahoo.com 1). The Death of Vishnu National Bestseller by Manil Suri Harper Collins Publication - American Edition Book in Neat Condition Original Price - US 13 Dollars Sale Price - Rs. 300 2). Papers on Women's Quotas in Urban Local Governance Papers from authors in South Asia and Europe - A total of 9 papers Price - Rs. 200 3). Trial of Errors - a critque of the POTA court judgement on the 13th December case by People's Union for Democratic Rights Price - Rs. 10 4). Know the RSS by Shamshul Islam Booklet in good condition Price - Rs. 15 5). Human Rights Education for Social Transformation by Shulamith Koenig Produced by YUVA Original Price - Rs. 25 Sale Price - Rs. 15 6). Nasser's Pan - Arab Radicalism and the Saudi Drive for Islamic Solidarity: A response for security by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 7). Personalized Politics, Dependence and the Breakdown of the Monarchic System in Iran: An Interrelationship by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 8). Organization of Islamic Conference: Conceptual Framework and the Institutional Structure by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 10). Worshipping False Gods Author - Arun Shourie Original Price - Rs. 450 Sale Price - Rs. 300 Book in Brand New Condition 11). Introduction to International Humanitarian Law - edited by Rose Varghese and M.K. Balachandran, Justice Krishna Iyer Published by ICRC, New Delhi, 1999 Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 300 Expected Price - Rs. 200 12). ISIL Year Book of International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law Vol II, 2002 Published by The Indian Society of International Law Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 400 Expected Price - Rs. 200 13). Basic International Legal Documents on Refugees Published by UNHCR, 2002 Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 350 Expected Price - Rs. 200 14). Refugee Protection - A Guide to International Refugee Law Published by UNHCR and Inter-Parliamentary Union Brand New Condition Expected Price - Rs. 75 15). 2 Training Modules: a). Human Rights and Refugee Protection: Part I - General Introduction b). Human Rights and Refugee Protection: Part II - Specific Issues Published by UNHCR, Oct 1995, June 1996 Books in Brand New Condition Expected Price for both - Rs. 250 16). 2 reports on International Criminal Court a). The ICC: The Beijing Platform in Action Published by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice b). Cornell International Law Journal - Negotiating the Treaty of Rome on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court by M. Cherif Bassiouni Both reports in brand new condition Expected Price for both - Rs. 60 17). The Four Geneva Conventions and the Two Additional Protocols on International Humanitarian Law Published by ICRC, Geneva 2002 Both Books in Brand New Condition, except with some pages marked Expected Price for both - Rs. 400 18). Report - Inside Tibet Produced by Friends of Tibet, India Book in Brand New Condition Expected Price - Rs. 100 19). POTO - A Report Price - Rs. 50 20). J&K Elections 2002 - An Analysis Price - Rs. 50 _________________________________________________________________ Get a job today. http://go.msnserver.com/IN/39622.asp Post your CV on naukri.com today. From coolzanny at hotmail.com Thu Jan 1 18:12:49 2004 From: coolzanny at hotmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Thu, 01 Jan 2004 18:12:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] (no subject) Message-ID: The following books are on sale: Please Contact zainabbawa at yahoo.com 1). The Death of Vishnu National Bestseller by Manil Suri Harper Collins Publication - American Edition Book in Neat Condition Original Price - US 13 Dollars Sale Price - Rs. 300 2). Papers on Women's Quotas in Urban Local Governance Papers from authors in South Asia and Europe - A total of 9 papers Price - Rs. 200 3). Trial of Errors - a critque of the POTA court judgement on the 13th December case by People's Union for Democratic Rights Price - Rs. 10 4). Know the RSS by Shamshul Islam Booklet in good condition Price - Rs. 15 5). Human Rights Education for Social Transformation by Shulamith Koenig Produced by YUVA Original Price - Rs. 25 Sale Price - Rs. 15 6). Nasser's Pan - Arab Radicalism and the Saudi Drive for Islamic Solidarity: A response for security by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 7). Personalized Politics, Dependence and the Breakdown of the Monarchic System in Iran: An Interrelationship by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 8). Organization of Islamic Conference: Conceptual Framework and the Institutional Structure by Noor Mohammed Baba Price of booklet - Rs. 10 10). Worshipping False Gods Author - Arun Shourie Original Price - Rs. 450 Sale Price - Rs. 300 Book in Brand New Condition 11). Introduction to International Humanitarian Law - edited by Rose Varghese and M.K. Balachandran, Justice Krishna Iyer Published by ICRC, New Delhi, 1999 Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 300 Expected Price - Rs. 200 12). ISIL Year Book of International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law Vol II, 2002 Published by The Indian Society of International Law Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 400 Expected Price - Rs. 200 13). Basic International Legal Documents on Refugees Published by UNHCR, 2002 Book in Brand New Condition Original Price - Rs. 350 Expected Price - Rs. 200 14). Refugee Protection - A Guide to International Refugee Law Published by UNHCR and Inter-Parliamentary Union Brand New Condition Expected Price - Rs. 75 15). 2 Training Modules: a). Human Rights and Refugee Protection: Part I - General Introduction b). Human Rights and Refugee Protection: Part II - Specific Issues Published by UNHCR, Oct 1995, June 1996 Books in Brand New Condition Expected Price for both - Rs. 250 16). 2 reports on International Criminal Court a). The ICC: The Beijing Platform in Action Published by the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice b). Cornell International Law Journal - Negotiating the Treaty of Rome on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court by M. Cherif Bassiouni Both reports in brand new condition Expected Price for both - Rs. 60 17). The Four Geneva Conventions and the Two Additional Protocols on International Humanitarian Law Published by ICRC, Geneva 2002 Both Books in Brand New Condition, except with some pages marked Expected Price for both - Rs. 400 18). Report - Inside Tibet Produced by Friends of Tibet, India Book in Brand New Condition Expected Price - Rs. 100 19). POTO - A Report Price - Rs. 50 20). J&K Elections 2002 - An Analysis Price - Rs. 50 _________________________________________________________________ Get a job today. http://go.msnserver.com/IN/39622.asp Post your CV on naukri.com today. From abirbazaz at rediffmail.com Fri Jan 2 23:37:57 2004 From: abirbazaz at rediffmail.com (abir bazaz) Date: 2 Jan 2004 18:07:57 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Train to Delhi...somebody writes after all these years Message-ID: <20040102180757.2414.qmail@webmail7.rediffmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040102/a491ba20/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- Train to Delhi: Hell-zone for Kashmiris Tales of harassed Kashmiris in Delhi-bound trains GK Special Correspondent Srinagar, Jan 1: Next time when you board a train from Jammu to other parts of India, be sure you are going to have an ordeal and yet no one to shed any tears for you. Even as Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Syed, is busy waving green flags on Srinagar Muzaffarbad road, Srinagar’s road to Delhi has been painted red for Kashmiris. As if the gruesome murder of Kashmiri singer, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, in a Delhi-Jammu train was not enough to stir the conscience of the governments in Srinagar and New Delhi, horrifying tales of harassment of Kashmiris in Delhi bound trains pour in every day. The trouble begins as soon as the trains leave J&K State’s territory. And out of the blue in typical chambal daku style, Punjab police personnel appear in the bogies and begin the hunt for Kashmiris - age, sex, status, position no bar! The modus operandi is now standard: as soon as a Kashmiri is sighted in a train, he is accused of being a "terrorist" and carried away alongwith his baggage and taken down at the next station. And no explanation of one’s position and status helps. The police gives a stark choice: follow to the nearby police station or pay whatever cash you carry. Choice is predictable for the cops: people pay and evade the trouble. And those who don’t pay go through a hell. When Saima (22) and her brother Suhail (19) were returning home on Sunday on a vacation from Bangalore, they had never anticipated the misery they would go through. In the dead of the night when Suhail was dragged from his sleeper by the police somewhere in Punjab, Saima pleaded with the policemen to spare him. And there came the verdict: both brother and sister were "terrorists". The policemen abused and physically assaulted them and yet nobody in the train helped. The co-passengers acted as silent spectators while they were brought down on a railway station alongwith their luggage. Soon the policemen hit the bottom line: they wanted all cash the two were carrying. Suhail and Saima paid Rs 2000 and were let away. Abdul Karim (38) recently received the news of his brother being terminally ill in South India state of Kerela. Karim hurriedly arranged for a ticket and carried some cash and boarded the train from Jammu. As he was struggling to sleep in the night, Karim got the call, "Get down from the sleeper." The standard modus operandi followed and he was relieved of Rs 20,000. Karim reached Kerela after eight days only to offer fateha at the grave of his already dead brother. The ordeal for common Kashmiris does not end with the trains only. In Delhi while the Delhi police keeps constantly intruding into their privacy everywhere, hotels in the capital are out-of-bounds for Kashmiris since more than half a decade now. Although the tragic murder of Kashmiri singer, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, in a train by "unknown assailants" made the Mufti government ask the Punjab government for a probe into the incident, hardly any progress has been made in the investigations so far. Sheikh’s murder has been swept into oblivion and so could be the case with many more Kashmiris, who do not end up paying to cops while travelling in the "red zone." From menso at r4k.net Mon Jan 5 00:34:25 2004 From: menso at r4k.net (Menso Heus) Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:04:25 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Kurds captured Saddam Hussain? Message-ID: <20040104190425.GC92221@r4k.net> Interesting list of articles that missed mainstream media: http://www.correspondences.org/archives/000507.html As usual, it's hard to decide what to believe, but frankly I didn't buy Saddam sitting around in a hole in the ground all by himself either. The story of the Kurds drugging him and locking him up in the hole seems more likely to me :) Menso -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps no person can be a poet, or even enjoy poetry without a certain unsoundness of mind. -- Thomas Macaulay -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From shilpagupta at hotmail.com Sun Jan 4 06:17:30 2004 From: shilpagupta at hotmail.com (shilpa) Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 00:47:30 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] Opening of Your Kidney Supermarket on 5th Jan 2004 Message-ID: Your Kidney Supermarket Installation and Video by Shilpa Gupta at Oxford Bookstore, Mumbai Join us for the opening on Monday 5th, January at 7:30 pm On display through 18th January 2004, 10 am to 10 pm Oxford Bookstore Apeejay House 3 Dinsha Vachha Road Churchgate Mumbai 400 020 T +91 22 56364477 With Support from Apeejay Media Gallery, New Delhi -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040104/77913581/attachment.html From rmazumdar at vsnl.net Sat Jan 3 23:54:40 2004 From: rmazumdar at vsnl.net (Ranjani Mazumdar) Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2004 23:54:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Screening of Almodovar's TALK TO HER Message-ID: <5.0.2.1.2.20040103234845.01ca8508@mail.vsnl.net> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040103/b4018c9c/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shikhaj at vsnl.com Mon Jan 5 16:37:58 2004 From: shikhaj at vsnl.com (shikhaj at vsnl.com) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 16:07:58 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Documentary film screening/Born to Sing Message-ID: <16791e71674c27.1674c2716791e7@vsnl.net> Born to Sing A documentary film by Shikha Jhingan Screening at the India Habitat Centre (Gulmohar) on 12 January, 2004 at 7 p.m Born to Sing is a musical journey of Mirasans, who sing life cycle ritual songs for their patrons in Punjab. Through an encounter with four Mirasans and their songs, the film explores the rich musical and oral tradition carried on by these women across religious boundaries. What is the nature of their relationship with their landowning patrons? What happens when Punjabi pop music takes the entertainment industry by storm? How are the Mirasans dealing with dwindling patronage and pressures from men of their community? The documentary tries to grapple with these concerns faced by the Mirasans, who find themselves shunted out from their expressive traditions. At another level, the documentary draws on music as a vehicle to explore the resilience of Malwa’s composite culture. Duration: 44:30 minutes Language: English/Punjabi Camera: Sabeena Gadihoke; Sound: Surinder Prasad Singh; Editing: Shikha Jhingan; Music: Traditional songs by the Mirasans The director of the film, Shikha Jhingan will be available to respond to questions and comments after the screening. Enquiries: shikhaj at vsnl.com 9810707960 _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ektenel at hotmail.com Mon Jan 5 21:52:50 2004 From: ektenel at hotmail.com (Ah_Ek Ferrera_Balanquet) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 16:22:50 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] On Contemporary Indian Video Art Message-ID: http://netartreview.net This week Net Art Review features "Geographical Architectures in Contemporary Indian Video Art" by Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet, presented for our readers in collaboration with its author. (December 2003 � R. Ferrera-Balanquet. All right reserved.) Ferrera-Balanquet reviews an exhibition of contemporary Indian video art at the museum in Merida, Mexico, with poignancy and nostalgia for a past that is strangely familiar, yet, not his own. The artists in their in video selections, however, are less conscious of a relative distance from the here-and-now and represent an India that is sincere, dimensional, and very contemporary. Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet, MFA is an artist, writer and curator living in Merida, Mexico and Los Angeles, California. http://netartreview.net Raul Moarquech Ferrera-Balanquet,MFA Artist/Writer/Curator krosrods at cartodigital.org ektenel at hotmail.com http://www.cartodigital.org/krosrods _________________________________________________________________ Tired of slow downloads? Compare online deals from your local high-speed providers now. https://broadband.msn.com From jim at subtletechnologies.com Tue Jan 6 01:22:42 2004 From: jim at subtletechnologies.com (Jim Ruxton) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 14:52:42 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Final Call for Submissions: Subtle Technologies 2004 Message-ID: <3FF9C08A.9020806@subtletechnologies.com> CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Deadline January 11th 2004 Subtle Technologies Festival May 27 - May 30 2004 University of Toronto, Toronto Canada Subtle Technologies is currently inviting submissions for the symposium component of its 7th annual festival. Recognized internationally as a unique forum that encourages new insights and collaborations between artists and scientists, Subtle Technologies challenges physicists, geneticists, engineers, mathematicians, astronomers, architects, dancers, media artists and musicians to contemplate how art and science act upon one another and reshape perspectives. Throughout four days of presentations, we aim to cover a wide variety of subjects. People who have attended the festival remark that although the individual topics at the festival are extremely interesting it is often the unexpected threads that are woven between the various presentations that make the festival a unique experience for presenters and audience members. The programming of the symposium is shaped by the submissions of each year and is meant to broaden the scope of disciplines or areas of research for those who attend. In the past, topics addressed have included quantum physics , quantum computing and other unconventional computing technologies, music, dance, neurology, imaging technologies, holography,animation, genetics, sonic explorations, sensing systems and devices, social systems, complexity theory, and artificial intelligence. We encourage demonstrations, and can accommodate / provide technical support for almost any type of presentation. All past presentations are archived on our website. We strongly urge those interested in submitting a proposal to aquaint themselves with our history of programming. Criteria: The festival is open to the public and presentations must be accessible to a non-specialized audience.Each presentation must fill 40 minutes, followed by a ten minute question and answer period. It is strongly recommended that parties interested in submitting a proposal visit our archives at http://www.subtletechnologies.com to get better idea of our programming. All presenters receive an honorarium and their festival registration fees are waived. Deadline for Proposals: December 15, 2003. PDF version of Call for Submissions: http://www.subtletechnologies.com/news/index.html How to Apply Go to our website at: http://www.subtletechnologies.com/submissions/index.html If you have any questions please send an email to Jim Ruxton programming at subtletechnologies.com If you prefer, you can mail your proposals to: Subtle Technologies Programming 1518 Queen Street West, Toronto ON Canada, M6R 1A4 From mody_monica at hotmail.com Mon Jan 5 17:44:39 2004 From: mody_monica at hotmail.com (Monica Mody) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2004 17:44:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Seminar on Cross Border Movements and Human Rights Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040105/e627d3c8/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From geert at desk.nl Wed Jan 7 10:31:10 2004 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 15:01:10 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] MAKEWORLDS (2) CALL FOR PARTICIPATION References: Message-ID: <016601c3d4db$47950260$1cbc6682@geert> MAKEWORLDS (2) CALL FOR PARTICIPATION http://www.makeworlds.org NAME NEURO -- networking europe SYNOPSIS Movements and technologies of the common DATE February 26-29, 2004 LOCATION Muffathalle, Munich (Germany) DESCRIPTION A new generation of media and network initiatives from all over Europe and different parts of the world present and work on their projects in a broad interactive framework that explores the different conceptual and practical idioms used to articulate and create new social, political and artistic practices. Originating within the networking culture of open communications and free exchange the event aims to connect contemporary debates on mobility, migration and social movements with new media instruments, information and communication technologies. WHAT'S NEW? The new is emerging in unknown and multiple ways. It is emerging from the exhaustion and crisis of conventional political concepts that are no longer adequate to the unstable, informatic and immaterial dimensions of the emerging division of labour. The new technologies of the common are not universal hierarchies of political right but small scale and intimate practices of constitution. The new involves those who see the limitations of individual social practices of self-realisation and desire to turn them into general and transferable social technologies of emancipation. BACKGROUND It is time for intellectual and political debates to merge with technology. Both to evaluate the current state of social movements and to build on those orientations that are pushing the limits of what are individually considered possible. NEURO sets out to create and map a new discursive terrain and practical horizon: the ideas of 'freedom of movement' and 'technologies of the common' draws into a synergetic perspective the range of irreducibly conflictual practices whereby society is reproduced. Without losing sight of the (translocal) constitution of the local as indispensable site of intervention, NEURO seeks to review and research practices of networking that are already redefining the political geography of Europe. In the ongoing diversification of the social, processes of integration can no longer be clearly separated from mechanisms of exclusion. The working out of these tensions at a political and economic level is producing new levels of complexity as well as new opportunities for provocative and experimental projects that challenge orthodoxy and convention. The focus on social reproduction is an acknowledgment that its various modes are proliferating across an ever-expanding terrain in a process that suggests that collective responses will themselves have to explore some of the idioms and tools of the network in each of the subjects under discussion, whether human rights and citizenship, Empire and Europe, free software and intellectual property regimes, the spectacle of civil society, or the institutional and bureaucratic mentalities present within post-governmental environments. Beyond the juridical parcelisation of people into discrete, sovereign and rights-bearing subjects, the present offers a unique chance to express and form solidarities that catch up in political terms with the sociality of our being. For these struggles, networks and intercommunicative agency are not goals but their very conditions of possibility. Thus the new sits in opposition to the current forms of exclusion because the appropriation of subjective freedoms within Europe and beyond it are part of the foundations on which these political edifices themselves rest. TASKS What could be new today in networking? After the thin promises of new markets and new media, what aspirations remain for evolving struggles for information, knowledge and communication? What is the role of civil society in the framework of global governing practices of political mediation today? What is the impact of immaterial and affective labour for practices of migration and the reconfiguration of the global economy of biopolitical production? What projects of self constitution emerge from practices of refusal and exodus? How has the movement reposed the question of the autonomy of the political in the midst of a crisis of representation? Is mapping the best tool for expressing horizontal structures of cooperation and technologies of the common? None of the initiatives present at neuro will offer a one-size-fits-all solution to global wrongs. However when taken together it is imagined that they will exhibit the power of generating communicable ideas out of small, laboratory contexts that are embedded within different environments and in dialogue with one another. NEURO will be a major opportunity for forming creative alliances - within a coherent discursive field - between all those that share the aspiration to raise theory and activity to a level adequate to the practice of digital generations. TOPICS NEURO is organized around seven major topics, that each constitute an area for debates on different levels and in different formats. Various input and output devices will be attached to these topics.'' * SPECTACLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY Scaling the summits: esf, wsf, wsis - Multi-stakeholder ideology and global governance scenarios - Snares of inclusion, pitfalls of political mediation and the development discourse * TRANSITIONS OF LABOR Outsourcing and lean production - The becoming migrant of labor - Cognitive labor and industries of affect - Division and recomposition: the biopolitical network of immaterial labor * FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT Third generation wall and wireless lager - Management, mobility and post-human rights - Local and remote control * CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION AND POLITICS OF SPACE Mapping, mobile devices, games - Resisting virtual regimes - Protest in the non-protest * SOCIAL ONTOLOGIES OF OPEN SOURCE The collapse of techno- idealism - Hyper-alienation and property out of control - Ethics of open images and imagination * FORMATION AND INFORMATION Educational projects in networking environments - Knowledge production, general intellect and the crisis of learning - Strategies of self-valorization from do-it-yourself to everyone-is-an-expert * CONSTITUTIVE PRACTICES Ad-hoc-networking and virtual organizing - Escape, exodus and refusal - Hijacking speech: multilingualism beyond identity and unity SEE ALSO http://d-a-s-h.org http://www.muffathalle.de http://www.kein.org http://www.generation-online.org http://www.incommunicado.info CONTACT neuro at kein.org HISTORY NEURO (networking europe) is the next version of the makeworlds festival, which for the first time took place in October, 2001. AUTHORS Arianna Bove, Erik Empson, Susanne Lang, Geert Lovink, Florian Schneider, Soenke Zehle SPONSORS NEURO -- Networking europe is designed, organised and realized in the framework of the Europewide Internet-platform D-A-S-H that was set up in the summer of 2002 with the support of the EU-Commission and the Federal Youth Ministry in order to support young people in realising media projects and initiatives against racism and exclusion. D-A-S-H will host a five days workshop on computer games after the NEURO event. Thanks to: Muffathalle. LHM, JFF, Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation & BpB. From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Tue Jan 6 14:55:48 2004 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Shivam=20Vij?=) Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 09:25:48 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 6, Issue 3 In-Reply-To: <20040104110004.2459C28D9BE@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <20040106092548.14813.qmail@web8204.mail.in.yahoo.com> Why does this article not carry the link where it has ben published. The name of the reporter should also have been there since such a story would not be published sans byline. I googled for it and found it in a Pakistani reading list, with the only difference that there the report's location was not Srinagar but 'Occupied Kashmir'. Clarifictions required. Thanks Shivam Vij reader-list-request at sarai.net wrote: Send reader-list mailing list submissions to reader-list at sarai.net To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to reader-list-request at sarai.net You can reach the person managing the list at reader-list-owner at sarai.net When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of reader-list digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Train to Delhi...somebody writes after all these years (abir bazaz) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: 2 Jan 2004 18:07:57 -0000 From: "abir bazaz" Subject: [Reader-list] Train to Delhi...somebody writes after all these years To: reader-list at sarai.net Message-ID: <20040102180757.2414.qmail at webmail7.rediffmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040102/a491ba20/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- Train to Delhi: Hell-zone for Kashmiris Tales of harassed Kashmiris in Delhi-bound trains GK Special Correspondent Srinagar, Jan 1: Next time when you board a train from Jammu to other parts of India, be sure you are going to have an ordeal and yet no one to shed any tears for you. Even as Chief Minister, Mufti Muhammad Syed, is busy waving green flags on Srinagar Muzaffarbad road, Srinagar’s road to Delhi has been painted red for Kashmiris. As if the gruesome murder of Kashmiri singer, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, in a Delhi-Jammu train was not enough to stir the conscience of the governments in Srinagar and New Delhi, horrifying tales of harassment of Kashmiris in Delhi bound trains pour in every day. The trouble begins as soon as the trains leave J&K State’s territory. And out of the blue in typical chambal daku style, Punjab police personnel appear in the bogies and begin the hunt for Kashmiris - age, sex, status, position no bar! The modus operandi is now standard: as soon as a Kashmiri is sighted in a train, he is accused of being a "terrorist" and carried away alongwith his baggage and taken down at the next station. And no explanation of one’s position and status helps. The police gives a stark choice: follow to the nearby police station or pay whatever cash you carry. Choice is predictable for the cops: people pay and evade the trouble. And those who don’t pay go through a hell. When Saima (22) and her brother Suhail (19) were returning home on Sunday on a vacation from Bangalore, they had never anticipated the misery they would go through. In the dead of the night when Suhail was dragged from his sleeper by the police somewhere in Punjab, Saima pleaded with the policemen to spare him. And there came the verdict: both brother and sister were "terrorists". The policemen abused and physically assaulted them and yet nobody in the train helped. The co-passengers acted as silent spectators while they were brought down on a railway station alongwith their luggage. Soon the policemen hit the bottom line: they wanted all cash the two were carrying. Suhail and Saima paid Rs 2000 and were let away. Abdul Karim (38) recently received the news of his brother being terminally ill in South India state of Kerela. Karim hurriedly arranged for a ticket and carried some cash and boarded the train from Jammu. As he was struggling to sleep in the night, Karim got the call, "Get down from the sleeper." The standard modus operandi followed and he was relieved of Rs 20,000. Karim reached Kerela after eight days only to offer fateha at the grave of his already dead brother. The ordeal for common Kashmiris does not end with the trains only. In Delhi while the Delhi police keeps constantly intruding into their privacy everywhere, hotels in the capital are out-of-bounds for Kashmiris since more than half a decade now. Although the tragic murder of Kashmiri singer, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, in a train by "unknown assailants" made the Mufti government ask the Punjab government for a probe into the incident, hardly any progress has been made in the investigations so far. Sheikh’s murder has been swept into oblivion and so could be the case with many more Kashmiris, who do not end up paying to cops while travelling in the "red zone." ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ reader-list mailing list reader-list at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list End of reader-list Digest, Vol 6, Issue 3 ***************************************** Shivam Vij O-9 Rudra South St. Stephen's College University Enclave, Delhi 7 shivamvij at hotmail.com 98684 31703 Yahoo! India Mobile: Ringtones, Wallpapers, Picture Messages and more.Download now. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040106/0cde20c3/attachment.html From aiindex at mnet.fr Wed Jan 7 13:21:55 2004 From: aiindex at mnet.fr (Harsh Kapoor) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 08:51:55 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] 21st Century Anarchism Message-ID: [* Forwarder's note: Both authors contribute to Jai Sen et.al (eds), World Social Forum: Against All Empires. New Delhi: Viveka. 25-C DDA Flats, Shahpurjat, New Delhi 110 049, India. Tel: 91-11-2649 2473 / 2649 7586. ] ANARCHISM, OR THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY By David Graeber and Andrej Grubacic* It is becoming increasingly clear that the age of revolutions is not over. It's becoming equally clear that the global revolutionary movement in the twenty first century, will be one that traces its origins less to the tradition of Marxism, or even of socialism narrowly defined, but of anarchism. Everywhere from Eastern Europe to Argentina, from Seattle to Bombay, anarchist ideas and principles are generating new radical dreams and visions. Often their exponents do not call themselves "anarchists". There are a host of other names: autonomism, anti-authoritarianism, horizontality, Zapatismo, direct democracy... Still, everywhere one finds the same core principles: decentralization, voluntary association, mutual aid, the network model, and above all, the rejection of any idea that the end justifies the means, let alone that the business of a revolutionary is to seize state power and then begin imposing one's vision at the point of a gun. Above all, anarchism, as an ethics of practice-the idea of building a new society "within the shell of the old"-has become the basic inspiration of the "movement of movements" (of which the authors are a part), which has from the start been less about seizing state power than about exposing, de-legitimizing and dismantling mechanisms of rule while winning ever-larger spaces of autonomy and participatory management within it. There are some obvious reasons for the appeal of anarchist ideas at the beginning of the 21st century: most obviously, the failures and catastrophes resulting from so many efforts to overcome capitalism by seizing control of the apparatus of government in the 20th. Increasing numbers of revolutionaries have begun to recognize that "the revolution" is not going to come as some great apocalyptic moment, the storming of some global equivalent of the Winter Palace, but a very long process that has been going on for most of human history (even if it has like most things come to accelerate of late) full of strategies of flight and evasion as much as dramatic confrontations, and which will never-indeed, most anarchist feel, should never-come to a definitive conclusion. It's a little disconcerting, but it offers one enormous consolation: we do not have to wait until "after the revolution" to begin to get a glimpse of what genuine freedom might be like. As the Crimethinc Collective, the greatest propagandists of contemporary American anarchism, put it: "Freedom only exists in the moment of revolution. And those moments are not as rare as you think." For an anarchist, in fact, to try to create non-alienated experiences, true democracy, is an ethical imperative; only by making one's form of organization in the present at least a rough approximation of how a free society would actually operate, how everyone, someday, should be able to live, can one guarantee that we will not cascade back into disaster. Grim joyless revolutionaries who sacrifice all pleasure to the cause can only produce grim joyless societies. These changes have been difficult to document because so far anarchist ideas have received almost no attention in the academy. There are still thousands of academic Marxists, but almost no academic anarchists. This lag is somewhat difficult to interpret. In part, no doubt, it's because Marxism has always had a certain affinity with the academy which anarchism obviously lacked: Marxism was, after all, the only great social movement that was invented by a Ph.D. Most accounts of the history of anarchism assume it was basically similar to Marxism: anarchism is presented as the brainchild of certain 19th century thinkers (Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin...) that then went on to inspire working-class organizations, became enmeshed in political struggles, divided into sects... Anarchism, in the standard accounts, usually comes out as Marxism's poorer cousin, theoretically a bit flat-footed but making up for brains, perhaps, with passion and sincerity. Really the analogy is strained. The "founders" of anarchism did not think of themselves as having invented anything particularly new. The saw its basic principles-mutual aid, voluntary association, egalitarian decision-making-as as old as humanity. The same goes for the rejection of the state and of all forms of structural violence, inequality, or domination (anarchism literally means "without rulers")-even the assumption that all these forms are somehow related and reinforce each other. None of it was seen as some startling new doctrine, but a longstanding tendency in the history human thought, and one that cannot be encompassed by any general theory of ideology. On one level it is a kind of faith: a belief that most forms of irresponsibility that seem to make power necessary are in fact the effects of power itself. In practice though it is a constant questioning, an effort to identify every compulsory or hierarchical relation in human life, and challenge them to justify themselves, and if they cannot-which usually turns out to be the case-an effort to limit their power and thus widen the scope of human liberty. Just as a Sufi might say that Sufism is the core of truth behind all religions, an anarchist might argue that anarchism is the urge for freedom behind all political ideologies. Schools of Marxism always have founders. Just as Marxism sprang from the mind of Marx, so we have Leninists, Maoists,, Althusserians... (Note how the list starts with heads of state and grades almost seamlessly into French professors - who, in turn, can spawn their own sects: Lacanians, Foucauldians....) Schools of anarchism, in contrast, almost invariably emerge from some kind of organizational principle or form of practice: Anarcho-Syndicalists and Anarcho-Communists, Insurrectionists and Platformists, Cooperativists, Councilists, Individualists, and so on. Anarchists are distinguished by what they do, and how they organize themselves to go about doing it. And indeed this has always been what anarchists have spent most of their time thinking and arguing about. They have never been much interested in the kinds of broad strategic or philosophical questions that preoccupy Marxists such as Are the peasants a potentially revolutionary class? (anarchists consider this something for peasants to decide) or what is the nature of the commodity form? Rather, they tend to argue about what is the truly democratic way to go about a meeting, at what point organization stops being empowering people and starts squelching individual freedom. Is "leadership" necessarily a bad thing? Or, alternately, about the ethics of opposing power: What is direct action? Should one condemn someone who assassinates a head of state? When is it okay to throw a brick? Marxism, then, has tended to be a theoretical or analytical discourse about revolutionary strategy. Anarchism has tended to be an ethical discourse about revolutionary practice. As a result, where Marxism has produced brilliant theories of praxis, it's mostly been anarchists who have been working on the praxis itself. At the moment, there's something of a rupture between generations of anarchism: between those whose political formation took place in the 60s and 70s-and who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits of the last century-or simply still operate in those terms, and younger activists much more informed, among other elements, by indigenous, feminist, ecological and cultural-criticitical ideas. The former organize mainly through highly visible Anarchist Federations like the IWA, NEFAC or IWW. The latter work most prominently in the networks of the global social movement, networks like Peoples Global Action, which unites anarchist collectives in Europe and elsewhere with groups ranging from Maori activists in New Zealand, fisherfolk in Indonesia, or the Canadian postal workers' union (2.). The latter-what might be loosely referred to as the "small-a anarchists", are by now by far the majority. But it is sometimes hard to tell, since so many of them do not trumpet their affinities very loudly. There are many. in fact, who take anarchist principles of anti-sectarianism and open-endedness so seriously that they refuse to refer to themselves as 'anarchists' for that very reason (3.). But the three essentials that run throughout all manifestations of anarchist ideology are definitely there - anti-statism, anti-capitalism and prefigurative politics (i.e. modes of organization that consciously resemble the world you want to create. Or, as an anarchist historian of the revolution in Spain has formulated "an effort to think of not only the ideas but the facts of the future itself". (4.) This is present in anything from jamming collectives and on to Indy media, all of which can be called anarchist in the newer sense.(5.) In some countries, there is only a very limited degree of confluence between the two coexisting generations, mostly taking the form of following what each other is doing - but not much more. One reason is that the new generation is much more interested in developing new forms of practice than arguing about the finer points of ideology. The most dramatic among these have been the development of new forms of decision-making process, the beginnings, at least, of an alternate culture of democracy. The famous North American spokescouncils, where thousands of activists coordinate large-scale events by consensus, with no formal leadership structure, are only the most spectacular. Actually, even calling these forms "new" is a little bit deceptive. One of the main inspirations for the new generation of anarchists are the Zapatista autonomous municipalities of Chiapas, based in Tzeltal or Tojolobal-speaking communities who have been using consensus process for thousands of years-only now adopted by revolutionaries to ensure that women and younger people have an equal voice. In North America, "consensus process" emerged more than anything else from the feminist movement in the '70s, as part of a broad backlash against the macho style of leadership typical of the '60s New Left. The idea of consensus itself was borrowed from the Quakers, who again, claim to have been inspired by the Six Nations and other Native American practices. Consensus is often misunderstood. One often hears critics claim it would cause stifling conformity but almost never by anyone who has actually observed consensus in action, at least, as guided by trained, experienced facilitators (some recent experiments in Europe, where there is little tradition of such things, have been somewhat crude). In fact, the operating assumption is that no one could really convert another completely to their point of view, or probably should. Instead, the point of consensus process is to allow a group to decide on a common course of action. Instead of voting proposals up and down, proposals are worked and reworked, scotched or reinvented, there is a process of compromise and synthesis, until one ends up with something everyone can live with. When it comes to the final stage, actually "finding consensus", there are two levels of possible objection: one can "stand aside", which is to say "I don't like this and won't participate but I wouldn't stop anyone else from doing it", or "block", which has the effect of a veto. One can only block if one feels a proposal is in violation of the fundamental principles or reasons for being of a group. One might say that the function which in the US constitution is relegated to the courts, of striking down legislative decisions that violate constitutional principles, is here relegated with anyone with the courage to actually stand up against the combined will of the group (though of course there are also ways of challenging unprincipled blocks). One could go on at length about the elaborate and surprisingly sophisticated methods that have been developed to ensure all this works; of forms of modified consensus required for very large groups; of the way consensus itself reinforces the principle of decentralization by ensuring one doesn't really want to bring proposals before very large groups unless one has to, of means of ensuring gender equity and resolving conflict... The point is this is a form of direct democracy which is very different than the kind we usually associate with the term-or, for that matter, with the kind of majority-vote system usually employed by European or North American anarchists of earlier generations, or still employed, say, in middle class urban Argentine asambleas (though not, significantly, among the more radical piqueteros, the organized unemployed, who tend to operate by consensus.) With increasing contact between different movements internationally, the inclusion of indigenous groups and movements from Africa, Asia, and Oceania with radically different traditions, we are seeing the beginnings of a new global reconception of what "democracy" should even mean, one as far as possible from the neoliberal parlaimentarianism currently promoted by the existing powers of the world. Again, it is difficult to follow this new spirit of synthesis by reading most existing anarchist literature, because those who spend most of their energy on questions of theory, rather than emerging forms of practice, are the most likely to maintain the old sectarian dichotomizing logic. Modern anarchism is imbued with countless contradictions. While small-a anarchists are slowly incorporating ideas and practices learned from indigenous allies into their modes of organizing or alternative communities, the main trace in the written literature has been the emergence of a sect of Primitivists, a notoriously contentious crew who call for the complete abolition of industrial civilization, and, in some cases, even agriculture.(6.) Still, it is only a matter of time before this older, either/or logic begins to give way to something more resembling the practice of consensus-based groups. What would this new synthesis look like? Some of the outlines can already be discerned within the movement. It will insist on constantly expanding the focus of anti-authoritarianism, moving away from class reductionism by trying to grasp the "totality of domination", that is, to highlight not only the state but also gender relations, and not only the economy but also cultural relations and ecology, sexuality, and freedom in every form it can be sought, and each not only through the sole prism of authority relations, but also informed by richer and more diverse concepts. This approach does not call for an endless expansion of material production, or hold that technologies are neutral, but it also doesn't decry technology per se. Instead, it becomes familiar with and employs diverse types of technology as appropriate. It not only doesn't decry institutions per se, or political forms per se, it tries to conceive new institutions and new political forms for activism and for a new society, including new ways of meeting, new ways of decision making, new ways of coordinating, along the same lines as it already has with revitalized affinity groups and spokes structures. And it not only doesn't decry reforms per se, but struggles to define and win non-reformist reforms, attentive to people's immediate needs and bettering their lives in the here-and-now at the same time as moving toward further gains, and eventually, wholesale transformation.(7.) And of course theory will have to catch up with practice. To be fully effective, modern anarchism will have to include at least three levels: activists, people's organizations, and researchers. The problem at the moment is that anarchist intellectuals who want to get past old-fashioned, vanguardist habits-the Marxist sectarian hangover that still haunts so much of the radical intellectual world-are not quite sure what their role is supposed to be. Anarchism needs to become reflexive. But how? On one level the answer seems obvious. One should not lecture, not dictate, not even necessarily think of oneself as a teacher, but must listen, explore and discover. To tease out and make explicit the tacit logic already underlying new forms of radical practice. To put oneself at the service of activists by providing information, or exposing the interests of the dominant elite carefully hidden behind supposedly objective, authoritative discourses, rather than trying to impose a new version of the same thing. But at the same time most recognize that intellectual struggle needs to reaffirm its place. Many are beginning to point out that one of the basic weaknesses of the anarchist movement today is, with respect to the time of, say, Kropotkin or Reclus, or Herbert Read, exactly the neglecting of the symbolic, the visionary, and overlooking of the effectiveness of theory. How to move from ethnography to utopian visions-ideally, as many utopian visions as possible? It is hardly a coincidence that some of the greatest recruiters for anarchism in countries like the United States have been feminist science fiction writers like Starhawk or Ursula K. LeGuin (8.) One way this is beginning to happen is as anarchists begin to recuperate the experience of other social movements with a more developed body of theory, ideas that come from circles close to, indeed inspired by anarchism. Let's take for example the idea of participatory economy, which represents an anarchist economist vision par excellence and which supplements and rectifies anarchist economic tradition. Parecon theorists argue for the existence of not just two, but three major classes in advanced capitalism: not only a proletariat and bourgeoisie but a "coordinator class" whose role is to manage and control the labor of the working class. This is the class that includes the management hierarchy and the professional consultants and advisors central to their system of control - as lawyers, key engineers and accountants, and so on. They maintain their class position because of their relative monopolization over knowledge, skills, and connections. As a result, economists and others working in this tradition have been trying to create models of an economy which would systematically eliminate divisions between physical and intellectual labor. Now that anarchism has so clearly become the center of revolutionary creativity, proponents of such models have increasingly been, if not rallying to the flag, exactly, then at least, emphasizing the degree to which their ideas are compatible with an anarchist vision. (9..) Similar things are starting to happen with the development of anarchist political visions. Now, this is an area where classical anarchism already had a leg up over classical Marxism, which never developed a theory of political organization at all. Different schools of anarchism have often advocated very specific forms of social organization, albeit often markedly at variance with one another. Still, anarchism as a whole has tended to advance what liberals like to call 'negative freedoms,' 'freedoms from,' rather than substantive 'freedoms to.' Often it has celebrated this very commitment as evidence of anarchism's pluralism, ideological tolerance, or creativity. But as a result, there has been a reluctance to go beyond developing small-scale forms of organization, and a faith that larger, more complicated structures can be improvised later in the same spirit. There have been exceptions. Pierre Joseph Proudhon tried to come up with a total vision of how a libertarian society might operate. (10.) It's generally considered to have been a failure, but it pointed the way to more developed visions, such as the North American Social Ecologists's "libertarian municipalism". There's a lively developing, for instance, on how to balance principles of worker's control-emphasized by the Parecon folk-and direct democracy, emphasized by the Social Ecologists.(11..) Still, there are a lot of details still to be filled in: what are the anarchist's full sets of positive institutional alternatives to contemporary legislatures, courts, police, and diverse executive agencies? How to offer a political vision that encompasses legislation, implementation, adjudication, and enforcement and that shows how each would be effectively accomplished in a non-authoritarian way-not only provide long-term hope, but to inform immediate responses to today's electoral, law-making, law enforcement, and court system, and thus, many strategic choices. Obviously there could never be an anarchist party line on this, the general feeling among the small-a anarchists at least is that we'll need many concrete visions. Still, between actual social experiments within expanding self-managing communities in places like Chiapas and Argentina, and efforts by anarchist scholar/activists like the newly formed Planetary Alternatives Network or the Life After Capitalism forums to begin locating and compiling successful examples of economic and political forms, the work is beginning (12.). It is clearly a long-term process. But then, the anarchist century has only just begun. * David Graeber is an assistant professor at Yale University (USA) and a political activist. Andrej Grubacic is a historian and social critic from Yugoslavia. 1. This doesn't mean anarchists have to be against theory. It might not need High Theory, in the sense familiar today. Certainly it will not need one single, Anarchist High Theory. That would be completely inimical to its spirit. Much better, we think, something more in the spirit of anarchist decision-making processes: applied to theory, this would mean accepting the need for a diversity of high theoretical perspectives, united only by certain shared commitments and understandings. Rather than based on the need to prove others' fundamental assumptions wrong, it seeks to find particular projects on which they reinforce each other. Just because theories are incommensurable in certain respects does not mean they cannot exist or even reinforce each other, any more than the fact that individuals have unique and incommensurable views of the world means they cannot become friends, or lovers, or work on common projects. Even more than High Theory, what anarchism needs is what might be called low theory: a way of grappling with those real, immediate questions that emerge from a transformative project. 2. Fore more information about the exciting history of Peoples Global Action we suggest the book We are Everywhere: The Irresistible Rise of Global Anti-capitalism, edited by Notes from Nowhere, London: Verso 2003. See also the PGA web site: www.agp.org 3. Cf. David Graeber, « New Anarchists », New left Review 13, January - February 2002 4. See Diego Abad de Santillan, After the Revolution, New York: Greenberg Publishers 1937 5. For more information on global indymedia project go to : www.indymedia.org 6 .Cf. Jason McQuinn, "Why I am not a Primitivist", Anarchy : a journal of desire armed, printemps/été 2001.Cf. le site anarchiste www.arnarchymag.org . Cf. John Zerzan, Future Primitive & Other Essays, Autonomedia, 1994. 7. Cf. Andrej Grubacic, Towards an Another Anarchism, in : Sen, Jai, Anita Anand, Arturo Escobar and Peter Waterman, The World Social Forum: Against all Empires, New Delhi: Viveka 2004. 8. Cf. Starhawk, Webs of Power: Notes from Global Uprising, San Francisco 2002. See also : www.starhawk.org 9. Albert, Michael, Participatory Economics, Verso, 2003. See also: www.parecon.org 10. Avineri, Shlomo. The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx. London: Cambridge University Press, 1968 11 .See The Murray Bookchin Reader, edited by Janet Biehl, London: Cassell 1997. See also the web site of the Institute for Social Ecology : www.social-ecology.org 12. For more information on Life After Capitalism forums go to : http://www.zmag.org/lacsite.htm From eye at ranadasgupta.com Wed Jan 7 18:43:17 2004 From: eye at ranadasgupta.com (Rana Dasgupta) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 05:13:17 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Bush and immigration Message-ID: <200401070513.AA170000508@ranadasgupta.com> Two articles which help to lay out Bush's policies towards travel and immigration. The first, from Monday, describes the strict new checks Bush has introduced for non- European travellers to the US. The second, from Tuesday, describes his proposals for a much more liberal approach to illegal immigrants - he has basically proposed an amnesty in which they can declare themselves and will be given permits to stay and work legally. The two have in common that they both increase the amount of information that the US government has about who is within its borders. R > U.S. Begins Tracking Foreign Arrivals > > By MARK NIESSE, Associated Press Writer > > ATLANTA - Authorities began scanning fingerprints and > taking photographs of arriving foreigners Monday as > part of a new program that Homeland Security Secretary > Tom Ridge said will make borders "open to travelers > but closed to terrorists." > > > The program, aimed at letting Customs officials > instantly check an immigrant or visitor's criminal > background, targets foreigners entering the 115 U.S. > airports that handle international flights, as well as > 14 major seaports. The only exceptions will be > visitors from 28 countries — mostly European nations — > whose citizens are allowed to come to the United > States for up to 90 days without visas. > > Ridge was at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International > Airport to meet with some of the first foreign > passengers to go through the new system. > > He described the move as "part of a comprehensive > program to make sure our borders remain open to > travelers but closed to terrorists." > > "It's easy for travelers to use but hard for > terrorists to avoid," Ridge said Monday. > > In a pilot program at Hartsfield-Jackson that preceded > Monday's nationwide implementation, authorities turned > up 21 people on the FBI (news - web sites)'s criminal > watch list for such crimes as drug offenses, rape and > visa fraud, Ridge said. > > Foreigners also will be checked as they leave the > country as an extra security measure and to ensure > they complied with visa limitations. > > Some passengers said they supported the extra scrutiny > of foreign visitors. > > "I don't have any real ethical problems with it, just > the inconvenience of having to wait a little bit > longer. But it's not a big deal," said Bradley > Oakley-Brown, who was changing planes at Atlanta en > route from South Africa to Wisconsin. > > Called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status > Indicator Technology, the program will check an > estimated 24 million foreigners each year, though some > will be repeat visitors. > > Inkless fingerprints will be taken and checked > instantly against the national digital database for > criminal backgrounds and any terrorist lists. > > Homeland Security spokesman Bill Strassberger said > that once screeners become proficient, the extra > security will take only 10 to 15 seconds per person. > Foreign travelers also will continue to pass through > regular Customs points and answer questions. > > Photographs will be used to help create a database for > law enforcement. The travel data is supposed to be > securely stored and made available only to authorized > officials on a need-to-know basis. > > A similar program is to be installed at 50 land border > crossings by the end of next year, Strassberger said. > > Brazil's Foreign Ministry has requested that > Brazilians be removed from the U.S. list, and police > started fingerprinting and photographing Americans > arriving at Sao Paulo's airport last week in response > to the new U.S. regulations. > > "At first, most of the Americans were angered at > having to go through all this, but they were usually > more understanding once they learned that Brazilians > are subjected to the same treatment in the U.S.," > Brazilian (news - web sites) police spokesman Wagner > Castilho said last week. > > The U.S. system consists of a small box that digitally > scans fingerprints and a spherical computer camera. It > will gradually replace a paper-based system that > Congress ordered to be modernized following the Sept. > 11, 2001, attacks. > > > > A person whose fingerprints or photos raise questions > would not be turned away automatically. The visa > holder would be sent to secondary inspection for > further questions and checks. Officials have said > false hits on the system have been less than 0.1 > percent in trial runs. > > The system was scheduled to begin operation New Year's > Day but was delayed to avoid the busy holiday travel > period. Bush Would Give Illegal Workers Broad New Rights By ELISABETH BUMILLER WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 — President Bush will propose a sweeping overhaul of the nation's immigration laws on Wednesday that could give legal status to millions of undocumented workers in the United States, senior administration officials said Tuesday night. Under Mr. Bush's proposal, which effectively amounts to an amnesty program for illegal immigrants with jobs in the United States, an undocumented worker could apply for temporary worker status here for an unspecified number of years, with all the employee benefits, like minimum wage and due process, accorded to those legally employed. Workers who are approved would be permitted to travel freely between the United States and their home countries, the officials said, and would also be permitted to apply for a green card granting permanent residency in the United States. Administration officials said that Mr. Bush would also propose increasing the number of green cards issued each year, which is now about 140,000, but they did not provide a specific number. The administration officials, who briefed reporters in a conference call on Tuesday night, said only that Mr. Bush would ask for a "reasonable increase." Mr. Bush's proposal, one administration official said, would "match willing workers with willing employers" and would "promote compassion" by fixing what one called "a broken system." The officials declined to call it an amnesty program. Under the proposal, workers in other countries could also apply for guest worker status in the United States, provided there was no American to take the job. But the president's plans are expected to face a tough fight in Congress, where conservative Republicans have said they consider programs like the one the president is proposing nothing more than amnesty for people who have broken the law. The president's proposals were designed to appeal to Hispanic groups, a constituency that the White House is focusing on as Mr. Bush seeks re-election this year. The proposals are expected to be embraced by President Vicente Fox of Mexico, who has been lobbying for them for the past three years. Mr. Bush is to meet with Mr. Fox at an economic summit next week in Monterrey, Mexico, where immigration will be a significant part of the agenda and Mr. Bush's proposals are likely to become a major focus. Mr. Bush's proposal is closely modeled on legislation introduced last summer by Senator John McCain and Representatives Jim Kolbe and Jeff Flake, all Republicans from Arizona. The issue of illegal workers has been an important one there. "We are ecstatic that they are addressing this," Mr. Flake said in a telephone interview on Tuesday night. "We've maintained all along that you have to deal with both sides of the issue — those who want to come to the country, and those who are here now. We're very happy to see a realistic approach. We deal with it daily, and we have to have a rational policy." Mr. Bush's proposal is in some ways more generous to illegal workers than is Mr. Flake's bill. The legislation, for example, requires that a guest worker wait three years before applying for a green card. Under Mr. Bush's proposal, a worker could apply for a green card right away. Mr. Bush's proposals apply to all illegal immigrants in the United States, which officials estimate at 8 million to 14 million people. About 60 percent are thought to be Mexican. No one is certain how many undocumented workers there are among all illegal immigrants, but Mr. Fox has said that some 3.5 million of the workers are Mexican. Mr. Bush entered office with immigration reform at the top of his foreign policy agenda, and in the late summer of 2001 various guest worker proposals were under discussion by United States and Mexican officials. But the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks led to increased concerns about the safety of America's borders and derailed the negotiations. Under Mr. Bush's proposals, an undocumented worker and an employer would have to apply for the guest worker program hand in hand, with the employer serving as the sponsor for the worker. There would also be a fee to register for the program, but officials would not say how much that would be. The plan also includes incentives for workers to return to their countries, like a promise of retirement benefits there based on income earned in the United States. Critics of Mr. Bush's proposal noted that unless the White House sought, and obtained, a large increase in the number of green cards issued each year, many of the undocumented workers who apply under the president's program could face an extended wait for residency, 10 to 20 years, by some estimates. Administration officials acknowledge that the wait for a green card could take up to six years or longer, meaning that some guest workers who apply for green cards but do not receive them before their guest worker status expires would face the prospect of being forced to leave the United States. In that case, critics of the proposal said Tuesday night, workers would be better off remaining illegal and staying indefinitely in the United States, rather than revealing themselves to immigration officials when they sign up for a program that may, these critics assert, lead to their deportation. "They're asking people to sign up for a program that is more likely to ensure their departure than ensure their permanent residency," said Cecilia Muñoz, a vice president of the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy organization. Administration officials declined to say how long people could remain in the guest worker program. But Ms. Muñoz said congressional officials briefed on the program told her they were led to believe that it could be no longer than six years. Groups opposed to increased immigration also criticized the president's proposal. "It's an amnesty, no matter how much they dance around the fact," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center on Immigration Studies, a group that seeks to limit immigration. "It's legalizing illegal immigrants." Other critics say that the guest worker program could lead to the exploitation of immigrant workers. "If you are dependent on an employer filing a petition on your behalf, that employer has a tremendous club over you," one person briefed on the president's proposal said. But an administration official said that the plan would protect the rights of undocumented workers, "who now live in the shadows, and are fearful of coming out of the shadows." A number of limited guest worker programs already exist in the United States, but they are designed for skilled technology workers, who typically come from India, China and Eastern Europe. Mr. Bush will also argue, administration officials said, that his plan will make the country safer by giving the authorities a better idea of who is in the country and crossing its borders. From abirbazaz at rediffmail.com Wed Jan 7 18:15:29 2004 From: abirbazaz at rediffmail.com (abir bazaz) Date: 7 Jan 2004 12:45:29 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] URGENT CLARIFICATIONS Message-ID: <20040107124529.31063.qmail@webmail31.rediffmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040107/194b61d0/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- Sir, the required clarifications. Here is the byline which you seem to have missed: Train to Delhi: Hell Zone for Kashmiris Tales of harassed Kashmiris in Delhi-bound trains GK Special Correspondent. The GK, as you must know, is Greater Kashmir- the most widely read English newspaper in Kashmir. The report appeared on the 2nd of January since there’s been a problem with GK archives, it seemed useless to give a link for the article as the window would have opened on the GK front page of 3rd January. The web address of GK is www.greaterkashmir.com. You can ask the GK about the name of the Special Correspondent because they hadn’t given it. In any case, I am not the GK Special Correspondent. You can reach the editor at editor at greaterkashmir.com. I hope I also don’t owe you an explanation as to why it appeared on a “Pakistani reading list”. I am not to blame if Pakistani reading lists lift stories published this side of the LoC for circulation on their list. Lastly I volunteer one more clarification: Why I forwarded this piece to the reader-list? Because I have myself experienced harassment everytime I traveled by train to Jammu from Delhi or to Delhi from Jammu. This has forced me to always travel in AC coaches which I always cannot afford. So you see, Mr. Vij, I am solely motivated by economic concerns. You don’t believe me? Maybe I owe you a few other clarifications. With due respect, Abir Bazaz 8 A/2 Jogabai Extn. Zakir Nagar New Delhi-110025 INDIA >From Shivam Vij zest_india at yahoo.co.in: Why does this article not carry the link where it has ben published. The name of the reporter should also have been there since such a story would not be published sans byline. I googled for it and found it in a Pakistani reading list, with the only difference that there the report's location was not Srinagar but 'Occupied Kashmir'. Clarifictions required. Thanks Shivam Vij From iceca at culturebase.org Wed Jan 7 17:44:42 2004 From: iceca at culturebase.org (francis) Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 19:14:42 +0700 Subject: [Reader-list] Thailand New Media Art Festival 20-28 March 04, Bangkok Message-ID: <02b401c3d518$80113a90$4001a8c0@CLIENT> Thailand New Media Art Festival, Bangkok - CALL FOR PROPOSALS - http://thailand.culturebase.org/MAF04/ Date: 20-28th March Location: Bangkok, Thailand Main venue: Sinakarinwirot University (on multiple locations) and several other locations downtown Bangkok. Themes: 1. Product of Artist is Art 2. New Media art [Unrestricted] 3. Kid proof media art Deadline for submissions: 28 February 2004 ******************************************************* Introduction: ICECA Thailand, in collaboration with Sinakarinwirot University, Faculty of Fine Arts, is organizing the second New Media Art Festival in Thailand. The festival's exhibition is presented on the occasion of the renewal of ICECA's activities in Thailand and its collaboration with SWU. A series of a week long exhibition, workshops with visiting artists and film screenings will open for the public from 20 - 28th March 2004. This year ICECA attempt to install a special section for kids called 'kids proof media art' with the attempt to bridge barriers of language and culture and being artistic, communicative, interesting and appealing to a large range of audience. Other sections of the festival welcome lectures, conceptual or abstract media artworks too. Submission information: Works should contain, but are not limited to, digital works of the artist's choice. Acceptable digital formats include: -video/animation/movie: VHS, DV, VCD, mpeg, mov, avi, qt, swf, etc. -audio: .mp3 .wav .mid .aiff , audio tape, audio cd, or any of the above video formats -executable PC or Mac (for software art) -media files on CD-ROM (DVD not recommended due to compatibility issues but possible) -webpage (URLs or web pages on CD-ROM) -image: .jpg .gif .png, pdf etc. (no max. dimensions) -small/lightweight installation/ electronic sculpture etc. VERY IMPORTANT: clearly mark any postal submission "NO COMMERCIAL VALUE / Value $0.00" - if you forget, import tax will be automatically assigned and ICECA will not be able to retrieve your materials! In preparing for this exhibition, please note that ICECA can provide only equipment for exhibition of works, and is extremely limited on financial assistance in case of special hardware required. Therefore the Festival will generally only accept works which it can accommodate using available equipment (PCs computers, video projectors, sound equipment, video/web cameras, vcd/dvd/cdrom players, still cameras and alike. One of our sponsors is providing international airway transportation for selected works. In case your work/installation requires such transport please mark clearly: "support in transport required" and include detailed information about the cargo (detailed description, dimensions, value and several images of the equipment being part of the work). Many media installations require complex installation and custom hardware, in case you wish to submit a work which requires special setup please mark your proposal clearly and please include technical specs advance (in Thai or English) together with videos of exhibited works. These videos will be presented in lieu of the work itself in case the festival is unable to find the financial/technical solution to present the work itself. ICECA also requests your (the artist's) permission, to include a copy of the submitted work in ICECA's Digital New Media Art Library (already including nearly 100 international works from previous events). Submissions will be reviewed by the advisory board of SWU Faculty of Fine Arts with the help of volunteer art students. A final decision will be made by artistic director of the Festival Francis Wittenberger. The Festival reserve the right to reject works, yet a detailed note will be issues to each artist both in case of acceptance or rejection. Dear artist, We cordially invite you to participate in this second annual New Media Art Festival in Thailand and contribute to the growing media art scene in Thailand and South East Asia by submitting your works for this public exhibition. ICECA and SWU also invite you to contribute in our seminars and workshops given free of charge to interested audience about forms of media art reflecting the subject of your expertise and choice. Please keep in mind that ICECA can provide invitation letters for 'visiting artists' but is very limited in providing financial assistance. For the seminars the Festival will provide ordinary equipment, such as light, video player/recorder projector, PC, sound system, translating handouts and occasionally help with accommodations. If your proposed workshop require special purpose equipment, such as special computer interfaces, multiple projectors or extra hardware that you are unable to bring with you from your home country please describe these items in detail on your submission. We will consider how to accommodate your needs. Applications will only be accepted by E-mail, artists should submit their applications first via e-mail using attached files in the formats suggested above. After your submission is accepted we will provide you with a mailing address for sending CDROMs, videotapes etc. Please send your application together with any media files to iceca at culturebase.org. Those accepted will be notified by e-mail. Please fill in the Entry Form Entry form **************************************************************** Use this link to mail the submission form (copy and paste form into email body as text only) artist name: country: work title: year: type of work: [ ]video [ ]web [ ]electronic [ ]animation [ ]software [ ]Other - please specify: type of work - web or interactive: please mark: [ ] online Only - [ ] offline version available e-mail: project URL: short description of the work (not more than 300 words, in English) Please attach several screen shots as .jpg images short bio (not more than 300 words in English) personal URL: *Confirmation/authorization: [ ] I confirm that I hold all rights on the submitted work and agree that it can be included in the Thailand 2nd New Media Art Festival 2004 [ ] I further agree to include my work in a future ICECA Festival in Thailand [ ] I also agree that a single copy of my work will kept in ICECA media library Full name and Contact address: (optional) [ ] My work was included in Thailand New Media Art Festival 2003 For visiting artists only: [ ] I am interested to accompany my work and present it on a workshop. [ ] Please provide me with an official invitation so I can apply for travelling funds in my home country. * remarks ********************************** Deadline 20 February 2003. ********************************** notes: * ICECA has moved its centre of activity to Thailand's Capital - Bangkok and has nothing to do with the pretentious "Supernatural Media Festival" which is organized by those who forced ICECA to quit its non-profit activity in the northern city Chiang-Mai. This therefore, and no other is the only authentic call for proposals for "Thailand New Media Art Festival 2004 - Bangkok" * a single e-mail attachment should not exceed 1 Mb; With Best wishes for the New Year, Francis Wittenberger Founder ICECA | Thailand New Media Art Festival - 2004 ***************************************** Thailand New Media Art Festival - CALL FOR PROPOSALS ONLINE http://thailand.culturebase.org/MAF04/Entry_form.htm http://culturebase.org/home/thailand/MAF04/submissions.htm Feel free to forward this message -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040107/745837f6/attachment.html From mklayman at leonardo.info Wed Jan 7 22:09:33 2004 From: mklayman at leonardo.info (Melinda Klayman) Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 08:39:33 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] LEONARDO Call For Papers: 7th Workshop on Space and the Arts Message-ID: *Apologies for cross-posting* LEONARDO Call For Papers: 7th Workshop on Space and the Arts Leonardo is pleased to announce its co-sponsorship of the 7th workshop on space and the arts. Deadline for submission of proposals is 29 February 2004. Space: Science, Technology and the Arts (7th Workshop on Space and the Arts) 18-21 May 2004 European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA-ESTEC) Noordwijk, The Netherlands First Announcement and Call for Papers ³Space: Science, Technology and the Arts² is the theme of the 7th workshop on space and the arts which is being co-organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) and its Commission VI, Leonardo/OLATS and the OURS Foundation. It is scheduled to be held at ESTEC - ESA¹s European Space Research & Technology Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands from 18-21 May 2004. Since the birth of space exploration, artists and space scientists have inspired each other in the development of humanity¹s space programs, regularly exchanging information, ideas and visions. Artists working with space subjects and themes invariably become heavily involved in both the physics and the technologies of space ­ either as a muse, a metaphor, a subject or as a tool necessary for the development of their artistic creations. Artists, wanting to explore space on their own artistic terms, often must become very knowledgeable about the utilization of space technologies, materials, mechanisms and procedures in order to develop feasible art works and projects as such projects are subject to the same conditions and regulations governing scientific experiments designed for space. Such activities have broadened the idea of space exploration within the space community while making space exploration understandable in other ways and accessible by larger public. Now that the International Space Station (ISS) is nearing completion, the ISS partners have begun to investigate how this orbital facility can be utilized, not only as a platform for scientific experimentation, but also as a platform for cultural exploration and expression. This creates a new opportunity and challenge for artists and other cultural professionals to work closely together with space scientists, engineers, technologists and administrators in developing new concepts, projects and strategies. The ³Space: Science, Technology and the Arts² workshop promises to be an important and pivotal event as it provides a unique opportunity for professionals in the space and the arts communities to meet, discuss and exchange new ideas related to the cultural exploration of space. Presentations are being solicited from space scientists, engineers, technologists, artists, writers, journalists, art critics, curators and philosophers who have a developed interest in the aims and theme of the workshop. Objectives The Workshop on ³Space: Science, Technology and the Arts² aims to: · provide a platform where new ideas and experiments relating to the interaction of space science, technology and the arts can be exposed and debated · provide an environment where people, especially artists and other ³culture professionals,² together with space scientists and engineers can exchange ideas and projects about space from the perspective of their unique backgrounds, education and experiences · provide a meeting place where new space art and technology projects can emerge and new teams and partnerships can be built · nurture a domain of space activities that is becoming more recognized in both the space community and in the mainstream art world · disseminate the ideas and projects by publicizing the results of the event Submission of Abstracts Participation in the workshop will be limited to a maximum of 40 persons, and participants will be selected upon review of abstracts of presentations proposed for the workshop. Abstracts, limited to one A4 page, should be submitted via the online form available at http://www.congrex.nl/04c20/ The abstract should be in English and include: · Workshop name · Title of presentation · Name and affiliation of authors · Full contact details of presenting author, including postal and e-mail addresses, phone and fax The deadline for abstract submission is 29 February 2004. Following acceptance a complete paper will be required and the author(s) will be invited to register for the Workshop. Timetable 29 February 2004 - Deadline for abstracts 15 March 2004 - Notification of acceptance 20 April 2004 - Preliminary program 7 May 2004 - Deadline for papers 18-21 May 2004 - Workshop Workshop Topics Presentations can be about any aspect or issue related to ³Space: Science, Technology and the Arts.² Since the scope of the Workshop is large, potential authors might like to consider submitting abstracts for papers addressing such topics as: · the impact of space technologies on the arts and vice-versa · the transfer of space technologies to art and design · the role and involvement of space bodies in the arts · designing art for the space environment - the requirements, the limitations · synergies between the arts and space communities · the interaction between space, arts and the public · space and the new media arts · using the arts to explore space · the arts in orbit ­ use of the ISS for artistic and cultural expression Authors need not, of course, limit themselves to these topics. Organization The Workshop will begin with a Welcome Event on Tuesday evening 18 May 2004. The three-day formal workshop will take place in the Einstein Room of the main ESTEC building on 19-21 May 2004 and will consist of oral presentations from both invited and contributing speakers. There will be no charge for participation in the workshop. Travel and accommodation expenses are the responsibility of each participant. Hotel Accommodation A reasonably priced hotel with half-pension has been reserved in the nearby town of Noordwijk and booking information will be sent to all participants that are accepted. Transportation to and from the hotel and ESTEC will be provided. Venue Postal address: European Space & Technology Centre P.O. Box 299 2200 AG Noordwijk (The Netherlands) Visiting address: European Space & Technology Centre Keplerlaan 1 2201 AZ Noordwijk (The Netherlands) General telephone number: Phone: +31 71 5656565 Fax: +31 71 5656040 Committees Programme Committee: Annick Bureaud (Leonardo/OLATS) Roger Malina (International Academy of Astronautics) David Raitt (ESA) Arthur Woods (OURS Foundation) Advisory Committee : · MIR Consortium (Microgravity Interdisciplinary Research Consortium) · Nicola Triscott, Rob La Frenais (The Arts Catalyst, London, England) · Roger Malina, Annick Bureaud (Leonardo: Leonardo/OLATS Observatory for the Arts and the Techno-Sciences, Paris, France, and Leonardo/ISAST International Society for the Arts, Sciences & Technology, USA) · Marko Peljhan (Projekt Atol, Ljubljana, Slovenia) · Alex Adriaansens, Anne Nigten (V2_Organisation, Rotterdam, Netherlands) · Masha Chuikova (Multimedia Complex of Actual Arts, Moscow, Russia) · Jean-Luc Soret (Paris, France) · Kara Szathmary, (International Association of Astronomical Artists, Quebec, Canada) · Patrick Gyger, (Maison D¹Ailleurs, Yverdon, Switzerland) Frank Pietronigro (Zero Gravity Art Consortium, San Francisco, USA) Contact Any questions concerning the ³Space: Technology and the Arts² workshop should be sent to: workshop2004 at arsastronautica.com Background Under the title "Rencontres du 13 avril," a series of small, one-day Workshops on Space and the Arts was co-organized by Leonardo/OLATS, the OURS Foundation and the International Academy for Astronautics between the years 1997 and 2002. Held in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburb near Paris, these workshops attracted leading space scientists, engineers and artists on specific themes chosen to generate exchanges between artists and scientists concerning the cultural impact of space activities. The different topics of the past six workshops have been: 1997 April 13th - "The Artists as Space Explorers" 1998 March 25th - "Space Art / Earth Art" 1999 March 21st - "Cultural Perspectives on Space" 2000 March 26th - "Life in Space" 2001 March 25th - "Outer Space - Cyber Space" 2002 March 17th - "The Collaborative Process in Space Art" The documentation about each past workshop is online on the Leonardo/OLATS web site at http://www.olats.org In order to provide a wider forum for the interaction of the scientific and technical community with artists, the 7th Workshop on Space and the Arts is being held at the European Space Agency¹s large R&D establishment, ESTEC, in The Netherlands. Links http://www.esa.int http://www.estec.esa.nl http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences http://www.iaanet.org http://www.olats.org http://www.leonardo.info http://www.ours.ch http://www.arsastronautica.com * * * Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology (ISAST) serves the international arts community by promoting and documenting work at the intersection of the arts, sciences, and technology, and by encouraging and stimulating collaboration between artists, scientists, and technologists. For further information, go to www.leonardo.info _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From Boehne4freewaves at aol.com Fri Jan 9 12:09:31 2004 From: Boehne4freewaves at aol.com (Boehne4freewaves at aol.com) Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 01:39:31 EST Subject: [Reader-list] LA FREEWAVES Open Call -- 9th Experimental MEDIA ARTS Festival Message-ID: <155.2b0bf4f6.2d2fa6a3@aol.com> ** please post/list/forward ** OPEN CALL How Can YOU Resist?: LA Freewaves 9th Celebration of Experimental Media Arts Postmark Deadline: February 15, 2004. The month-long showcase will present experimental media art from around the world in culturally distinct downtown Los Angeles venues in November 2004. Media art works include experimental video and film (narrative, documentary, art, animation, etc.), CD-ROMs, DVDs, websites, multimedia performances and installations, video billboards, youth media, community media activities and others. Works from the festival will also appear on public television, cable stations and video-streamed on the Internet. Competitive selection process will be conducted by a group of international and local curators with diverse specialties and backgrounds. Notification of acceptance is in July 2004. Artist payments will be $100-300 for selected works. See www.freewaves.org for more information. How to Enter: -Work must be completed since January 1, 2001. -Entries must be postmarked to LAF by February 15, 2004. -Entries must include a $15 entry fee for US applicants. Entry fee waived for members (new membership is $25) and international artists residing outside the US. Entry fee scholarships available by request for students and others with financial need. For fee waiver, please write a brief explanation of need to request fee scholarship and attach it to the entry form. -Include a completed entry form (see below or website at www.freewaves.org). -Label entries with title, artist's name, length, date of work and format. -Include a resume or bio. -For websites, indicate URL address on application form. -For installation proposals, include additional description and diagrams/images. -Include self-addressed stamped envelope for return of work, if you are in USA. ----------------- Entry Form How Can YOU Resist?: LA Freewaves 9th Celebration of Experimental Media Arts (Please type or print legibly and/or download a PDF file from www.freewaves.org lower front page) Artist Name: Street Address: City, State and Zip Code: Country: Email Address: Phone Number: --------------------------------------- Title of Entry 1: Description of Work/Date of Work: Format: Running Time: ________ --------------------------------------- Title of Entry 2: Description of Work/Date of Work: Format: Running Time: ________ --------------------------------------- Title of Entry 3: Description of Work/Date of Work: Format: Running Time: ________ --------------------------------------- For format, indicate: -DVD -Mini DV -VHS -CD-ROM -Website (Indicate URL) -Multimedia Performance (explain) -Silent Video Billboard -Other (explain) Do you agree to include work/streaming video on our website if work is selected? Yes No (See 2002 festival website at www.freewaves.org/festival_2002/index.html as an example.) Entry Type: ___Standard ($15) or ___Member (Entry fee free with $25 membership.) or __ International (fee waived) With membership, you support our programs so that we can continue to promote and exhibit innovative new media art during this difficult time. LA Freewaves is a nonprofit organization which survives on grants and donations. Members will receive periodic e-newsletters with resource information for media artist, a festival poster and free entry to opening. __ No, I don't want to enter the festival, but sign me up for membership -- LA Freewaves rocks!! (Please indicate name, physical address and email address on form above for membership.) Make check or money order payable to LA Freewaves. Enclose resume/bio and SASE. For questions and entries, contact Anne Bray at anne at freewaves.org or LA Freewaves 2151 Lake Shore Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90039 USA tele (323) 664-1510 www.freewaves.org From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Fri Jan 9 18:33:26 2004 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Shivam=20Vij?=) Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 13:03:26 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Join us: In memory of Satyendra Dubey Message-ID: <20040109130326.13910.qmail@web8207.mail.in.yahoo.com> People march against corruption Hundreds of people from all cross sections of society will march on the roads of Delhi to pay homage to Satyendra Kumar Dubey, who was murdered in Gaya last month after he exposed corruption in the working of National Highway Authority of India. On this Saturday 10th January, students, teachers, professors, professionals, advocates, IIT alumni, IIM alumni, people from resettlement colonies will come together to undertake a peace march to express their anguish at the murder of Dubey and also to demand from the government that suitable steps be taken to curb the menace of corruption and associated criminalisation. Aruna Roy and Sandeep Pandey, both Magasaysay award winners, would participate in the march. It would also be attended by senior journalists like Prabhash Joshi, Bharat Dogra and Ram Bahadur Rai. Satyendra Dubey was working as a Project Director on the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Project. He would bring several cases of corruption to his superiors' attention. When no action was taken, he finally wrote a confidential letter to the Prime Minister highlighting several instances of the "loot of public money" and "poor implementation" in the Project and urged action. The letter was forwarded down the bureaucratic chain. Dubeyji started receiving numerous threats. A chain of events, currently being investigated by the CBI, led to Dubeyji's murder on the night of November 27th, 2003 in Gaya. Dubeyji's death is being seen as a wake-up call for all Indians. People from all sections of society are coming together on this Saturday to express their deep anguish at the steep rise in corruption. There are several such Dubeyjis who have laid down their lives in the past and who would continue to be murdered, if we do not unite and make a stand against corruption. It would be a Silent March which will start at 2:00 PM on Saturday, 10th Jan from the Gandhi Peace Foundation on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg (ITO) and end at Rajghat. It will be followed by prayers, songs and talks by eminent citizens. An appeal is being made to all citizens to join this peace march in large numbers. Arvind Kejriwal IIT Kharagpur , B Tech (Hons) 1989 Ph 011-55254077 parivartan1000 at rediffmail.com ===== Shivam Vij O-9 Rudra South St. Stephen's College University Enclave, Delhi 7 shivamvij at hotmail.com 98684 31703 ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Mobile: Download the latest polyphonic ringtones. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com From benjamin at typedown.com Sat Jan 10 01:14:36 2004 From: benjamin at typedown.com (Benjamin Fischer) Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2004 20:44:36 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] 17. Stuttgart Filmwinter - Festival for Expanded Media: Warm Up Message-ID: df17ffea42701ff5fce94d991303cadf_MID37_t139 English version see below Das Warm Up-Programm Festival 15.-18.01.2004 Warm Up 9.-14.01.2004 Ausstellung im Ex-IKEA 13.-18.01.2004 http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=699221bb19f49df3a6ba Der Warm Up zum Stuttgarter Filmwinter hat begonnen: Ab dem 9. Januar können die nominierten Internetprojekte für den Wettbewerb Neue Medien auf den Websites www.filmwinter.de und www.dasding.de besucht werden. Die Besucher entscheiden mit ihrer Stimme über den DASDING-Publikumspreis im Bereich Neue Medien/Internet in Höhe von 1.000 Euro. Zu sehen sind künstlerische internationale Webprojekte. *** Ebenfalls am 9. Januar um 19:00 Uhr eröffnet die erste Ausstellung des Festivals mit Arbeiten der englischen Künstlerin Lenka Clayton in der Oberwelt (Reinsburgstr. 93). Im Zentrum der Ausstellung von Lenka Clayton steht ihr Dokumentarfilm „Quaeda Quality Question Quickly Quickly Quiet", in dem sie alle 4100 Wörter der Video-Aufzeichnung von George W. Bushs berühmter „Achse des Bösen"-Rede minutiös zusammenfügt. *** Ein Tag später, am 10. Januar um 19:00 Uhr, eröffnet die Ausstellung „Lyric" des kanadischen Videokünstlers Benjamin Nemerofsky im Schapp (Schlossstr. 55). Die Videoinstallation „Lyric" vereint eintausend Liebeslieder und setzt Bruchstücke davon zu einem 110-minütigen „Marathon-Song" zusammen, der wie wie eine Art Kanon auf fünf Monitoren präsentiert wird. Nemerofsky präsentiert außerdem im Rahmen des Festival eine Auswahl seiner Videos. (16.01., 22:00, Filmhaus, Saal 2) *** Am 13. Januar beginnt um 19 Uhr die Ausstellung mit den ausgewählten Medieninstallationen des Wettbewerbs Neue Medien im Ex-IKEA (Kronenstr. 36). Zu sehen sind zwölf Installationen internationaler Medienkünstler. Das Ex-IKEA fungiert ebenfalls als Workshop-Raum und Internet-Café. *** Einen Tag vor Festivalbeginn präsentiert die Galerie GEDOK (Hölderlinstr. 17) die Ausstellung „Day 0623" der mexikanischen Videokünstlerin Ximena Cuevas (14.01., 19:00 Uhr). Cuevas greift zu radikalen Methoden der Inszenierung und Übertreibung, um die Bedeutung des Dokumentarischen neu zu definieren. Im Zentrum ihrer Arbeit steht die leidenschaftliche Auseinandersetzung mit Mexico City und den alltäglichen Begebenheiten dieser megalomanischen Stadt. Das komplette Programm des Festivals und alle relevanten Informationen (Eintrittspreise, Vorbestellungen etc.) befinden sich auf der Filmwinter-Website www.filmwinter.de Wand 5 e.V. im Filmhaus Stuttgart, Friedrichstr. 23 A, 70174 Stuttgart T 0711-99 33 98-0, F 0711-99 33 98-10, wanda at wand5.de, www.wand5.de English version: The Warm Up-programme Festival, January 15-18, 2004 Warm Up, January 9-14.0, 2004 Exhibition in the former IKEA-Building, January 13-18, 2004 http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=87420049d1d63072e7ed The Warm Up of the 17th Stuttgart Filmwinter has begun: From 9th of January on the nominated internet projects of the New Media competition can be visited on www.filmwinter.de or www.dasding.de. The visitors decide with their vote which project receives the DASDING audience award in the field of Internet amounting 1.000 Euros. The main stress of the selected websites lies on experimental and artistic production in the net. *** Also on Friday, January 9 at 7 p.m., the exhibition of the English artist Lenka Clayton opens the Oberwelt gallery (Reinsburgstr. 93). The centre of Lenka Clayton's exhibition is her documentary film „Quaeda Quality Question Quickly Quickly Quiet", in which the artist has re-arranged the video recording of all 4100 words of George W. Bush's famous „axis of evil" speech in meticulously precise manner: in alphabetical order. *** One day later, on Saturday, January 10 at 7 p.m., the exhibition „Lyric" by the Canadian video artists Benjamin Nemerofsky opens at Schapp (Schlossstr. 55). This piece of work comprises of 1000 love songs, which are arranged in fragmented parts to form a 110 minute long „marathon song", presented like a canon on five monitors. Additionally Nemerofsky will show his single channel video works in the context of the Filmwinter festival (Januar 16, 10 p.m., Filmhaus Stuttgart, Saal 2, Friedrichstr. 23 A). *** On Thursday, January 13 at 7 p.m., the exhibition of the nominated media installations of the New Media competition starts in the Ex-IKEA. Twelve media-based installations by international media artists will be presented. The former IKEA-building functions also as workshop space and internet café. *** One day before the festival's opening the GEDOK gallery features the exhibition „Day 0623" by the Mexican video artist Ximena Cuevas (Wednesday, January 14, 7 p.m.). Cuevas turns to radical means of staging and exaggeration, to re-define the meaning of documentary. In the centre of her work is the passionate occupation with Mexico City and the everyday events of this megalomanic city. You can find the complete festival programme and all relevant information (including ticket prizes, reservation possibilities) on the Filmwinter's website http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=c2e21f0e3ad7a201ce52 Wand 5 e.V. im Filmhaus Stuttgart, Friedrichstr. 23 A, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany T +49-711-99 33 98-0, F +49-711-99 33 98-10, wanda at wand5.de, www.wand5.de -- Benjamin Fischer | benjamin[at]typedown.com | http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=6e297df9d4f233429f2c From secretariat at pukar.org.in Sat Jan 10 11:27:45 2004 From: secretariat at pukar.org.in (PUKAR) Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 11:27:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Special programme: Sunday, 11 January 2004 Message-ID: Dear Friends, You are all invited to the special session at the PUKAR Winter Institute this Sunday (tomorrow) January 11, 2004. Prof. Michel Misse of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will talk on "Urban Violence in Rio" at 5:30 p.m. This talk will be preceded by a conversation with Dr. Narendra Jadhav, economist and eminent Marathi writer at 4:30 p.m. This is part of our PUKAR Winter Institute concluding session. We do hope you join us. Venue: Auditorium National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Opposite Prince of Wales Museum Kala Ghoda Mumbai The NGMA can be reached through Churchgate on the Western Railway or CST (formerly known as VT) on the Central Railway. From either railway station, you will have to take a bus or taxi to the NGMA. _____ PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research) Mumbai. E-Mail Phone +91 (022) 2207 7779, +91 98204 04010 Web Site http://www.pukar.org.in _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From l_murthy at yahoo.com Sun Jan 11 18:21:17 2004 From: l_murthy at yahoo.com (Laxmi Murthy) Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2004 04:51:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] IFJ Journalism For Tolerance Prize - Entries Invited Message-ID: <20040111125117.10860.qmail@web40610.mail.yahoo.com> IFJ Journalism For Tolerance Prize For Excellence in Journalism Combating Racism and Discrimination Entries Close 27 February 2004 The IFJ Journalism for Tolerance Prize is about promoting tolerance, combating racism and discrimination and contributing to an understanding of cultural, religious and ethnic differences. The Prize is an annual competition among journalists from all sectors of media with a simple objective: to promote better understanding among journalists from all communities of the importance of tolerance and defence of human rights, particularly when it comes to reporting on minorities. The Prize rewards individuals and their work, promoting benchmarks on how to tackle discrimination in whatever form it comes - whether on the basis of language, religion or belief, or ethnic origin. The Prize promotes editorial independence, high standards of professionalism and journalists' ethics, and diversity in media. The Prize targets a number of key regions where coverage of minority affairs is often fraught with difficulties and tension. The Journalism for Tolerance Prize, which is supported by the European Union, is driven by values of journalism and is organised by journalists themselves. The Journalism for Tolerance Prize is awarded in five regions: Latin America; Central and Western Africa; Eastern and Southern Africa; South Asia and South East Asia In each region, the Prize will be awarded for outstanding reporting on actions to combat racism and discrimination. Each region will have a total pool of Euro 3,000 to award to the winners. Prizes may be awarded for different categories of media including print/on-line (including photography), radio and television. Winners and finalists will also receive a certificate of recognition. The winners and finalists will be invited to attend a prize giving ceremony and forum in their region in mid 2004. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) The IFJ is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation that promotes co-ordinated international action to defend press freedom and social justice through the development of strong, free and independent trade unions of journalists. The IFJ mandate covers both professional and industrial interests of journalists. The IFJ administers other prizes including the Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism. PLEASE NOTE: * Entry forms are available from the IFJ Prize Co-ordinator, journalists' organisations in each of the regions or online -http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2120&Language=EN * Entry is free and will close on 27 FEBRUARY 2004 * Open to all media including television, radio, photography and print/on-line * Entries for South Asia will be accepted in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Sinhala and Nepali. * Entries must have been published/broadcast between 1 JAN 2003 and 31 DEC 2003 For more information, entry forms or information about the prize including previous winners visit: http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Issue=TOLERANCE&Language=EN Or contact: Laxmi Murthy +91-9818383669, E.mail: ifjsouthasia at hotmail.com --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040111/9e669bf5/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Tue Jan 13 17:07:15 2004 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Shivam=20Vij?=) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 11:37:15 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Nissim Ezekiel passes away Message-ID: <20040113113715.15755.qmail@web8204.mail.in.yahoo.com> Mourning the poet who mused in night of scorpion Monday, January 12, 2004 EXPRESS FEATURES SERVICE, Mumbai http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=39066 They came in, though not in impressive numbers, to send off a literary legend. A patriarch who was more loved than feared. A teacher who would make his every lecture insightful, every remark valuable. When the literary world unabashedly worshipped cacophonous cronyism, he created a culture of conversation. The colossus departed quietly. Nissim Ezekiel, India’s most famous Anglo-English poet, who passed away on Friday evening, was laid to rest at Jewish Cemetery, Worli on Sunday. Friends and family members, many of them sporting Jewish skull caps, bid adieu to Ezekiel, the czar of poetry culture in Mumbai. Even as his son Elkana turned away photographers (perhaps he carries a grudge against the press for having criticised Ezekiel’s family after the poet fell ill with Alzheimer’s in 1998), Ezekiel’s last rites were performed with great solemnity. Wrapped in unsewn, scent-daubed shroud, the once livewire Ezekiel lay calm on a bench even as visitors sprinkled his body with soil from Jerusalem, as if connecting the departed soul with his religion’s holiest city. Ariel Ezra, a short, middle-aged priest from Jewish Synagogue at Agripada, joined in by some co-religionists, sent a prayer in Hebrew. Malti, the ayah who nursed Ezekiel through his six terrible years at Dr Dias’ Bandra clinic, sobbed: ‘‘He was like my father.’’ Strangely, except for two poets (Adil Jussawala and Ranjit Hoskote), the rest of the Mumbai intelligentsia gave Ezekiel’s funeral a miss. His sister Asha Bhende, daughter Kalpana (another daughter Kavita is away in Canada), niece Geeta and nephew Nandu were among those who attended the funeral. ‘‘He was my fondest uncle. I remember attending his poetry readings. We were proud of him,’’ reminisced Geeta, who lives in Washington DC. ___ ‘Death is a relief for Nissim’ Express News Service Sunday, January 11, 2004 http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=39006 I have made my commitments now This is one: to stay where I am As others choose to give themselves In some remote place My backward place is where I am ‘‘I was dreading this day. Ever since he was diagnosed with the disease. It’s like losing a parent.’’ Author and poet R Raj Rao speaks in whispers. That’s all his grief allows him as the news of his ‘favourite teacher’ Nissim Ezekiel’s death sinks in. Poet and literary icon, Ezekiel, 79, passed away in Mumbai on Friday evening after living with Alzheimer’s disease for six years. And Rao, who wrote Ezekiel’s biography, Nissim Ezekiel: The Authorised Biography, in 2000 can’t believe he has another loss to cope with. ‘‘First it was Riyadh Wadia and now it’s Ezekiel,’’ he says, his voice tapering away. ‘‘Personally, I think it is a relief for Nissim. He suffered for a long time.’’ Ezekiel was born in Bombay in 1924. He was educated at Wilson College, Bombay and Birkbeck College, London. He was a Reader in American Literature at the University of Bombay and was a Visiting Professor at Leeds University in 1964. He edited the journal PEN for many years and was an inspiration to many poets and writers. ‘‘For a lot of us, especially during our formative years, Nissim was an iconic figure,’’ writer Shobhaa De recollects. ‘‘He always made time for budding writers and exposed them to new forms and styles of writing.’’ Nandu Bhende, musician and Ezekiel’s nephew, remembers him as ‘‘this strange uncle’’. ‘‘He inspired us to believe in what we wanted to do and go out and do it.’’ ___ Forever the alien outsider Nissim Ezekiel stayed true to his contradictions, never mind the anthologists By R. Raj Rao The Indian Express Monday, January 12, 2004 http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=39030 He was slighted by a teacher at school who once said sarcastically, “Listen everybody, we have a poet in class.” At that moment it came to him: he would make poetry his calling, regardless of what the world thought. His life, from that day onward, was devoted to the Muse. For Nissim Ezekiel, born in Bombay on December 16, 1924, to Bene-Israel Jewish parents, poetry was not just a hobby or pastime. It was a vocation. As literary historian Bruce King says, others wrote poems, Nissim wrote poetry. >From the beginning, he was the alien outsider. The freedom struggle was at its peak during his teenage years. Yet, unlike the intelligentsia of his day, he wasn’t drawn to Gandhi but to the more maverick M.N. Roy. He took Roy’s Marxist teachings so seriously that at one stage he actually left home to live in a slum. It wasn’t Indian poets like Tagore or Aurobindo that he regarded as literary gurus, but poets of the English canon such as T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, Ezra Pound. And the French poet Rilke. What he learnt from these Masters was that poetry must be used as a means of self improvement, it must use language as elegantly and precisely as it could. Was form more important or content? Nissim could never really resolve the question. To anyone who asked, he’d explain that content could never be at the expense of form — if it wasn’t for form, how was a poem different from a piece of journalism. Yet his own poetry was the poetry of statement. A poem did not seem profound enough to him unless it performed a moral function. This is what brought him discredit in the ’80s and ’90s. Anthologists began to compare him to Ramanujan and Kolatkar, both of whom displayed a marked preference for the image, and found him wanting. Their verdict was that while Ramanujan and Kolatkar were great poets, Nissim was merely tolerable. He was too much of the orthodox Jew to be able to take on the role of poet. But, clearly, there was a misunderstanding here. For Nissim, as for any mature poet, form and content, image and statement, were two sides of the same coin. It was simplistic to separate them. Besides, by stressing on poetry’s moral purpose, he was only demonstrating that human welfare was important to him. Art, for him, could never exist for its own sake. It had to contribute to human betterment. This, surely, is one of the yardsticks of great literature. It is little wonder, then, that Nissim gave up other, more lucrative jobs in order to become a university teacher. For the same reason, he made up his mind to settle down in India, rather than the West. Unsatisfied still, he became an activist for the cause of poetry. He devoted his most productive years to gen-next poets, whom he indefatigably advised and nurtured. He felt that unless this was done, poetry could never flourish, given the pedestrian and prosaic times in which we live. To those who dismiss Nissim as an orthodox Jew preoccupied with sin and redemption, one has only to provide an inventory of the things he did. He was the able seaman who laboured on a cargo ship to earn his passage from England to India. He was the junkie who took LSD and used poetry as a pretext for his addiction. He was the debauched heterosexual lover. And so on. Poetry thrives on conflict. Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought. It isn’t a good idea for a poet to aim at nirvana, even if his verse gives the impression that he does. Nissim understood this only too well. One half of him was Plato, the other Aristotle. If there was a contradiction somewhere, he was prepared to live with it, even if the world called him inconsistent. (R. Raj Rao is the author of ‘Nissim Ezekiel: The Authorized Biography’) ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Mobile: Download the latest polyphonic ringtones. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com From jcm at ata.org.pe Wed Jan 14 00:04:46 2004 From: jcm at ata.org.pe (Jose-Carlos Mariategui) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 13:34:46 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Sixth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium (La Habana, Cuba) Message-ID: Sixth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium The Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, with the support of the Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana (the City Historian), HIVOS, ENET / ETECSA Cubasí Portal, and the collaboration of the Union of Cuban Artists and Writers (UNEAC), the Cuban Institute of Art and Cinema (ICAIC) and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Fine Arts Museum), announces the VI Salón y Coloquio Internacional de Arte Digital (Sixth International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium) with the purpose of promoting artistic and cultural values created with new technologies. The Art Exhibit, which will open on June 21, 2004, will once again show the current work in this field and favor exchange and reflection among creators and specialists engaged in these new forms of _expression. The event covers two areas; the National Art Exhibit, of a competitive nature, and a non-competitive On-Line International Art Exhibit, where works by artists from other countries will be shown. ON-LINE INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBIT The Centro Pablo calls on digital artists from foreign countries to participate in the On-Line International Art Exhibit that will be held at the same time of the National Art Exhibit. Various artistic views within this expressive modality will be brought together, thus facilitating debate and considerations on their languages and poetics. Two-dimensional, interactive and audiovisual digital works will participate in the International Art Exhibit with Internet as their only support. These works may be found at the Sixth Digital Art Exhibit Portal, developed by the Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau and the ENET / ETECSA Cubasí Portal. The International Art Exhibit will also include a Video Section that will be shown in the Centro Pablo, the Office of the City Historian, ICAIC and the National Fine Arts Museum. All the works received before April 1st, 2004, chosen by the admission jury, may participate. Artists of chosen works will be notified before April 15, 2004. On-line works: two-dimensional, interactive, and audiovisual Each participant may send up to three works using the form appearing in: www.centropablo.cult.cu/form/formularioonline.htm Artists participating in Internet categories (art and communication, netart, webart, network, software art, video, animation, computer graphic) should notify the links where their works are located in Internet. Video Section This category covers video and digital animation. Artists sending their works for the Video Section should fill the form in: www.centropablo.cult.cu/form/formulariovideo.htm and send their works by postal mail to: Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau Calle de la Muralla No. 63 entre Oficios e Inquisidor, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba Each participant may submit up to three works in the following supports and formats: VHS (NTSC or PAL), DVD (Zone 1 or Multizone), MiniDV (NTSC). The Art Exhibit cannot return the works submitted for consideration and requests participating artists to donate them for future non-profit exhibits and showings. INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM Digital Art: Languages and Poetics An International Colloquium will be held on June 22-24 to discuss the scope and limitations of these new forms of artistic creation. Discussion will be based on the following topics: Challenges and Techniques of Digital Art Digital Art, Tradition and Originality New Languages, New Subjects? Papers should be sent before May 1st, 2004 to the Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, using the form appearing in: www.centropablo.cult.cu/form/formulariocoloquio.htm A US$50 fee is required from all participants in the International Colloquium. Participants from abroad will pay their inscription fee to the International Digital Art Colloquium at the Centro when the event begins. Travel Arrangements Artists, critics, professors, journalists, students and specialists from other countries interested in taking part on the 6th International Digital Art Exhibit and Colloquium may make their arrangements through: HAVANATUR Travel Agency Tel.: (537) 203-9772 and 204-2054 Fax: (537) 204-2877 and 204-6037 e-mail: roman at cimex.com.cu Or directly at Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau Calle de la Muralla No. 63 entre Oficios e Inquisidor, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de La Habana, CubaTele-fax: (537) 866-6585 / 861-6251 E-mail: centropablo at cubarte.cult.cu For more information, please visit the websites: www.artedigitalcuba.cult.cu / www.centropablo.cult.cu / www.centropablonoticias.cult.cu From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Thu Jan 15 13:49:10 2004 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Shivam=20Vij?=) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 08:19:10 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] Rukun Advani on La Martiniere Message-ID: <20040115081910.84823.qmail@web8203.mail.in.yahoo.com> Here is an extract from the essay "Novelists in Residence" (Residence is Stephanian for hostel) by Rukun Advani, published in the book "The Fiction of St. Stephen's" which discusses the viability of a 'Stephanian School of Writing': "Allan Sealy and Amitav Ghosh are traceable to St. Stephen's much less easily and much more obscurely than Tharoor and Chatterjee. Of Sealy it might be said that the extraordinary richness of his language and the Baroque extravagance of "Trotter-nama" draw in some ways from the variety and plurality of life-styles that were available at St. Stephen's during his time. But Sealy's origins, as far as institutions go, may lie equally in one of the vicious public schools where he was a student: La Martiniere College in Lucknow. which is Baroque and extravagant in its architectural splendour, and bizarre in less attractive ways as an academic establishment. Sealy's novel in fact uses La Martiniere as a locale (as does "Beethoven Among the Cows": for I too was a prisoner of the same institution before I was saved by the grace of St. Stephen's), though perhaps Sealy's distinguished focus upon it was largely enabled by his escape from La Martiniere and into the more intellectually formative environment of St. Stephen's College." When i read this, i had a feeling of deja vu! Shivam Vij (English I) O9 Rudra South St. Stephen's College University Enclave Delhi 110007 shivamvij at ststephens.edu 0 98684 31703 ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Mobile: Download the latest polyphonic ringtones. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com From zest_india at yahoo.co.in Thu Jan 15 13:56:32 2004 From: zest_india at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Shivam=20Vij?=) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2004 08:26:32 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] The Hoot - January 2004 Message-ID: <20040115082632.38323.qmail@web8202.mail.in.yahoo.com> The Hoot - January 2004 www.thehoot.org Hello and welcome to 2004, the big election year in India when www.TheHoot.org will continue to bring you in-depth coverage of issues that plague the media and offer riffs and reflections on what is in the news and what ought to be. On The Hoot you will find stories that appear nowhere else. We cover what goes on behind the scenes in that one industry that defines how you see the world around you. Updated every Monday, The Hoot brings you reports from all parts of the sub-continent and further afield. The more the media matters, the more we must track what it does. REGIONAL MEDIA Marathi newspapers wage a price war While Lokmat and Sakal first played the price game at Sangli, Sakal has reduced price recently in Kolhapur and Lokmat may soon follow the same strategy. By Prabhakar Kulkarni in Kohlapur. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166194Hoot103937%20AM1017&pn=1 Aakash Channel awaits its comeuppance The TV channel which was one of the major reasons for Ajit Jogi’s downfall is set to face uncertain times as pressure builds up for a takeover by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s men. By a correspondent in Raipur. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web203151127222Hoot83456%20AM1009&pn=1 MEDIA WATCH The Press must represent the public: Tejpal "At the heart of the paper are two C's. Crusading, constructive journalism. We will not only expose, and knock those doing wrong, but also appreciate those doing the right thing": Tarun Tejpal in interview with Frederick Noronha from the North Goa coast, speaks on the Tehelka weekly that will be out by January 31. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166194Hoot104515%20AM1018&pn=1 Election 2003: Half baked analysis If you look closely at the coverage it becomes clear that one thing journalists no longer do very much is to analyze the poll data carefully. The Hoot editorial http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166130Hoot30729%20PM988&pn=1 The media’s role in the electoral process The media has a very major role to play in the electoral process: AN Jha, Deputy Election Commissioner, in interview with Shivam Vij. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web21021416617Hoot70711%20PM996&pn=1 MEDIA ETHICS The New York Times vs. the facts on the ground To editorially hail a journalist convicted of fraud, and given to fundamentalist diatribes suggests that the research done by this venerable daily was somewhat inadequate. The HootDesk http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166251Hoot23843%20PM1006&pn=1 Stinging Judeo, Express style Does this new brand of journalism point to a lack of ethics in the media or is it the beginning of a different kind of ethics? By Mannika Chopra http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166208Hoot122714%20PM981&pn=1 MEDIA AND GENDER India: At last some strong screen women After a long gap, viewers are feasting on films that have handled women characters sensitively and boldly. By Shahla Raza (Women's Feature Service) http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166180Hoot50058%20PM1007&pn=1 Whiz kid Phaneesh The token mention in each article of the Maximovitch case has been more akin to the statutory warning on cigarette packets. By Seetha http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166211Hoot51935%20PM1001&pn=1 Pulli Raja - Raising hackles in the South While the campaign is targeting the male, the underlying message is that AIDS emanates from the woman. By B Jayashree http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web21021416692Hoot123403%20AM982&pn=1 Letters If awareness has to be created it has to be through such 'shocking' and 'blunt' messages, not niceties, argues D. Venkata Raghavan from Chennai. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166130Hoot33424%20PM991&pn=1 Watson, editor of the Journalism Online newsletter, finds D. Venkata Raghavan’s response irresponsible. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web21021416617Hoot73820%20PM998&pn=1 FOR READERS/VIEWERS Readers and the media It is not always the people vs. the state, or the press vs. the state, but also the people vs. the media. What safeguards do readers have against the media denying them their right to free _expression? Dasu Krishnamoorty probes. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web21021416621Hoot74644%20AM1005&pn=1 FOR JOURNALISTS Nominations invited for the Chameli Devi Award The Media Foundation is pleased to invite nominations for its annual Chameli Devi Jain Awards for an Outstanding Woman Mediaperson for 2003-04. Women journalists in the print, broadcast and current affairs documentary film media are eligible. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web2196523443Hoot125939%20PM1023&pn=1 Investigative science journalism needs promoting A report on a workshop where 150 science writers, scientists, academicians, NGOs and journalists participated, as a precursor to observing 2004 as the year of science and technology. By Dr. Y. Bala Murali Krishna in Panaji (UNI). http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web203151127168Hoot83442%20PM1013&pn=1 IFJ Journalism For Tolerance Prize Entries are solicited for the award that promotes excellence in journalism combating racism and discrimination, given by the International Federation of Journalists. Last date: 27 February 2004. http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web2196522582Hoot124935%20PM1022&pn=1 MEDIA LAW Handing over the airwaves The terms recommended by the Task Force for the second round of FM privatization are very generous to big broadcasters, but do very little to encourage non-commercial use of radio. By Sevanti Ninan http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166170Hoot20237%20AM993&pn=1 MEDIA RESEARCH The print media and the poorest districts of Jharkhand Over 10 days of around 4000 news items that were published in the Capital’s newspapers only 3 items were about the poorest districts. Extracts from a study by Sudhir Pal (Manthan Yuva Sansthan). http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166229Hoot92230%20PM977&pn=1 MEDIA AND CONFLICT Book review: An Indian view of Gulf War II In many ways the diary, Hotel Palestine, Baghdad by Satish Jacob, is a humble and humane account without the bravado and swagger one comes to expect of wartime coverage. By Mannika Chopra http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web21021416692Hoot124553%20AM983&pn=1 PRESS FREEDOM Pakistan army silences the media's big guns ‘The authorities had told him General Musharraf was angered by his articles and that he should desist from writing against the general and the army.’ By Ahmad Naeem Khan in Lahore (OneWorld South Asia) http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166249Hoot84410%20PM995&pn=1 RIGHT TO INFORMATION Traditional media, empowering messages In India the hype created over ICTs has often overshadowed the remarkable changes traditional communication systems can bring in poor people's lives. By Malvika Kaul (Women's Feature Service) http://www.thehoot.org/story.asp?storyid=Web210214166206Hoot110720%20AM979&pn=1 ______________________________ Join this movement: http://www.thehoot.org/about_us.asp Write to editor at thehoot.org To get this newsletter every month, send a blank mail to thehoot-subscribe at yahoogroups.com ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Mobile: Download the latest polyphonic ringtones. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From jeebesh at sarai.net Sat Jan 17 23:32:42 2004 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 23:32:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Photographs/ Labour/ IISH Message-ID: <200401172332.42841.jeebesh@sarai.net> A virtual exhibition of photographs has been featured on the Website of the International Institute of Social History. http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/downandout/ This is a presentation of 53 photographs by Ravi Agarwal. Most of them were taken in the Indian state of Gujarat in 1997-1999 for the book 'Down and Out, Labouring Uunder Global Capitalism`. Poverty is the dominant feature of the working lives portrayed in this book. But the misery of these men, women, and children in India has little to do with the underdevelopment of the past. The poverty here is caused by development and is concentrated mainly in what is referred to as the informal sector of the economy, which is what four-fifths of India's population depends on for its livelihood. It concerns the type of work that requires little or no capital investment or education and is small-scale by nature. The wages earned from these enterprises are not only low but are also characterized by great fluctuations in the amount of work each day, month, or season. Two other factors characterize this type of work: the absence of governmental monitoring as well as the absence of organizations, namely unions, which traditionally represented the concerns of the working class. Jan Breman, performed research over a 30-year period in an area located on India's west coast, the site of enormous economic growth. Ravi Agarwal presents a portrait of the working classes of this particular area. Together with Arvind Das, a well-known journalist and commentator on business matters in India, Jan Breman has written the text that accompanies the photographs. Ravi Agarwal is a photographer and environmentalist whose work encompasses policy as well as grassroots work on issues of waste, recycling and chemical safety at the national as well as international level. He is a founder of Toxics Link, a national information exchange on toxics, and head of Srishti, an environmental group. His work has been shown in Documenta 11. Jan Breman, Arvind Das, Ravi Agarwal Down And Out. Labouring Under Global Capitalism Oxford University Press / Amsterdam University Press 2000, ISBN 90 5356 450 0 From benjamin_lists at typedown.com Sat Jan 17 19:52:07 2004 From: benjamin_lists at typedown.com (Benjamin Fischer) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2004 15:22:07 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Deadline 18.01. 12Uhr/12am: Abstimmung DASDING-Publikumspreis Internet / Voting DASDING-audience award Internet Message-ID: 61fdb2cb1f1c14db0a4be4bd85c3ca17_MID46_t139 English version see below ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINEABSTIMMUNG ÜBER DIE BESTEN WEBPROJEKT BEIM 17. STUTTGARTER FILMWINTER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17. Stuttgarter Filmwinter - Festival for Expanded Media 15.-18. Januar 2004 Nur noch bis morgen, Sonntag 18.01. um 12 Uhr, kann über den DASDING-Publikumspreis in Höhe von 1.000,- Euro abgestimmt werden. Zu sehen sind 21 internationale Netzkunstprojekte. Der Gewinner wird im Rahmen der Preisverleihung am Sonntag abend um 20 Uhr bekannt gegeben. Zur Abstimmung: www.filmwinter.de ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINEVOTING ON THE BEST WEB PROJECT OF THE 17TH STUTTGART FILMWINTER ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17th Stuttgart Filmwinter - Festival for Expanded Media January 15-18, 2004 Only until tomorow, Sunday 18.01. at 12 am, you can decide which project will win DASDING-audience award amounting Euro 1000,-. 21 international net art projects are presented in this competiton. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on Sunday evening at 8 pm. For voting visit www.filmwinter.de -- Benjamin Fischer | benjamin[at]typedown.com | http://www.typedown.com/?RDCT=be7642f20351e297e386 From adriaan at a3aan.org Mon Jan 19 17:23:39 2004 From: adriaan at a3aan.org (adriaan) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 22:53:39 +1100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] :: d>art04 :: call for screen, sound and online works :: Message-ID: <005f01c3de82$eb3ffd60$5ec610cb@mei> d>art04 :: call for single channel screen works, sound and online works. Pls pass this onto anyone who you think may be interested, and also include in your newsletters and email distributions to artists, students and arts organisations. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- d>art04 is the seventh edition of dLux media arts' acclaimed annual showcase of Australian and International recent single channel, short experimental digital cinema and video art works, web and sound art. This year dLux media arts has introduced new screen categories :: [1] Australian Screen Category [2] Australian Emerging Screen Category [3] International Screen Category, in addition to the Online Category and Sound Category. Curators for each category, have been nominated by dLux media arts, and will select the works for each category. d>art04 closing date is 1st March 2004, all submissions must be received by dLux media arts (Sydney Australia) by this date. Screen works selected will be screened at the 51st Sydney Film Festival (http://www.sydneyfilmfestival.org/), 11-26 June 2004. Online and Sound works will be exhibited during the two week period of the Sydney Film Festival. For more information on curators, artists fees, eligibility criteria, conditions of entry and the d>art04 entry form, please visit; http://www.dlux.org.au/ If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. Kind regards Vicky Clare Program Manager dLux media arts PO Box 306 Paddington NSW 2021 Ph 02 9380 4255 www.dlux.org.au dLux media arts is a screen, sound and new media arts organisation which develops, exhibits, promotes and advocates for screen, sound and new media arts. A not for profit member based organisation, if you are interested in becoming a member annual fee $22/$11(conc) please email us at dlux at dlux.org.au dLux media arts gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance received from the Australian Film Commission, Australia Council for the Arts, NSW Film and Television Office and NSW Ministry for the Arts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040119/9b5c57bc/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From sadan at sarai.net Tue Jan 20 02:21:28 2004 From: sadan at sarai.net (sadan) Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:51:28 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] CFP on revisiting lexicons Message-ID: <200401191551.28958.sadan@sarai.net> NATIONAL SEMINAR on REVISITING LEXICONS AS ARCHIVES March 4-6, 2004 Deadlin for abstract: February 7, 2004 Dear Colleague, Department of Modern Indian Languages and Literary Studies, University of Delhi in collaboration with Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore is organizing a National Seminar on Revisiting Lexicons as Archives during March 4-6, 2004. The Seminar intends to bring together scholars interested in ideological, theoretical and methodological issues related to the construction of information-codification processes of lexicons and lexicon-like texts. Lexicon, a tool developed to cater to the needs of early colonial administration, in their project of translations and in understanding the terminology associated with indigenous practices of revenue and administration etc., remained as a highly effective tool of colonial administration. Whether it is the translation of religious literature or to say metaphorically, translating the colony itself, the lexicons have played a crucial role in controlling the colony. Similar to census, maps and museums (Anderson 1983), lexicons and similar information-codifications were extensively used to dominate and rule. There is a need to interrogate the issues associated with the theory, methodology and ideology of lexicons. In addition, there is also a need to look at the theory and methodology of indigenous lexicons and the new ones in a comparative perspective. Above all, the lexicons themselves form a body of archival material to understand and analyse the folk and cultural life of the country during the colonial rule. Lexicons could also metaphorically signify codified materials such as gazetteers, caste and tribe reports and compilation of information on craft, art and architecture. Abstracts of about 300 words are invited on the above theme of the Seminar. Any other topic of relevance to the theme of the Seminar is also welcome. The abstract should reach the Coordinators by February 7, 2004. Travel (A.C. III tier) and local hospitality will be provided by the organizers of the Seminar. Coordinators: T.S. Satyanath B. Mallikarjuna Dept. of MIL and LS Academic Secretary University of Delhi Central Institute of Indian Languages Delhi 110007 Mysore 570006 satyanath at vsnl.net mallikarjun at ciil.stpmy.soft.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From geert at desk.nl Wed Jan 21 13:39:11 2004 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 09:09:11 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] incommunicado: a new research list on civil society, ICT and post-development References: Message-ID: <068c01c3dff5$dab14ca0$6502a8c0@geert> incommunicado a research list on civil society, ICT and post-development Dear All, We would like to invite you to join 'incommunicado', a new electronic mailinglist that focuses on the spread and reappropriation of ICT across the 'Global South'. In the politics of communication and information, many have come to call for 'rights' rather than 'freedoms'. Questions regarding access and accountability might indeed require the use of the idiom of (human) rights, but we also wonder what it means when a politics of rights comes to serve as the ultimate horizon of any politics whatsoever. Which is why the idea of being (held) incommunicado - to be in a liminal state vis-a-vis multiple regimes of information as well as (human) rights - serves as our point of departure. To explore multiple vectors of what is often referred to as "ICT and Development" or the "Digital Divide", it will not suffice to rehearse the customary (conceptual and organizational) idioms of 'knowledge-based development,' 'stakeholder dialogue', or 'civil society organization' that, for better or worse, have become central to both academic and (grassroots) political analyses, itself a consequence of the involvement of inter- and non-governmental organizations that generate and reproduce their own conceptual vocabularies. To do so requires more than the creation of a few media-theoretical neologisms. While we came up with this project in the context of the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and hope to provide a forum for post-WSIS analysis, we would like to broaden our focus to include a number of topics that strike us as indispensable to any seriously 'postcolonial' approach to the ICT nexus: NON-STATES: Statist modes of (conflict) analysis to the contrary, non-state actors are key players in any arena of transnational politics, and questions of ICT, too, are linked to the multiplication and conflictual interaction of nonstates. Aware of the 'official' geopolitics of information pursued by states and inter-state organizations, we also want to observe the agendas and (structural) transformation of relevant 'nonstates', including corporations, foundations, think tanks, NGOs, and other 'grassroots' or 'movement' actors. EMPIRE: What is striking about some of the most influential work in contemporary political philosophy is its odd disconnect with the culture, intruments, and practice of media activism. Appropriating whatever seems useful to us in such conceptual work, we want to re-connect and create across multiple (disciplinary) divides. INFRASTRUCTURES: From Open Source Software (OSS) to the ecopolitical impact of ICT, we want the rich materiality of ICT to come into view, both to disturb cyberlibertarian techno-spiritualisms and to connect to multiple issues of conflict, labor, and migration that rarely show up in standard discussions of ICT. Neither a news list nor an exclusive forum for esoteric reflection, we encourage the presentism of post-a-lots, attentiveness to the historical dimensions of contemporary controversies, and occasional conceptual interventions. We envision neither a free-for-all without any sense of direction, nor a 'virtual public sphere' with rigid rules of engagement, but are hoping to make (and leave) room for encounters within a (somewhat) focused multiplicity. Current projects in the areas that interest us have some weak spots that need critical attention, and this is one of the places/spaces where this could be done - in common. RESEARCH: a note on the idea of a research list. What we do not mean is that some list members are 'researchers' and get to post whatever they deem to be of general interest, and some are not. That would be a sure way to create list orthodoxies right from the start and discourage anyone not used to a high-traffic list. Instead, we think of every list member as a researcher - just as ict-and-development raises many more issues than those ususally taken up by a technocratic expertism, research is by no means the prerogative of some media-theoretical elite - and hope that some of whatever crosses his or her desk/inbox/mind will find its way onto the list - and thus into the list archive. We also want to bring the list archive back from its generally passive role as mere record of past exchanges, and incorporate it much more actively. Short intro comments on how any one contribution relates to the general list agenda are welcome but not necessary if that is more or less obvious: we do not discourage the fwding of current articles published elsewhere, quite the contrary - a lot of relevant material is available on the web only temporarily, and we would like to archive some of it for future reference. Which means that we will have to develop a better search engine for the list archive than the one provided by the standard mailman software, as well as a few open-edit research tools on the site itself, which will go live in a few months. Needless to say, this is a work-in-progress, but we are curious about the possibility of expanding the functionality of this list beyond the usual and hope that the criteria for its usefulness will be articulated - and changed - by list members to end up with the kind of research tool they, too, have been looking for but that does not yet exist. 'incommunicado' does not start from scratch. It is first of all the follow-up to the Solaris list, founded late 2001 by Geert Lovink and Michael Gurstein. At some stage Solaris ran into server trouble and from the beginning has been plagued by spam problems. Also the quest for a critique of 'ICT & Development' seemed to be too narrow, too premature. With 'incommunicado' we hope to continue and extend the Solaris debates. The same can be said of the now defunct generation_online list that discussed Michael Hardt and Toni Negri's _Empire_ . 'incommunicado' is co-founded by Geert Lovink (geert at xs4all.nl), media theorist and internet critic, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Soenke Zehle (s.zehle at kein.org), a media researcher based in Saarbruecken, Germany. 'incommunicado' is a polylingual space: submissions in english, french, german, and spanish are welcome. Please forward this invitation to whoever you think might, would, or should be interested in joining 'incommunicado'. From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Jan 22 03:36:32 2004 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 03:36:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Quotes from the Earth Message-ID: <200401220336.32722.jeebesh@sarai.net> "The noise is too much. We are intensely in love with our own voices. Rest is just a cacophony. Let us hope that sanity will return, Because the cacophony has distinct stories, Waiting for our ears." Quotes from the Earth Water. Hunger. Survival: films and the environment Toxics Link and India International Centre present 'Quotes from the Earth', an exploration of films and the environment, to be held at IIC, New Delhi, from January 22 to 24 2004. The festival is part of the India International Centre's 42nd Annual Day celebrations. The festival aims at offering a grounded view of the word 'Environment' by relating it to current perspectives, through the medium of films which have engaged with some of the critical environmental issues in India. It also goes beyond viewing films. A panel discussion gathering eminent academicians, grassroots activists and film-makers is planned every afternoon on the issues the festival focuses on. In the evenings will be screened long-length international documentaries / feature films. Along with the festival, 'Audio Installation in a Visual Sauce', a media space on the environment designed by Pradip Saha, photographer, film-maker and managing editor of 'Down to Earth' magazine, is set up in the Art Gallery, IIC Annexe, Lodhi Estate, from 21st to 25th January. The festival programme is available on www.toxicslink.org/earthquotes Please, also note that the films screened as part of the 'Quotes from the Earth' film festival will be available as a traveling package for further screenings around the country. If you would like to take up the initiative or know of groups which may be interested, get in touch with Aurelie, at Toxics Link (+91-11-24328006, 24320711, aurelie at toxicslink.org) We are looking forward to see you at India International Centre, main auditorium, 22-24 January! All are welcome. There is no entry fee. SPREAD THE WORD! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILIES AND COLLEAGUES! Toxics Link H-2 Jungpura Extn. Ground Floor, New Delhi - 110 014 Ph: +91 11 2432 0711, 2432 8006 Fax: +91 11 2432 1747 Email - ruchita at toxicslink.org ------------------------------------------------------- From mphacklab at paranoici.org Wed Jan 21 20:15:24 2004 From: mphacklab at paranoici.org (Monteparadiso Hacklab) Date: 21 Jan 2004 15:45:24 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Transhackmeeting Message-ID: <1074696325.440.24.camel@gallesano> -+ TRANSNATIONAL HACKMEETING - SHARE, MEET, THINK --++ hackmeeting transnacional - compartir, conocer, pensar ---+++ hackmeeting transnational - partager, rencontrer, penser ----++++ transnationales Hackertreffen - austauschen ,treffen ,denken -----+++++ hackmeeting transnazionale - condividere, incontrare, pensare (scroll down for [es], [de], [fr], [it]) For some years there have been a number of meetings of hackers, hacktivist and media activist which have all followed the principle of self-organising a space where people with a hacker ethic, applied to whatever area you can think of - from technology to politics to reality itself - could meet, share and think together about new ways of transforming the world around them. These meetings have been held in different locations at a national, regional, local and neighbourhood level, uniting very different people who have been brought together by their passion for technology, communication, social change, and connecting people, things and paradigms. The meetings have met with lots of enthusiasm and the feeling that a diverse community centred around these themes is possible. This year it seems that a meeting bringing together people from all over Europe (geographically speaking), the Mediterranean, Near and Middle East really is possible and this is a call for making it happen. This meeting won't be organized by anyone else other than you: bring your workshop, your debate, the things you've studied this year, the things you want to talk about, the reasons and projects why you'd like to meet other hackers - and you don't need to be a geek to be a hacker! The Monteparadiso squat in Pula, Croatia, has already agreed to host the transnational hackmeeting, otherwise known as the transhackmeeting or thk, which has been in the pipeline for two years. The meeting will take place at the end of June. If you want to help out and participate, subscribe to the list thk at autistici.org (http://www.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/thk) and spread the news through your local networks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- desde hace algunos años, se celebran diferentes encuentros de hackers, hacktivistas y mediaactivistas, con la idea de autoorganizar un escenario en el que la gente con actitud hacker, aplicada a cualquier campo que uno pueda pensar -desde tecnología a política o la propia realidad-, pueda encontrarse, compartir y pensar juntos nuevas maneras de transformar lo que les rodea. en diversos sitios se han celebrado encuentros a nivel nacional, regional, local e incluso de barrio, reuniendo a gente muy diferente atraida por su pasión por la tecnología, la comunicación, la transformación social, conectar gente, cosas y paradigmas, que han sido recibidos con mucho entusiasmo y la sensación de que es posible una comunidad diversa en estos temas. este año parece que es realmente posible un encuentro que reuna a gente de toda europa (geográfica), el mediterráneo y el medio y próximo oriente. ésta es una llamada para hacer que suceda. este encuentro no será organizado por nadie más que tú: trae tu taller, tu debate, lo que has estudiado este año, aquello de lo que quieres hablar, la razón y el proyecto por los que te gustaría conocer a otros hackers (¡y no necesitas ser un cerebrín asocial para ser un hacker!) la casa okupada monteparadiso de pula, croacia, ya ha aceptado albergar este encuentro, que se viene organizando desde hace dos años, y el hackmeeting transnacional (transhackmeeting o thk) tendrá lugar a finales de junio. si quieres ayudar y participar, suscríbete a la lista thk at autistici.org (http://www.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/thk) y difunde la noticia por tus redes locales. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Schon seit ein paar Jahren gibt es viele selbstorganisierte Treffen zwischen Hackern,Hacktivisten und Medienaktivisten, wo sich Menschen mit Hackerethik, die sich mit allem beschäftigen was mensch sich so vorstellen kann - von Technologie über Politik bis zur Realität selbst - treffen können und sich zusammen über neue Wege gedanken machen können, wie die Welt verändert werden kann. Diese vielen verschiedenen Treffen auf lokaler oder regionaler Ebene haben viele unterschiedliche Menschen zusammengeführt, alleine aus deren Interesse für Technologie, Kommunikation, sozialen Wandel oder Vernetzung. Sie sind auf grosses Interesse gestossen und haben gezeigt, dass es möglich ist, dass viele verschiedene Menschen sich zusammen über diese Themen austauschen können. Dieses Jahr scheint es möglich zu sein, ein Treffen zu organisieren, zu dem Menschen aus ganz Europa kommen. Ob aus dem Mittelmeerraum oder dem nahen oder mittleren Osten. Es ist möglich und dies ist ein Aufruf es wirklichkeit werden zu lassen. Dieses Treffen wird von niemandem organisiert ausser von Dir: Bring deinen Workshop, deine Diskussionsvorschläge, deine Arbeiten, dein Gründe und Projekte dich mit anderen zu vernetzen einfach mit - Und Du brauchst nicht einmal ein Hacker zu sein! Das "Monteparadiso squat" in Pula,Kroatien hat sich schon bereit erklärt diesem Treffen die Räume zur verfügung zu stellen. Auf dieses transnationale Treffen, auch bekannt als Transhackmeeting oder thk, wird schon seit zwei Jahren hingearbeitet. Es findet jetzt endlich im Juni statt. Wenn Du mitmachen oder helfen willst, trag dich auf dieser Mailingliste ein: thk at autistici.org (http://www.austici.org/mailman/listinfo/thk) und verbreite die Neuigkeiten in deinen Netzwerken. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ces dernières années, au fil de diverses réunions de hackers, médiactivistes et autres hacktivistes, est née l'idée d'auto-organiser une rencontre. Une rencontre pour que les individu-e-s se revendiquant du hacking sous toutes ses formes --de la technologie à la politique, en passant par la réalité même-- puissent se rencontrer pour échanger et penser ensemble de nouveaux moyens pour transformer ce qui les entoure. Divers rassemblements de ce type ont déjà été organisés à l'échelle nationale, régionale, locale ou même d'un quartier. Ces événements ont réuni des gens très différents, animés par une même passion pour la technologie, la communication, la transformation de la société et la mise en réseau des individu-e-s. Ceux-ci ont généré beaucoup d'enthousiasme et nourri le sentiment qu'une communauté variée pouvait se constituer autour de ces idées. Cette année, il semble qu'un pareil rassemblement, qui réunirait des individu-e-s des quatres coins d'Europe (dans le sens géographique du terme), de la Méditerrannée, du Proche et Moyen-Orient, serait souhaitable et possible. Ce message n'est autre qu'une invitation à tou-te-s pour faire vivre cette possibilité. Ce rassemblement ne pourra être organisé que par vous-même: amenez votre atelier, votre débat, les études et recherches que vous avez faites cette année, un sujet dont vous voulez parler, la raison et le projet pour lesquels vous aimeriez rencontrer d'autres hackers (et vous n'êtes pas obligé-e-s d'être "geeks" pour être hackers!). Monteparadiso, squat situé à Pula en Croatie, a déjà accepté d'héberger cet événement, qui existe sous le nom de "hackmeeting transnational" depuis déjà deux ans. Si vous voulez aider et participer, abonnez-vous à la liste thk at autistici.org (http://www.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/thk) et répandez l'information sur vos réseaux locaux. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Per alcuni anni si sono visti succedere diversi incontri di hackers, hacktivisti, media attivisti che si sono basati sull'autorganizzare uno spazio dove persone che condividessero un etica hacker, applicata a qualsiasi area si possa immaginare, dalla politica alla tecnologia, fino alla realta' stessa, potessere incontrarsi, condividere e pensare insieme nuovi modi di trasformare il mondo intorno a loro. Questi incontri si sono tenuti in diversi luoghi a livello nazionale, regionale, locale e di quartiere, riunendo persone molto diverse che hanno messo in comune la loro passione per la tecnologia, per la comunicazione, per il cambio sociale, e connettendo persone, cose, paradigmi. Gli incontri hanno sempre incontrato l'entusiasmo e il sentimento che una comunita' varia che ruoti attorno a questi temi e' possibile. Questo anno sembra che un incontro che metta in relazione persone da tutta Europa (in senso geografico), il mediterraneo , il medio e il vicino oriente, sia veramente possibile, e questo e' un appello per fare si' che si realizzi questo sogno. Questo incontro non sara' organizzato da nessun altro se non lo organizzi anche tu in prima persona: porta un workshop, un dibattito, le cose su cui hai studiato quest'anno, le cose di cui vuoi parlare, le ragioni e i progetti per cui vorresti incontrare altri hacker - e non hai bisogno di essere un autistico per essere un hacker! Il Monteparadiso squat a Pola in Croazia, ha gia' deciso di ospitare l'hackmeeting transnazionale, altrimenti noto come transhackmeeting o thk, che e' stato sull'orlo di nascere per due anni. Il meeting si svolgera' a fine giugno. Se vuoi dare una mano e partecipare, iscriviti alla lista thk at autistici.org ( http://www.autistici.org/mailman/listinfo/thk ) e spargi la voce nelle reti a te affini!! From sandipan at molbio.unizh.ch Wed Jan 21 20:45:14 2004 From: sandipan at molbio.unizh.ch (Sandipan Chatterjee) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 16:15:14 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Fwd: online programming contest, iit kharagpur] Message-ID: <9D4DBB7C-4C24-11D8-A6A6-000A95A9FF20@molbio.unizh.ch> Forwarded from InSAZ : http://www.insaz.ethz.ch Subject: Fwd: online programming contest, iit kharagpur Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 06:43:26 GMT Forwarded Message: Dear All, The top 50 contesting teams will receive prizes worth Rs. 60,000!! read more.. for details sainul Bitwise, the annual online programming contest organized by the Computer Science & Engg. Department Society, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India, is being conducted this year on Sunday, the 8th of February. Bitwise is an algorithm intensive programming contest which aims to provide programmers across the globe, a platform to compete, testing their ability to develop efficient algorithms to problems within a given time constraint. It is a non-profit competition organized by 4th year undergraduate students of CSE, IIT Kharagpur. Over the last three years, the contest has become extremely popular around the world. In Bitwise 2K3, over 900 teams participated, with a team from Singapore bagging the first prize. The registration is free and open to all. Contestants solve a set of problems posted on a site using C or C++. The solutions are evaluated,! not only on the basis of correctness, but also on execution time and space complexity. The top 50 contesting teams will receive prizes worth Rs. 60,000!! REGISTRATION STARTS : 20th Jan, 2004. For registration and more information please visit our website at: http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/bitwise If you know of anyone who would be interested in taking part in Bitwise 2K4, kindly forward this message to them. Thanks! Bitwise Organizing Committee CSE, IIT Kharagpur Email : bitwise at cse.iitkgp.ernet.in From geert at desk.nl Thu Jan 22 16:15:58 2004 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2004 11:45:58 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] IBM: Sensitive Plans on 'Offshoring' References: <9D4DBB7C-4C24-11D8-A6A6-000A95A9FF20@molbio.unizh.ch> Message-ID: <000001c3e134$bc501620$6402a8c0@geert> IBM Documents Give Rare Look At Sensitive Plans on 'Offshoring' When Shifting Jobs Abroad, It's $12.50 vs. $56 in Pay, And 'Sanitize' the Memos By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL In a rare look at the numbers and verbal nuances a big U.S. company chews over when moving jobs abroad, internal documents from International Business Machines Corp. show that it expects to save $168 million annually starting in 2006 by shifting several thousand high-paying programming jobs overseas. Among other things, the documents indicate that for internal IBM accounting purposes, a programmer in China with three to five years experience would cost about $12.50 an hour, including salary and benefits. A person familiar with IBM's internal billing rates says that's less than one-fourth of the $56-an-hour cost of a comparable U.S. employee, which also includes salary and benefits. According to the documents, which also provide managers with detailed advice on how to talk about the moves and their effect, IBM plans to shift the jobs from various U.S. locations to China, India and Brazil, where wages for skilled programmers are substantially lower. At IBM headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., a spokesman said that the company expects to shift 3,000 U.S. jobs overseas this year. He declined to comment on plans for next year. He said IBM expects to add 15,000 jobs world-wide this year, with a net total of 5,000 of them in the U.S. That would increase IBM's world-wide employment to 330,000, the highest level since 1991. IBM hasn't announced the plan to shift workers overseas -- elements of which were reported in The Wall Street Journal last month -- either internally or externally. It isn't clear if the documents are final versions; most carry dates of late November and December 2003. The spokesman declined to comment on the documents seen by the Journal. Like other high-tech companies, IBM is moving knowledge work to cheap-labor sites outside the U.S. This "offshoring" process has raised fears that even high-skill jobs that were supposed to represent the U.S.'s future are being lost to countries that have already taken over low-skill factory work. The trend, largely the result of relentless pressure on companies to cut costs, is seen by some U.S. workers and politicians as a potential long-term threat to U.S. employment. Democratic presidential hopefuls have cited the trend as they have criticized the jobless recovery under President Bush and noted worker insecurity. Others argue, however, that the jobs lost are typically replaced by other, higher-paying jobs. The IBM documents show that the company is acutely aware of the sensitivities involved. One memo, which advises managers how to communicate the news to affected employees, says among other things: "Do not be transparent regarding the purpose/intent" and cautions that the "Terms 'On-shore' and 'Off-shore' should never be used." The memo also suggests that anything written to employees should first be "sanitized" by human-resources and communications staffers. IBM's human-resources department has prepared a draft "suggested script" for managers to use in telling employees that their jobs are being moved. The managers will tell the employees that "this is not a resource action" -- IBM language for layoff -- and that they will help the employees try to find a job elsewhere in IBM, although they can't promise to pay for any needed relocation. The documents describe work done by IBM's Application Management Services division, part of Big Blue's giant global-services operation, which comprises more than half of the company's 315,000 employees. The affected workers don't deal directly with customers; they write code and perform other programming tasks for applications software used inside IBM. The plan would move jobs from U.S. locations including Southbury, Conn.; Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Raleigh, N.C.; Dallas; and Boulder, Colo. IBM plans to transfer the programming work to its own operations in Bangalore, India; Shanghai and the northeastern city of Dalian in China; and Sumare, Brazil. It isn't clear how many jobs will be added in each location. Some of the foreign programmers will come to the U.S. for several weeks of on-the-job training by the people whose jobs they will take over. That's an aspect of offshoring that many high-tech workers regard as particularly humiliating. With revenue growing slowly throughout the information-technology business, IBM and other vendors are under great pressure to reduce costs to boost earnings. Last week, when reporting fourth-quarter earnings, IBM's chief financial officer, John Joyce, said the company reduced costs $7 billion during 2003 and expects similar savings this year. Mr. Joyce said competitive price pressures in computer services are holding down profitability. IBM's competitors are making similar moves. Accenture Ltd., one of IBM's main rivals in the computer-services field, said recently it expects to double its work force in India this year to nearly 10,000. Google Inc., the online search leader, said last month that it plans to open an engineering center in India this year as part of an expansion. For all these companies, lower-cost labor is the biggest lure. A chart of internal billing rates developed by IBM's Chinese group in Shanghai shows how dramatic the labor savings can be. The chart doesn't show actual wages, but instead reflects IBM's internal system by which one unit bills another for the work it does. Besides the low-level programmers billing at $12.50 an hour, the chart shows that a Chinese senior analyst or application-development manager with more than five years experience would be billed at $18 an hour. The person familiar with IBM's operations said that person would be equivalent to a U.S. "Band 7" employee billed at about $66 an hour. And a Chinese project manager with seven years experience would be billed at $24 an hour, equivalent to a U.S. "Band 8" billed at about $81 hourly. Dean Davidson, an analyst who follows outsourcing for Meta Group, in Stamford, Conn., says that companies usually find their actual cost savings from moving offshore are less than they would expect based on straight wage comparisons. "The reality is a general savings of 15%-20% during the first year," Mr. Davidson says. That's far less than the 50% to 80% savings based on hourly labor rates, he says. The person familiar with IBM's plans says that implementation could be slowed if the company isn't able to hire enough qualified programmers to do the work in its overseas software centers. He said that those facilities are already very busy doing work for IBM's big U.S. customers. According to the IBM documents, the company expects severance costs for laying off U.S. employees in conjunction with the plan to be $30.6 million in 2004 and $47.4 million in 2005. Including other transition costs, the documents say, the offshoring plan will result in a loss of $19 million this year. Savings will amount to $40 million in 2005 and $168 million annually thereafter. In the draft script prepared for managers, IBM suggests the workers be told: "This action is a statement about the rate and pace of change in this demanding industry. ... It is in no way a comment on the excellent work you have done over the years." The script also suggests saying: "For the people whose jobs are affected by this consolidation, I understand this is difficult news." From gchat at vsnl.net Fri Jan 23 07:22:21 2004 From: gchat at vsnl.net (Gayatri Chatterjee) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 07:22:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Some recent events in Pune Message-ID: <002301c3e153$8ca89720$0c5541db@o6y5j5> An account of the recent events in Pune that have filled our hearts with horror and shame can begin with the annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh held in the second week of December 2003 at the Balgandharva Theatre premises. There were discussions of several items on their agenda, such as renaming the University of Pune 'Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj University'. Also on that day, Mahasangh members expressed anger at Jim Laine's book Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India (brought out by Oxford University Press earlier the same year), and talked about taking some action against those mentioned in Laine's acknowledgements. But the book was not topmost in their mind nor was there any plans for immediate action. The ABMM program brochure contains several items of interest, but two are of particular importance here. A few years ago, the Maratha Mandir, a social and cultural organization in Bombay, had undertaken a project of compiling a biography of Shivaji. A committee comprising historians Y. D. Phadke, A. R. Kulkarni, M. S. Mhate (then at Deccan College), P. V. Ranade (from Aurangabad University), and others had brought out the first volume. This contained a passage from Ibn Battuta's book in which some of the fourteenth-century traveller's remarks were judged derogatory of Maratha women. A protest was voiced by the women of the Maratha Mahasangh. As a result of this agitation, while the book was not withdrawn from circulation, it was reissued with a white page pasted over the offending portion. The other incident concerns a humoresque play from the genre of popular Marathi theatre, Majhe Pati Chhatrapati ('My Husband, the Chhatrapati'). It was observed that such a lightweight use of the title Chhatrapati was an insult to the Maratha King. Consequently, the play was allowed to run but with a change in title. Now to come to the two incidents that concern us more intimately today. There had been protests and grumbles against Laine's book ever since its appearance and Oxford University Press had withdrawn the book from the market on 22 November. But apparently this was not enough, and subsequently the Shiva Sena embarked on a process of targeting one by one those seen as involved with the writing of the book. On 22 December, Shiv Sena members led by one Rambhau Parekh went to the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, entered the office of its head, Professor Shrikant Bahulkar, roughed him up, made him stand on his chair, and smeared his face with some blackening agent. Why Bahulkar, of all the names thanked by Laine, should have been chosen as the first target is not clear (the day's issue of Samna, the Shiv Sena organ, may shed some light on this question). On the next day some members of the Shiv Sena visited the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute and inquired about the BORI's role in Laine's book, as some of the names mentioned in the acknowledgments are connected with the Institute. Saroja Bhate (serving a term as Honorary Secretary, BORI) informed them that Shrikant Bahulkar had in 1988-89 helped Laine translate the Shivabharat, a nineteenth-century Sanskrit biography of Shivaji. Manjul in his capacity as librarian had made books available. The Sena cadres returned without any further ado or making threats of any kind. Protesting against this event, BORI personnel released a statement to some local newspapers, including the Marathi language Sakal. But there was no protest registered from the University of Pune, its various departments, nor from Deccan College or other colleges or Pune institutions. This institutional silence was the impetus for the scholar Gajanan Mehendale to contact Pradip Rawat-a member of parliament from the BJP, an admirer of Mehendale, and a book lover-to inform him that he had destroyed four hundred pages of his own manuscript on Shivaji (painstaking scholarly work of which some six hundred pages had already been published). Mehendale's contentions were: a) If this is the state of affairs, then evidently the country has no need for books; b) Those who are so incensed as to burn any Shivaji book that doesn't please them can very well go write one for themselves. Now all hell broke loose; even the Times of India sat up and started reporting. Rawat protested the Bahulkar event in print and allegedly sent Pune Municipality staff to scout around in the city's dustbins for the discarded pages. (However, one part of the story is not clear: either Mehendale has photocopies or he wants to write those four hundred pages over; he has told Rawat he would give him the manuscript-to be published only after his death.) Along with Rawat, Sena leader Raj Thackeray met with Bahulkar on 30 December and offered a personal apology. He gave his assurance that the Shiv Sena would not engage in any destructive act-without his sanction. Laine sent in an apology of his own, saying he had 'foolishly misread the situation in India' and that 'it was never [his] intention to defame the great Maharashtrian hero.' The general feeling was that the dust had settled. (However, the very next day, Parekh and other Sena members went to the police commissioner's office with a warning that his cadres would stop all New Year's parties that went later than 10 pm. Chief Commissioner of Police A. N. Roy gave a statement: Even on a normal day, restaurants run till after 11 pm; he would not stop any party conducted indoors; he would not allow any vandalism. Incidentally, the week before, Christians had not been permitted to celebrate Midnight Mass. Meanwhile, 38,000 soldiers and police in Mumbai and 6,000 in Pune were mobilized to help citizens usher in the New Year. Pune was uneventful that evening-it would seem Raj Thackeray had managed to keep his promise.) But behind the scenes, other storms were brewing; one meeting was held at a tamasha place, Chauphula off Aundh, by young members of an ABMM offshoot group, the Maratha Seva Sangh, its Sambhaji Brigade, and a group calling itself the Majdoor Samaj (the 'Workers' Society'). These firebrands, some of whom came from Osmanabad and other remote districts, resolved to take their 'revenge.' On 5 January, some two hundred members of the Sambhaji Brigade entered the Bhandarkar Institute when they were opening and preparing for the day-that is, when there was the least number of people. They first cut the telephone wires. Then, shouting slogans, they ransacked the place-a task for which they had come fully prepared, for example bringing with them the kind of gear needed to topple heavy cupboards easily. The heaviest damage was to the front hall where seminars are held, which houses the Dandekar collection. The Jain manuscript section has also been badly roughed up-the full extent of the loss is not quite clear. The cadres could not go upstairs (because of the arrival of the police) and so the damage is confined to the downstairs sections of the library. The computers in all the offices were destroyed; some rare art pieces and prints have been stolen. The oil paintings of scholars that line the entrance lobby were slashed and disfigured. The police could not be alerted on time, since the telephone connections had been severed; the Prabhat Road and Deccan Gymkhana police stations were not geared for a violent attack by a mob of two hundred. By the time the police had gathered in force, the damage was quite severe. By the evening, I heard that the Sambhaji Brigade had threatened to physically harm Manjul and some others. I went to BORI at 10 pm, when archaeologist M. K. Dhavlikar (retired from Deccan College and a BORI member) and the police were still in the process of writing the report. I was assured they would be provided police protection. The newspapers the next day carried reports of people being given police protection-one by one, all the Pune residents whose names feature in Laine's acknowledgements section have had to be provided police protection. The response from Pune residents to the assault on BORI has been tremendous. The first day, students and professors of Sanskrit from all the city's colleges and the University of Pune, along with students of other disciplines from Ferguson and S.P. Colleges and some foreign Sanskrit students visiting India, gathered to help clear the debris and stack up the books that had been scattered everywhere. By the third day the place had been almost cleaned up and librarians were ready to put the books back in those racks and cupboards that were still intact (barring the parts made of glass, which had all been shattered). The newspaper response has likewise been vigorous (this needs to be looked at carefully; this report could not be based on a thorough study of all the papers). The most interesting to study is the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Samna. The upper right-hand corner of the front page for 6 January carries a photo of books on Chhatrapati Shivaji lying on the floor, some of them torn; below that is a photo of the Saraswati idol that used to be kept in a glass box at the entrance lobby, with her arms broken; below that is a closeup of a lady BORI employee crying brokenly. The headline reads: Shivrayacha nam gheta 'Shambhaji Brigade'-cha itihasabarac ghala: 'Bhandarkar' var halla (Taking Shivaji's Name, 'Shambhaji Brigade''s Attack on History: Attack on 'Bhandarkar'). The reaction from Babasaheb Purandare was much more severe-the man seems truly affected by the act of destruction. The Samna editorial of 7 January, written perhaps by Bal Thackeray himself, takes a lighter attitude. 'Who is this Jim Laine? He has ne len na den with our culture and history.' He adds, 'Raj himself had gone and apologised to Bahulkar and we had thought the matter over.' On 8 January, the Indian Express at last got into the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh angle and introduced the key figure of Purushottam Khedekar, a retired engineer with the Public Works Department (it may be recalled that he was arrested for corruption and illegal purchase), who while still in service founded the Maharashtra Seva Sangh, the offshoot of the ABMM of which the Sambhaji Brigade is part. On 10 January Shantaram Kunjir, the Secretary of the Pune Chapter, made a statement of support in the name of the ABMM to the events. They also raised the slogan 'Bhandarkar jhanki hai, Shanivarwada baki hai'-('The Bhandarkar incident was just a glimpse [of our intentions]; there is still Shanivarwada [to be conquered]'[1] The papers naturally are interviewing all whose names are there in Laine's acknowledgements-in particular, those specifically threatened. Manjul (the now-retired BORI librarian), on behalf of Bahulkar and the Marathi and Sanskrit scholar Sucheta Paranjpe, reported that the full extent of his own collaboration with Laine was only to provide books in his capacity as a librarian and Bahulkar and Sucheta's involvement was limited to giving Laine language lessons and assistance in his Shivabharat translation. Manjul has severely condemned the 'heinous act' Laine committed in his book. I am told that related statements that appeared elsewhere have also come from Manjul; apparently he spoke for everyone (this has been difficult to check, since many have been refusing all communication not only with journalists, but even friends and colleagues.) Several young scholars with liberal credentials have told me that it is absolutely crucial at this point to castigate Laine severely. More senior scholars have taken the position that while the quality of Laine's scholarship might be questionable, that cannot be seen as a justification for these sorts of acts-they are more concerned with the humanist aspects and less attuned to the present political mood of this part of India. The newspapers have begun to point to the coming elections as a determining factor behind what is to come next. It is clear from newspaper coverage and government reports that there is no way these Shivaji-related matters could be talked about with any level-headedness. Not just now. There is one other occurrence that needs to be mentioned here. On 4 January, a self-described Professor of Business Management, Prafulla Chandra Tawade, who has started his own history research platform, called for a meeting of historians-amateur and professional. There he read out the line from Laine's book that had most offended everyone: 'The repressed awareness that Shivaji had an absentee father is also revealed by the fact that Maharashtrians tell jokes naughtily suggesting that his guardian Dadaji Konddev was his biological father.' In the analysis that followed, Tawade felt the need to gloss biology as 'a mix of botany and zoology.' U.S. scholars Lee and Lisa Schlesinger were present at the meeting. Everyone says that Lee spoke very well. When asked what he thought of the agitation and the banning of the book, he said, 'I cannot say anything in this case for I come from a country that does not believe in burning and banning books.' He then added: 'Today you have sought my opinion. Now, if you quote me tomorrow, will I get beaten up? If you write a book tomorrow, will it be said the whole of your book is tainted by this opinion of mine that you are seeking just now?' One thing that can be and is being said at this point is that an important factor at work here is anti-brahminism. (When I had first contacted him after the Bahulkar incident, Dhavlikar had told me, 'Gayatri, nothing can be done. After all Maharashtra is only three or four percent brahmin.') Indeed, one of many Dalit groups, the Dalit Mahasangh, was the first body to come out publicly stating its support for the Sambhaji Brigade. The way different alliances are being formed and rifts are getting created within parties here is something that needs to be studied with close attention to its complexities.[2] It should also be mentioned here that if the recent events reminded the playwright and actor-director Satish Alekar of anything, it was how the 'same BORI brahmans' had succeeded in having the play 'Ghashiram Kotwal' banned for a period in 1972, sending out death threats to the entire cast and crew. 'Those were the days before television and so the gaze of all Maharashtra was on this play and its fortunes.' Sunita Nene of the American Colleges of the Midwest Programme has also been targeted. 'I had asked Laine why he included my name . . . I did not contribute anything to it.' She (with Raja Bhora) drafted a letter and sent it to various Marathi newspapers. In it they included an appeal to Sharad Pawar to visit BORI. Sakal refused to publish it, but Lokasatta has. Pawar had been keeping quiet, but has now said something against the book at the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, since there was a threat to disrupt the event. On 13 January, according to newspaper reports, Shashikant Pawar, president of the ABMM, denounced the Sambhaji Brigade's ransacking of BORI. He has met with Saroja Bhate and visited BORI. Without naming Khedekar, he has condemned this act by a faction formed by a 'self-serving person,' who has misled unemployed youth from poor backgrounds. Some forty thousand people were expected to descend on Pune on 14 January to celebrate Jijabai's birthday (and, by extension, Shivaji's childhood spent in the Lal Mahal palace). Anticipating trouble, the Deccan Gymkhana police booked Laine, declaring that he would be arrested and his passport confiscated if he were to visit India. The event turned to be a damp squib, with only five thousand arriving from the city and elsewhere. The ABMM has declared the matter closed. But now this book-related matter is spreading to other levels and creating other platforms. The Maharashtra government banned Laine's book on 15 January. Prime Minister Vajpayee, while visiting Mumbai on 15-16 January, took a strong stand against this action by the state of Maharashtra and the violence perpetrated by the Maratha forum (Indian Express, 17 Jaunuary). After unveiling a statue at Mumbai's international airport, a much-anticipated event, he said: 'If you do not like anything in a particular book, then sit and discuss it. Banning is not a solution; we have to tackle it ideologically. If differences of opinion remain after a issue is discussed, the best way would be to come out with another good book on the subject.' In response, Congress Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has criticised Vajpayee in strong terms. The polls are coming. -Gayatri Chatterjee [1] The Peshwas were ministerial appointees under Shivaji. The Shanivarwada fort in Pune was built by the Peshwa Bajirao I who, in the absence of the Maratha Prince Shahu Maharaj, imprisoned in Delhi for almost a decade, was able to bring about a reformation and expansion of the Maratha kingdom in the Deccan. Most remarkably, the Brahmin Bajirao is known for putting in various positions of power members of all local communities, even, for example, the nomadic Dhangar pastoralists. The fort nowadays is taken as a symbol of Pune Brahminism and there are efforts to 'take it away from the Brahmins.' [2] A post from Gail Omvedt (already circulated by Harsh Kapoor) throws much light on the caste-related aspects of these events. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040123/f0f63db7/attachment.html From sonjapa at aec.at Fri Jan 23 17:47:19 2004 From: sonjapa at aec.at (Sonja Panholzer) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 17:47:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Prix Ars Electronica 2004 - Welcome to participate Message-ID: Dear Friends of Ars Electronica, We would kindly like to invite you to participate in this year's Prix Ars Electronica Competition: Prix Ars Electronica 2004 - International Competition for CyberArts Welcome to participate - Online Registration has started. Prix Ars Electronica 2004 is the 18th edition of the foremost international competition for computer-based art. To mark Ars Electronica's 25th anniversary in 2004, it is being expanded to include a "Digital Communities" domain dedicated to social developments of great current relevance. Prix Ars Electronica 2004 will be awarded in the following categories: Computer Animation / Visual Effects, Digital Musics, Interactive Art, Net Vision, Digital Communities. The total prize money for the Prix Ars Electronica 2004 amounts to Euro 130,000 Additionally [THE NEXT IDEA] Art and Technology Grant will be awarded. The deadline for the entry is March 12th, 2004 (postmarked) Net Vision The "Net Vision" category singles out for recognition artistic projects in the Internet that display brilliance in how they have been engineered, designed and- especially-conceived, works that are outstanding with respect to innovation, interface design and the originality of their content. The way in which a work of net-based art deals with the online medium is essential in this category. [the next idea] Art and Technology Grant Discovering ideas for tomorrow in young minds today is the aim of this grant supported by voestalpine and focusing on the intersection of art and technology. The category's target group includes students at universities, art schools, technical schools, and other educational institutions as well as creatives from all over the world, aged 19-27, who have developed as-yet-unproduced concepts in the fields of media art, media design or media technology. The winner receives a stipend in the amount of 7,500 Euro and will be invited to spend a term as Researcher and Artist in Residence at the Ars Electronica Futurelab. Judging will be done by a panel of experts. If you are interested to participate please send us your work. Detailed information and registration forms are available online: http://prixars.aec.at/ Should you have any questions as a participant, please feel free to contact: Sonja Panholzer - sonja.panholzer at aec.at We kindly ask you to forward this information to interested parties. Looking forward to your participation. Best regards Sonja Panholzer Prix Ars Electronica 2004 AEC Ars Electronica Center Linz Museumsgesellschaft mbH Hauptstrasse 2 4040 Linz, Austria tel: +43-732-7272-74 fax: +43-732-7272-676 http://prixars.aec.at/ Sponsoring and Support SAP, Telekom Austria and voestalpine are the Sponsors of the 2004 Prix Ars Electronica. The competition is made possible through the support of the City of Linz and the Province of Upper Austria. Prix Ars Electronica is supported by: KS sterreichischer Kultur-Service, Pšstlingbergschlšss'l, Sony DADC, Spring, KLM _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in Wed Jan 21 13:16:09 2004 From: aesthete at mail.jnu.ac.in (Dean School of Arts and Aesthetics) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 13:36:09 +0550 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fw: investigating visual studies Message-ID: <1074672369.c49ea0c0aesthete@mail.jnu.ac.in> SCHOOL OF ARTS AND AESTHETICS JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY Revised Schedule for seminar on INVESTIGATING VISUAL STUDIES (Whats wrong with this picture) PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE CALL 26652077 OR E-MAIL opjain at sanskritifoundation .org Programme Friday January 30, 2004 Registration 1.00 to 1.30 pm Lunch will be served from 1.30 to 2.15 pm Opening remarks By Prof. Jyotindra Jain Dean School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU 2.15 to 3.00 : Susan Buck-Morss-Visual Studies & Global Imagination 3.00 to 3.15 : Questions and answers 3.15 to 4.00 : Chris Csikszentmihályi - Strategies of the Visual 4.00 to 4.15 : Questions and answers 4.15 to 4.30 : Tea 4.30 to 5.15 : Sanjit Sethi - Interrogative Design & Social Space 5.15 to 5.30 : Questions and answers 5.30 to 6.30 : Panel discussion Discussants Prof. Jyotindra Jain & Ms. Shohini Ghosh Chris Csikszentmihályi directs the Media Lab’s Computing Culture group,MIT, which works to create unique media technolo-gies for cultural applica-tions and serves on the National Academy of Science’s IT and Creativity panel. Susan Buck-Morss is Professor of Political Philosophy and Social Theory and Director of VisualStudies,Department of Government, Cornell University. Her teaching interests include Critical Theory, Literary Theory, Theories of Nationalism andGlobalization, and Visual Studies. Sanjit Sethi is an Instructor at the MIT Visual Arts Program, Cambridge, Massachusetts and teaches studio intensive courses. He is also an Artist and Curator and his publications include“Argument for Building aDevice” and “Mapping the Cycles, Understanding the Wheel Project”. ============================================== This Mail was Scanned for Virus and found Virus free ============================================== -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: "shukla sawant" Subject: investigating visual studies Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 13:23:15 +0530 Size: 10458 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040121/5ea359f7/attachment.mht -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From info at nmartproject.net Wed Jan 21 14:53:01 2004 From: info at nmartproject.net ([NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne) Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 10:23:01 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] My mission - 1st 2004 update & call Message-ID: <01c301c3e000$2b0b2b80$0400a8c0@agricola11> ---> "My Mission" The ongoing collection of textual self-representations in form of artistic statements ----> as part of "{self}_representation 2003" - the new show on Le Musee di-visioniste www.le-musee-divisioniste.org or www.le-musee-divisioniste.org/start1.htm ------> update launched on 21 January 2004 These are the first 2004 additions of artists statements: ------>Ijosé Benin, Stella Maris Angel Villegas Zon Sakai, Doren Garcia, Fabian Giles They form the basis of "My Mission": -------->Daniel Young, David Crawford, Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga Gita Hashemi, Barry Smylie, Sergeij Jakovlev Igor Ulanovsky, Rene Joseph, Mr. Robert Montini Robin Miller, Eva Lewarne, Eric Van Hove Jorn Ebner, Dr. Hugo, Wendy Lu Richard Ellis, Harriet Jameson Pellizzari, RAnders Xavier Malbreil, Graham Thompson, Álvaro Ardévol Lisa Ndejuru , Cezar Lãzãrescu, Julie Andreyev Carla Della Beffa, Catherine Daly, Xavier Pehuet, Kristin Calabrese, Sol Kjøk Michael Crane, Blair Butterfield Anthony Lealand, gintas k, Luigia Cardarelli Ksenija Kovacevic, Cendres Lavy Pino Boresta, Dizzy, Aikaterini Gegisian, Jeremy Newman, Carole Loeffler, Michael Haskett, Ida Dominici, kosmoagonia, Alberto Frigo , Heather J. Tait, Miss C Johnston, Nitin Shroffs, Shaukat Khan, Ann Tracy, Luna Nera, Clemente Padin, Nigel Petherick X Rokeby, Michael Branthwaite, Boel Olsson, Cyrill Duneau, Domenico Olivero Enter the project via www.le-musee-divisioniste.org or www.le-musee-divisioniste.org/start1.htm or go directly also to: www.le-musee-divisioniste.org/exhibitionhall/2003/self/mymission.htm But there are much more artists who have a mission. Come and join the project by responding to this call: "My Mission" - call for submissions **************************** invites artists to submit to the recently initiated project "My Mission", collection of textual self-representations in form of artistic statements. Please send your statement as a short text in plain email format (not more than 500 words), how you see your mission as an artist, if you have any. "My mission" is an ongoing project with an open end, so you can send your statement at any time. No deadline. All serious submissions will be immediately included. Please send your submission including your name and email address, to info at le-musee-divisioniste.org subject line: My Mission *********************************** "{self}_representation 2003" is curated and created by Agricola de Cologne for Le Musee di-visioniste www.le-musee-divisioniste.org - corporate member of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork] :||cologne - the experimental platform for net based art - operating from Cologne/Germany. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ricardo at ambriente.com Sat Jan 24 08:49:12 2004 From: ricardo at ambriente.com (ricardo miranda zuniga) Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2004 19:19:12 -0800 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Leonardo Call for Submissions Message-ID: LEONARDO CALL FOR PAPERS Live Art and Science on the Internet The Internet has become a venue and medium for art that continues the impulse to broadcast ideas to a worldwide audience. Leonardo and Guest Editor Martha Wilson, Founding Director of Franklin Furnace, seek texts on the subject of "Live Art and Science on the Internet" for a series of special sections in both the international print journal Leonardo and online . As artists and others produce live art on the Internet, liveness, presence, mediatization, online activism, surveillance, and identity/gender, among other related issues, are being explored. We seek texts documenting such work as well as texts on the history of this field of practice and the vocabulary being used to describe it. We also seek texts from scientists who have used the Internet to conduct science investigations live on line. Guest Editor Martha Wilson and her peer review committee seek Statements (500 words and one image describing one work), Notes (2,500 words and 6 images describing a body of work), Galleries (750-word curator's introduction plus 10 images by individual artists, each with a 200-word caption) and Articles (5,000 words and 12 images).  Texts describing the work of an artist or scientist must be written by the artists or scientists themselves, with co-authors if necessary. This call for papers is open for 2004, 2005 and 2006. Please send initial statement of interest with a brief explanation of your project to Martha Wilson .  For author guidelines, follow the link "Info for Authors" on Leonardo On-Line . Click http://www.franklinfurnace.org/links03.html to visit 'This Month's World Wide Events'. ---------------------------------------- To subscribe, unsubscribe, or for information send an email to info at franklinfurnace.org ----------------------------------------- Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. 45 John Street, #611 New York, NY 10038-3706 T212.766.2606 F212.766.2740 http://www.franklinfurnace.org mail at franklinfurnace.org Martha Wilson, Founding Director Michael Katchen, Senior Archivist Harley Spiller, Administrator Dolores Zorreguieta, Program Coordinator _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ken at ccom.edu.cn Sat Jan 24 11:06:00 2004 From: ken at ccom.edu.cn (Kenneth Fields) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 13:36:00 +0800 Subject: [Reader-list] Digital Art Ontology In-Reply-To: <20040124110004.D310428D9A3@mail.sarai.net> References: <20040124110004.D310428D9A3@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <31647FA7-4E2F-11D8-8A99-0003936D930C@ccom.edu.cn> DAO: Digital Art Ontology Project http://dao.cim3.net An Invitation to Collaborative Knowledge Building (Please Distribute) This is a call for collaboration in the design of a standard (in the dynamic sense of the word) digital art ontology. If you are interested in issues of how concepts in media art intermap with neighbor or upper structured knowledge domains, then please contribute your expertise toward what is intended to be a (re)useable knowledge base resource for our community. Knowledge domain experts must contribute toward knowledge organization efforts (digital libraries, semantic web, concept representation and navigation) in their field. Now is the time; it’s either specify or be specified. DAO is an open ontology initiative. We plan to focus both on the methods for online collaborative ontology building, as well as our content goal – the creation, maintenance and extension of an online dynamic media arts knowledge base. The DAO project is to be a resource for the standard upper (SUO) and middle ontology efforts that are underway. Knowledge domain specification is an extremely challenging undertaking, especially in such an encompassing and dynamic field as digital media arts. Thus, we are seeking varied perspectives, multiple levels of participation (obsessed ontologists, lucid lurkers, devout developers), multi-lingual vocabularies (how do you translate technoetic into Chinese), and interdisciplinary talents (computer music/literature/art, acoustics/optics/dsp, theoretical, semiotic, ontological, eye/ear, consciousness, cybernetics, etc.). When you visit our portal at http://dao.cim3.net, you have the option of going to the wiki or the the dao-forum listserv (subscribe), both of which await your involvement – we’re just beginning. Hope to hear from you. Principle Inquirist : Dr. Kenneth Fields Professor Media Arts/Computer Music CEMC - China Center for Electronic Music Central Conservatory of Music 43 BaoJia Street XiCheng District Beijing, China, 100031 Also: Digital Media Lab Central Academy of Fine Arts Beijing, China Email: ken at ccom.edu.cn URL: http://cemc.ccom.edu.cn Powered by MessageSoft SMG SPAM, virus-free and secure email http://www.messagesoft.com From soumava at vsnl.com Sat Jan 24 23:37:33 2004 From: soumava at vsnl.com (Soumava Das) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 23:37:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] First Posting -- Peer-to-peer News distribution network Message-ID: <401301BD.27944.2B037@localhost> Hello, We are working on implementing a Peer-to-Peer News Distribution Network which we believe will be the first of its kind and will usher in a new paradigm in the field of news distribution. A short write- up discussing the background and motivation, the features needed to be implemented, etc. is given below. Current News Distribution Scenario. ---------------------------------------------------- Traditionally news distribution has been the preserve of the rich and powerful media corporations. To run a newspaper, a television channel or a radio station needs so much expertise, capital investment and management skills that it is not possible for any individual or small group of individuals to engage in distribution of news. It is true that India (especially West Bengal) has a culture of publishing what is called "little magazines" but they have a limitation of limited circulation and are usually for publishing literary works as opposed to presentation of news items to the general public at large on a regular basis. The individual could not disseminate news of his/her choice using the traditional news distribution channels as the individual is totally dependent on the large media corporations for news distribution. These corporations have their own agenda and limitations besides being subjected to censorship whether self-imposed or externally dictated. Internet was a major break through in the area of news distribution. For the first, the ordinary people found an avenue to publish their views and also any news items of their choice. However to publish such news items an individual needs a web space which usually costs a significant amount of money. Also, these websites usually operate in logical isolation or at the maximum as a member of some web-ring. Thus there is no general facility to search for news items on such web sites other than the normal web search facilities provided by companies like Google. This is a great drawback of the Internet based news publication making it limited in its success as effective mass media. Also, the websites suffer from problems associated with centralised control like censorship and denial of service. Besides, the load of distributing the news is borne mainly by the publisher of the news item and not shared by the users. This results in high resource requirements and consequently large investments in case of sites that are frequently visited. Though there are plenty of small websites publishing news items run by individuals, these sites suffer from poor visibility and thus do not achieve the goal of providing an effective alternative news distribution channel. Thus we find that the Internet based news distribution is controlled largely by the same media corporations that control the traditional media channels. We believe that a peer-to-peer news distribution network can overcome some the major short-comings of the present news distribution channels. Brief Introduction to Peer-to-Peer Computing. ------------------------------------------------------------ One of the oldest uses of the term "peer-to-peer computing" is in IBM's Systems Network Architecture documents on LU6.2 Transactions, over 25 years ago. The term, which we shall use interchangeably with p2p, came to the fore very publicly with the rise and fall of Napster [7]. Peer-to-peer systems are distributed Internet applications in which the resources of a large number of autonomous participants are harnessed in order to carry out the system's function. In many cases, peers form self-organising networks that are layered over the top of conventional Internet protocols and have no centralized structure. Peer-to-peer systems have evolved to support resource sharing in an environment characterised by users potentially numbering millions, most with homogeneous desktop systems and low bandwidth, intermittent connections to the Internet. As such, the emphasis has been on global fault-tolerance and massive scalability. Features Desired in a Peer-to-peer News Distribution Network. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- o Empowerment: Any user of the network should be empowered to distribute news items on any topic should he/she desire to do so. This is the primary requirement of the news distribution network. o Indic Script Support: We should be able to support Indic scripts natively (maybe using Unicode) so that the news items in Indian languages can be distributed and viewed seamlessly. We consider this feature essential since most of the Indian users are not native English speakers and the network will fail to fulfil its objective of empowerment if it remains restricted to the English-speaking elite population. We request any reader with expertise in Indic support to offer his/her help to us. o Low Bandwidth Requirements: Most of the users, especially in India, are expected to have intermittent and low-bandwidth connection to the Internet. Thus the news distribution network should be such that the users can use the network fruitfully. This would require careful design of the network so as to incorporate feature such as on-the-fly compression/decompression, resumption of interrupted transfers, file- splitting (so as to minimise the load on a single peer), and intelligent routing substrate. o Multimedia Support: The network and the associated software should be able to handle multimedia news items like video clips and audio recordings. The impact and importance of the electronic visual media cannot be overlooked while creating a system for the future. Also, multimedia support gains greater significance in the Indian context since a large portion of the population is illiterate or more importantly semi-literate (i.e. literate only for the purpose of government statistics) and audio/video news items will be more accessible for them. These people can always ask someone to search and locate the item but would not need anyone to read the news to them. o Efficient Search: The network should support fast, efficient and effective search facilities. The user should be able to search for news items using any of a large number of criteria like topic, date, origin, locality and author/publisher. Providing such a search facility will be a real challenge since we will have to deal with Indic scripts and multimedia news items. Also, the search should not generate significant traffic on the Internet so as not to consume a huge amount of bandwidth. o Permanence of News Items: News items once published for distribution should remain on the network and should be accessible for a considerable period of time after which they may be stored in archival storage from where it can be retrieved if required. However, any request by the original publisher should be honoured by the peers. o Immutability: The network should ensure the integrity of the news articles submitted for distribution and any attempts to modify the news item (except by the author/publisher) should be resisted. Any user should be able to verify the integrity of a particular document if he/she wishes to do so. But this feature should not prevent any user to comment on an article, etc. and such comments may be viewed by other users. Adobe PDF documents support such comments. o Authentication: Any author/publisher may add his/her digital signature to a news item and other users should be able to verify such signatures in order to confirm the origin of the article/news item. This feature can be easily incorporated using asymmetric key cryptography techniques. o Anonymity and Refutability: By masking the identity of sources and sinks of requests, the network should be able to protect users from the potential censor or unsavoury agency. However we need to mask location information as well as identifiers, as otherwise a traffic analysis may effectively reveal identities, so some form of onion routing is also usually required. The process of news item submission should be such that it would not be possible to track down the submitter unless the submitter purposely reveals his/her origin. This two related features would make it very difficult to allow deletion or modification of news items even by the original submitter. So we need to find a way to balance these conflicting requirements. o Censor-Resistant: The network should be so designed as to withstand any attempts at censorship or Denial of Service. This may be achieved by splitting a file into component parts so that no single site carries the whole file, and a Denial of Service attack has to run over multiple sites. Encrypting blocks of the file not only make sure that disclosure is unlikely, but also that a node can deny knowledge of the actual content it carries. This would help Service Providers to align themselves with the ``common carrier'' defence against legal liability for content, like telephony and postal providers. o Fully De-centralised: There should not be any centralised control so as to make the system fault-tolerant and efficient and to eliminate a single point of failure for legal, economic and political attacks. But this would make routing and searching more difficult. o Platform Independent: The users should be able to access the news distribution network from any platform. So we need to create clients to access the network for the major platforms. In this respect we feel Java might be a good choice as a programming language. o Efficient Routing: Efficient routing is very essential in such a massively distributed system with no central control. The routing protocol should not generate much traffic for each routing request, otherwise the network will not be very usable. We intend to use a third- generation routing substrate based on Distributed Hash Table for routing. o Support for trust models: Just as in the real world, a fully cooperative model such as this network may break down if peers are not provided with incentives to participate. We would look into trust, incentive and reputation models based on both economic and game theoretic approaches. This is one area where we envision the need for extensive research as there is no established model for trust and reputation. o Load Sharing: Most of the users will be using dial-up connections to the Internet. So it is imperative that users who have higher bandwidth share a larger portion of the load. Our network will have to facilitate such means-based load sharing. The peer-to-peer news distribution network which we propose to develop will have a considerable impact on the way news is currently distributed. It will also be a pioneer in providing native Indic script support allowing the non English speaking people to benefit from this effort. A peer-to-peer computing experiment of this type has never been attempted in India. This will benefit the peer-to-peer networking community by allowing it to experiment with various new algorithms and techniques. However, as you would appreciate, implementing all the features mentioned above is a Herculean task and is just not feasible in a time- frame of just 6 months. So we would like the readers to suggest which features should be given priority. Hope we would get the advice and support of the readers of this list. We would especially like to hear from the readers with backgrounds in journalism, etc. since the program is basically a vehicle to distribute news items. Thank you. Soumava Das Sarai Independent Fellow References 1. ANDERSON, R. J. The Eternity Service, June 1997. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rja14/eternity/ eternity.html. 2. ASPNES, J., DIAMADI, Z., AND SHAH, G. Fault-tolerant routing in peer-to-peer systems. In Twenty-First ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (Monterey, USA, July 2002), pp. 223-232. 3. BLOOM, B. H. Space/time tradeoffs in hash coding with allowable errors. Comm. of the ACM 13, 7 (July 1970), 422. 10 4. CLARKE, I., SANDBERG, O., WILEY, B., AND HONG, T. W. Freenet: A distributed anonymous information storage and retrieval system. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2009 (2001). 5. FREEDMAN, M. J., AND VINGRALEK, R. Efficient peer-to-peer lookup based on a distributed trie. In Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS02) (Cambridge, MA, March 2002). 6. MORETON, T. D., PRATT, I. A., AND HARRIS, T. L. Storage, Mutability and Naming in Pasta. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Computing at Networking 2002, Pisa, Italy. (May 2002). 7. NAPSTER. Napster media sharing system. http://www.napster.com/. 8. RIPEANU, M. Peer-to-peer architecture case study: Gnutella network. In 2001 International conference on P2P computing (August 2001). http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~matei/PAPERS/ P2P2001.pdf. 9. ROWSTRON, A., AND DRUSCHEL, P. Pastry: Scalable, decentralized object location, and routing for large- scale peer-to-peer systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 2218 (2001), 329-350. 10. SUN. Jxta peer-peer system, April 2002. http://www.jxta.org/. 11. Kazaa Media Desktop. http://www.kazaa.com/ 12. Aberer, K., and Despotovic, Z. Managing trust in a peer-to-peer information system. In ACM Conference on Information and Knowledge Management, 2001. 13. Reiter, M., and Rubin, A. Crowds: anonymity for Web transactions. In Proc. ACM Transactions on Information and System Security, 1998. From sandipan_chakrabarty at yahoo.co.in Sat Jan 24 22:44:24 2004 From: sandipan_chakrabarty at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?sandipan=20chakrabarty?=) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 17:14:24 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] first posting Message-ID: <20040124171424.22372.qmail@web8005.mail.in.yahoo.com> Relocating ‘Krttibas’ (1953-2003): A Critical Study of the History of A ‘Little’ Magazine in Urban Bengal By Sandipan Chakrabarty The main object is to study of the cultural and economic history of a renowned Bengali literary little magazine (Krttibas) of the post-independence period and its impact on the construction of urban Bengali self in post-independence Bengal. The project shall document and analyze various facets of its publication and circulation. Areas to be explored shall include cover designs, interviews of editors, regular writers and readers, the advertisements published. ‘Krittibas’ first appeared in 1953 under the editorship of Sunil Gangopadhyay, Dipak Mazumdar and Ananda Bagchi. Afterwards, Sunil Gangopadhyay alone took over the responsibility of editing from its 4th-5th joint issue. Then Sakti Chattopadhyay, Sarat Kumar Mukhopadhyay , Utpal Kumar Basu , Samarendra Sengupta and others acted as interim editors at different times for short periods. But from the very inception till date, mainly Sunil Gangopadhyay has been acting as the editor. It is basically a quarterly poetry magazine; but many important articles on literature, film, theatre and other cultural debates, stories, novels, plays and interviews also appeared in it and gradually it assumed an anti-establishment character. From1970 onward, it began to lose its anti-establishment character and started becoming an establishment itself. It was converted to a monthly magazine in 1974 and continued till 1981. From 1982-1998, no issue of the magazine was published. >From 1999 it again appeared as an annual magazine. Before 1967, there were a few little magazines in Bengal and those were an exclusive part of urban culture with a marginal existence. From the marginal situation, such magazines created and activated a parallel space outside the commercial / mainstream space and created a group of devoted readers. This gave rise to a little magazine boom in 1970’s, when many little magazines started to come out from semi-urban areas also. In this way the decentralization of the urban cultural space spread. In post-independence period, most of the creative writers of Bengal primarily became famous in public domain through these little magazines and especially most of the renowned Bengali poets of 1950’s and 1960’s were the product of ‘Krittibas’. This magazine formed an interactive and interdisciplinary space among the creative writers and painters ; those painters often designed its cover. Sometimes this parallel space even strongly induced the commercial / mainstream space. So a gradual change in the total structure of the urban culture took place. The aim of the project is to analyze this structural change and the role of ‘Krittibas’ behind it. ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Mobile: Download the latest polyphonic ringtones. Go to http://in.mobile.yahoo.com From coolzanny at hotmail.com Sun Jan 25 13:44:59 2004 From: coolzanny at hotmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:44:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Bcckground of Research Message-ID: Background Physical Space is a very crucial component of human and animal life. We often refer to crowds and �space constraints�, particularly on moments when we are most irritable and just wanting the entire world to get off our heads. What tends to get overlooked in the issue of physical space is its absolute necessity, its criticality, because ultimately, physical space affects and shapes a lot of our behaviours. Mob violence and rioting is also an outburst and expression of shrinking physical space. As populations are increasing, the need for physical space is becoming even more acute and intense because the number of spaces is shrinking in order to make way for housing and �development�. Crowds are a lived experience in Mumbai City. The most commonly cited example of crowds in Mumbai is �trains�, the lifeline of this great city. Perhaps most visitors to Mumbai have experienced trains at least once. The amount of research, data and films on trains is currently storming into and gaining ground in the intellectual, academic and discussion spaces! My research fellowship is about watching Women in trains and looking at the ladies compartment in the trains as one of the spaces in Mumbai City. There is a definite reason why I chose the two subjects i.e. women and space. I will get into a little bit of history here to explain my purpose (and also my agenda!). Space is a subject close to my heart. For me, mental space emanates from physical space and mental space changes perceptions about physical space. Both live off each other. I live in a small home in Mumbai City. The smallness of my home became very apparent and stark to me when I was 20 years of age. Each day, I realized how my family members i.e. my father, mother and younger sister, were constantly in my face and that I needed some space to breathe and be myself. I wanted to emerge as an individual and there were occasions when I felt, �Heck, here is my mother who intervenes in my choice of style of dressing!� �Heck, here is my dad who wants to say to me what I am supposed to do in life!� While to a lot of us these conflicts will be viewed as a part of the growing-up process, my experience was that the conflicts became all the more compounded because I was heavily involved in them as a party myself and secondly and most importantly, because I did not have the luxury of distance from the family in the form of a separate room to myself. At the age of 23, I went to Kashmir. My visit to Kashmir occurred at a time when my conflicts with my family were at a height. I felt it was important for me to simply leave home because leaving home would make life much easier for me! The first experience of entering the Valley was that of shock and disturbance. As the vehicle moved from Jawahar Tunnel into the Valley, the sights of the mountains awed me. But as I moved further and further, I got a feeling of being watched. Finally, upon reaching my host�s home, I collapsed into a corner and said to him, �Even though the dense army cover is not doing anything to me, no soldier is coming and questioning me, I am feeling like an establishment is sitting on my head, almost like my own father sits on my head at home!� Further experiences in Kashmir began to make it evident to me that while there is tremendous physical space in the Valley, there is no mental space for people. The houses in Kashmir were huge and I am sure that most individuals in Srinagar at least have rooms to themselves, but inspite of this, the youth there are not allowed the space to express themselves and develop their individuality. In sum, they were, and are, almost �assembly line� products! Each experience in Kashmir made me all the more sensitive towards the little conflicts in my own house. Each experience taught me that the larger conflicts that we see in the world today are mostly magnified replays of the problems that occur inside our own little houses. The family is a system � a micro-system. Our parents are a product of their parents and we take on some of the habits and behaviours of our parents. The system continues. The opportunity for us, when we distance ourselves from the family, is to see where some changes can be made within this little system, because at times, the very change in the system produces the automatic big change among human beings themselves. (I am not so sure whether I am expressing myself well over here!) To move further, Kashmir gave me the thought and the germ of the idea about spaces. My return from each visit to Kashmir made me view Mumbai City differently � issues of identity, anonymity and community, human interactions, communication and miscommunication, etc. became better understood as I began to debate and discuss in my own head and with the heads of others! The current research fellowship is titled �Women in Trains: An Examination of a Shade of Physical Space in City Life�. The idea in this study is to check out and analyze the ladies compartment in the trains and see how crowds affect women. Space is a crucial component of conflict and violence, however small or big the conflict and violence maybe. I am particularly interested in women because women bring a special value to society and to the world at large. My belief is that in today�s times, the way to conflict and to peace is through women. Women can both, perpetuate violence, and pave the way towards peace. There is a certain sensitivity among women which is difficult to numb. I am not so sure about this in males. Addressing this sensitivity and potential in women which will enable to bring in peace. Women need more space (not that men don�t). There is a need to be able to breathe and think in quiet, have a space for reflection. All of this is dying slowly. I am looking at this research as an opportunity to understand space and its impact and also to develop a larger vision of the kind of spaces we need for both men and women and for people in general (which includes children and animals as well). The need thereafter would be to work in a more integrated manner and with a larger vision towards what kind of cities and spaces do we want for ourselves in the future. What would be rewarding and interesting is if the readers can post their experiences in trains across the world. I will soon create a blog which will enable us to have more lively discussions! To conclude, for me, Space and Women are two crucial aspects of the way towards democratic peace! And democratic peace means existence of diversity and differences, but with a greater ability to work through these! - Zainab Bawa - For communication, email zainabbawa at yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ MSN Hotmail now on your Mobile phone. http://server1.msn.co.in/sp03/mobilesms/ Click here. From coolzanny at hotmail.com Sun Jan 25 13:46:46 2004 From: coolzanny at hotmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:46:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Concretely Abstract - 1st Posting Message-ID: 25th January 2004 I have been asked to write an �abstract� of my research fellowship, but I guess this is going to be quite concrete: 24th January 2004 Train Journey from Currey Road to Byculla (in the ladies compartment) I accidentally put my foot on another woman�s foot when I was making way for myself to get off at Byculla Station. My foot simply touched a small portion of her foot. The lady was standing by the door. There was a little rush by the door because the entire crowd wanted to get off at Byculla Station. The woman had a very stern and angry look on her face (both before and after the little accident between us, except that her eyebrows were a bit more twitched after the accident occurred). This woman was what I would describe as the �classic pungent and tight woman�. She wore a large bindi on her forehead. Her lips were big and luscious, very kissable. She had smeared a heavy layer of dark brown lipstick on her lips. She was perhaps the prototype of a Punjabi woman, though very honestly, I don�t know whether she was Punjabi or not. The moment my foot hit her foot, she uttered an irritated squeal, which to me signals the initial cry of a big confrontation and conflagration in the ladies compartment. (It is quite a normal situation you see). I simply gestured a sorry to her foot with my hands pointed to her foot and then touching them to my chest (like we Indians normally do when our foot hits anything, though I fail to understand what this gesture means) and continued to wear the happy and calm look on my face. Perhaps this made her even more irritable because I had snatched away an opportunity for a fight (and a fight like this is an opportunity for the much needed outburst of �displaced anger and frustration�). I had made a conscious decision in my mind not to retort to her, because during periods of intense crowds, minor accidents and incidents are a source of major conflagration and outbursts. Then follows a line of communication which is a patterned exchange of reactions and trying to emerge victorious (or at least with the feeling of victory) in the battle! We acquire stresses during the course of leading our existence in cities. Tensions and stresses are very much part of us. The point in this process is where do we find an outlet for release when all of it builds itself up inside us? Trains provide that space to simply think and verbalize our frustrations to ourselves (and to the �imagined� �concerned� �entity� in our heads). They provide a space for what I call �self-talk� and �other-talk� (and other-talk is also to ourselves only). What we desperately seek during the period of our short and long journeys in the train is enough physical space for and to ourselves. During rush hours (also known as peak hours) in the train journeys, there is no physical space absolutely. People are clamouring all over. People are falling over each other. People are touching you here and there, accidentally hitting you here and there producing sparks for minor and major fights! (The classic in my personal case is: due to my short height, I find people end up hitting their elbows on my neatly tied bun and that irritates me most because it puts my bun out of shape!) Each one is trying to find space for herself (I have used �herself� because I am specifically observing women in trains), or at least create a comfortable corner where one can be �left alone�. I find this desire most evident when trains are empty and women normally rush to the seats in the corners, near the windows. They rarely look out of the window; all that they want is that precious corner in which they can loosen themselves up and be comfortable, oblivious of whatever is happening around them. That corner seat is what is call one of few the �breathing spaces inside the ladies compartment�. During the rush hours, particularly when you are coming back from office/work and are ready to go back home to the kitchens to cook and prepare to retire for the start of another day, you so strongly wish that life could be easier, much easier, with fewer people around! For women, trains are a space for furthering the sentiment of community which is part of life in Mumbai. One of the things that I am trying to observe and study is the role of language in deepening this community sentiment. I find Christian and Zoroastrian women speak Marathi as fluently as the local Maharashtrian women. Gujarati, Sindhi, Bambaiya Hindi, Marathi, South Indian and even Punjabi (I am including English of all dialects and kinds) are the languages used for communication in trains and these languages help to further the community feeling among women. (I am beginning to feel that English, by itself, is just not THE language for creating and enhancing the community sentiment.) The ladies compartment is one space where women can articulate and express their grievances and sorrows. Often I find bukha clad women who, through their subtle eye glances and gestures, communicate their plight and their very strong desires for liberty and sexuality. Women try to help each other in trains, either emotionally or �actually� (i.e. materially). I will, in some of my subsequent postings narrate some incidents that I have come across of this type. For women, the ladies compartment is a space where they can be both conscious and not conscious at various times. I find that the women who travel to VT and Churchgate in the mornings to start work/office/college, take off their sarees and re-do them properly as the train is about to approach the final junction. Some of them sit on the floors of the compartment just to make themselves comfortable. Sitting on the floors is something which normally only vendors do during the odd hours, but in the morning peak hours, sophisticated women have no shame or hassles in sitting on the floors. Similarly, some of the buying and selling activity makes most women very self-conscious because the hawkers are very direct and straightforward. Through the sharpness of their tongues, they can almost instantly reveal you in your own eyes and before others, a moment which can be horribly traumatic and devastating. A lot of women spend their time in their journey to make up for sleep. They simply sleep and it is beautiful to watch this site sometimes. There are numerous aspects of the ladies compartment which I wish to bring out to myself during the course of this study. The methodology of the study is: � Observation of women and their behaviour through events and incidents (and also accidents) � Talking to women and the vendors on random subjects and on focused subjects, essentially trying to understand the impact of crowds on their behaviour, assessment of consumerism through the advertisement boards and through the incessant buying and selling activity in the trains � Talking to males as well about their experiences and ideas of space and comparing these to women�s experience and idea of space in trains � Literature review � Photographs � Blogging: This will soon be set up for people across the world to share their experiences of trains, both in Mumbai and in different parts of the world The final product, I hope will be in the form of a book, which will come out some day as an initial step towards creating a vision and an action plan for more breathing and meeting spaces for people. I specifically chose the two themes �women� and �space� for reasons which I have outlined in my subsequent posting. To conclude, laws of physics and momentum are best understood in trains. Trains help in developing adjustment and adaptation mechanisms and behaviours to lead life in the city. I strongly believe that at the end of the day, trains make me realize that I am no more (and no less) than a HUMAN ANIMAL. - Zainab Bawa _________________________________________________________________ MSN Hotmail now on your Mobile phone. http://server1.msn.co.in/sp03/mobilesms/ Click here. From coolzanny at hotmail.com Sun Jan 25 13:56:02 2004 From: coolzanny at hotmail.com (Zainab Bawa) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:56:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Interreligious Dialogue Message-ID: Dear Readers, Sharing my recent experience with interreligious dialogue. http://www.globalpeaceworks.org/2003/report.htm http://www.globalpeaceworks.org/docs/delhi2003-summary.PDFDearest Best wishes, Zainab Bawa _________________________________________________________________ Easiest Money Transfer to India. http://go.msnserver.com/IN/41490.asp Send Money To 6000 Indian Towns. From karunakar at freedomink.org Sun Jan 25 19:14:01 2004 From: karunakar at freedomink.org (G Karunakar) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 19:14:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Hindi Localization of KDE & GNOME Message-ID: <4013C821.9020809@freedomink.org> Hi all, I am introducing our fellowship work titled 'Hindi Localization of KDE & GNOME' Some Background: Localization is one of the important but much ignored process in software development. It basically involved making the software culture sensitive, so that it can work in different locales, supporting different languages. At IndLinux we are working towards localizing free software like KDE & GNOME into Hindi. Aim is to localize key components of FLOSS like KDE & GNOME to Hindi, needed to build a fully functional & usable Hindi Desktop. Major work in this area is English to Hindi translation of GUI strings and help documentation. Fellowship support will be used towards supporting fulltime translators and volunteers doing the work. Final product will be a bootable CD containing all the localized software, with interface customized for ease of use. This will be released as free software. Immediate goals are * Setting up a translation database which can be used for automatic translation & as review mechanism. * Carry on further work of KDE translations. * Conduct usability workshop to get feedback from users on localized products. For more on IndLinux see http://www.indlinux.org Project page: http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/indlinux Project Wiki: http://www.indlinux.org/wiki KDE Hindi work : http://www.indlinux.org/hindi/kde GNOME Hindi : http://www.indlinux.org/hindi/gnome Milan - bootable CD of Gnome Hindi interface http://www.indlinux.org/doc/MilanDemoCD.html More updates to follow soon :) Regards, Karunakar Sarai Independent Fellow From geert at desk.nl Sun Jan 25 20:31:11 2004 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 16:01:11 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Software czars shaken after US stab Message-ID: <052a01c3e354$d4745e60$186d26c2@geert> Software czars shaken after US stab http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040125/asp/frontpage/story_2824605.asp New Delhi, Jan. 24: India's software moguls seem shell-shocked by a US Senate legislation banning subcontracting of government jobs outside the US - a move that will dam up a lucrative portion of the flow of business process outsourcing (BPO) contracts to Bangalore, Mumbai and Gurgaon. "We are dismayed," said Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) which last year launched a public relations exercise to blunt the rising tide of resentment against India for spiriting away call centre jobs in the US. This is the first stab at a US federal law to stop the outsourcing of government contracts to countries like India. Until now, lawmakers in 10 US states - California, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Washington - have attempted a similar legislation but with little success. Scrambling to limit the setback caused by Friday's vote, Karnik said: "We understand that the bill is limited to the period up to September 2004 and only covers contracts by two government departments - treasury and transportation. The business impact of such a move on the Indian IT industry will be very small as the share of US federal government contracts in the export of IT software and services from India is less than 2 per cent." The total IT software and services exports from India was $9.5 billion in 2002-03. US President George W. Bush, who is seeking re-election later this year, has been under fire over the loss of 2.6 million jobs during the four years of his presidency. The shift in call centre jobs has turned into a huge emotive issue in the run-up to the election. John Kerry, leading Democrat presidential hopeful after the Iowa primaries, recently said he would "close every single loophole that gives companies incentives to move jobs abroad". Bush has been trying to ensure that his re-election campaign doesn't get swamped by the vitriol over the issue - and is unlikely to overturn the US Senate's verdict. "This bill is yet to become a law, and we hope that wiser counsel will prevail," Karnik said. Pavan Duggal, a cyber law counsel, said: "If the US federal bill becomes law, it is likely to provide a blow to the vibrant growth of the outsourcing industry in India. A major chunk of the BPO work, which relates to the US government contract work, will be legally impacted as that comes in the form of subcontracts from American companies." The proposed bill is based on the rationale that as the source of US federal government projects is public money, it cannot be re-directed through subcontracting or outsourcing. The bill is pending before Bush for his signature. Once it is signed, this will have to be implemented by all states. Raman Roy, chief executive officer of Wipro Spectramind, said: "I don't think this as an issue and we should not read much into it. We need to examine if such a legislation for any other product or service was done in the US and its results." Kris Gopalakrishnan, chief operating officer of Infosys Technologies, said: "This bill concerns subcontracting work on government projects. Since the work Indian companies currently do for the US government is not much, we see the impact to be minimal.. However, as an industry, we have to watch the situation." From nilanjanb at 123india.com Sun Jan 25 21:47:56 2004 From: nilanjanb at 123india.com (nilanjanb at 123india.com) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 08:17:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] first posting independent fellow Message-ID: <20040125081757.21160.h021.c009.wm@mail.123india.com.criticalpath.net> Dear Friends, Here is the first posting about my project: Community Ecological Mappaing The eastward expansion of the city is causing the fast transformation of the semi rural and rural landscape into highly urban settlements in the eastern fringe of Calcutta. Kalikapur, a densely populated locality inhabited mostly by the people from poorer economic strata, a unique ecosystem with very rich mosaic of original vegetation, with groves of indigenous trees and bushes, swamps with reeds, and number of water bodies, has strangely survived the onslaught and now remains as a refuge threatened by the fast approaching urban expansion. A considerable number of Kalikapur residents have significant dependence on the local wilderness for their dietary supplements, fuel and fodder. They, and particularly their children, are quite knowledgeable about these available, ‘free’ resources, in the locality and also in adjacent urban settlements. The proposed research is aimed to study such unique practice of resource use, sharing, and indigenous knowledge, in a framework of urban-semi-urban ecosystem. An outline ecological mapping along with the ethnographic history of Kalikapur region is being planned. The project also plans to document the process of urban transformation. A small group comprises of knowledgeable kids from Kalikapur, and kids from the adjacent urban locality, who have operational computer knowledge, would be formed. Kalikapur kids will work as field guides and the urban ones will take charge of the documentation (paper, photographs, computer storage) mainly. A participatory bio-resource documentation, and exchange of knowledge and skill between these two groups would be actively initiated. The media forms for documentation will be photographs, GPS data reading, audio recordings, and sketches. From abhayraj at nls.ac.in Sun Jan 25 23:07:57 2004 From: abhayraj at nls.ac.in (abhayraj at nls.ac.in) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 23:07:57 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] First Posting - Anonymous Notice Boards and Universities Message-ID: <1197.219.65.142.142.1075052277.squirrel@mail.nls.ac.in> Hi Here's details of our project entitled 'The Need for Anonymous Notice Boards in Universities in Bangalore: An Empirical Study.' The Genesis of the Plot: Being students at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) at Bangalore, we are part of a geographically, culturally, and socially, diverse student community. Such diversity often leads to broad-ranging and conflicting views on most subjects, often characterized by intellectually provocative ‘notice wars’ that mark the many student notice boards on campus. The institutional structures and policies ‘promoting’ free speech however, sometimes, inadvertently or not, tend to stifle the freedom of speech and expression. For example, the NLSIU’s central notice board called 19(1)(a), named ironically enough after Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India that enshrines the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression, currently has one significant pre-condition before any notice may be put up: all notices must necessarily bear the name of the author. Anonymous notices consequently, are most often taken off or are rendered un-readable as a result of being whitened out/scratched out. The results of such a policy are plainly visible in the hurriedly scribbled graffiti in the bathrooms, on the unsigned messages carved out on benches in classrooms and tables in the canteen, and in the significant ‘whitened-out’ patches that mark the notices on 19(1)(a). The Project: In most scenarios, the tyranny of the majority results in the non-representation of unpopular, marginal and non-conformist voices, due to the great likelihood of retaliation in diverse manifestations. Anonymity serves as a shield against such imposition of silence. Despite the exalted position that free speech occupies in the constitutional jurisprudence of India, the mere absence of anonymity will, in most cases, stifle the expression of alternate viewpoints, which by virtue of the vulnerability of their proponents instead remain unsaid. The marginalized viewpoint would rather remain cocooned as that which is un-said and un-named than be persecuted as what is said and named. At the same time, anonymity necessarily entails several significant ramifications: the lack of accountability and the consequent likelihood of hate-speech, the risks of deception, manipulation, and the overall deterioration of public debate, etc. Hence anonymity can factor as a critical component of both hate speech and free speech in any setting, a dubious distinction which is often neutralized by the impetuous compromise of anonymity per se. Such contrasting facets of anonymity, provide for a particularly interesting study in the conceptualized urban space of an Indian university, not only for its symbolic and actual representation of larger socio-politico-economic realities but also for some of the unique attributes that are peculiar to universities in India. Firstly, the conceptualization of university education as that which is acquired solely by the top-down transmission of information from the faculty to the student as opposed to the holistic approach that emphasizes inter-student interactions could relegate public debate generated within the student body to a position of overall inferiority and insignificance. This in turn leads to a diminished overall importance being attributed to student expression and debate, which simplifies the moral dilemma involved in choosing between anonymity and hate speech. Secondly, the process of identity formation within a university community is largely contingent on a constructed homogenized identity. The expression of radically divergent views necessarily results in the polarization of the student community as mainstream and fringe. In such a context, an anonymous space assumes far greater importance, by serving as a forum for the expression of one’s views without necessarily being determinative of one’s position within the university hierarchy. Thirdly, given the nature of student relationships and interactions in a university setting, the possibility of and the consequences of hate-speech are particularly heightened within the space of a university in India. It is within this framework that we plan on studying the incidence and characteristics of hate-speech, the existence, characteristics and functioning of institutional and non-institutional forums for anonymous speech and expression, and the linkages, if any, between anonymous speech forums and hate-speech, in universities across Bangalore. Work-Plan: We plan on visiting a fairly sizeable number of colleges and universities across Bangalore city, with a view towards ascertaining and documenting the following factors: 1. Existing policies relating to freedom of speech and expression and to hate speech individually. 2. Whether there exists any institutionalized medium for anonymous communications and expression. 3. If yes, what frequency of identifiable ‘hate-speech’ has marked the usage of the same? [Through a) documentation of observed activity within a set time-frame and b) narrated incidents.] 4. If not, whether actual and potential users have created any non-institutional channel for anonymous expression. Consequently, the form, nature, and impact of such a medium including the institutional and non-institutional response to the same. 5. Also, the frequency of occurrence and the nature of hate-speech when in settings where no anonymous forum is available. 6. Ascertaining the existence of trends or commonalities as regards the subject matter of anonymous postings. 7. Situations where a working balance between the promotion of free speech and the prevention of hate-speech have been reached, and policies, rules, and regulations, related thereto. We plan on obtaining information to such issues, through actual observance of student activity on notice boards and other forums of expression in universities through a period of 4-5 months, and through responses made to a questionnaire that we will circulate amongst a large body of students from medical, engineering, arts, and legal universities in Bangalore. The project will be detailed through a written paper, questionnaire responses, photographs, documentation, literature survey, etc. Given the elusive nature of the subject matter of the project, we have been toying with the feasibility and utility of carrying out an ‘experiment’ of sorts that would more pro-actively evoke identifiable responses. Any suggestions in this regard would be most welcome. We look forward towards receiving personal narratives and suggestions regarding the project. Email: abhayraj at nls.ac.in Date: 25/01/2004 - Abhayraj Naik & Deanne Uyangoda From 133344 at soas.ac.uk Sun Jan 25 23:55:02 2004 From: 133344 at soas.ac.uk (TARAN KHAN) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 18:25:02 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] abstract Message-ID: <1075055102.b27e31e0133344@soas.ac.uk> Working Title Very Progressive People: Stories of Women and Movements from 1950s Bombay Sometime in 1950, three young men belonging to the Communist Party moved into a flat in Bombay together. Their baggage included privileged family backgrounds, a liberal arts education, literary leanings, membership of the Progressive Writers Movement. They also brought along their wives. The men- Ali Sardar Jafri, S M Mehdi and Kaifi Azmi- emerged as vigorous and prominent participants in the Urdu literary renaissance as well as the gamut of social/cultural movements that emerged in post-Independence Bombay. Their wives—Sultana, Zehra and Shaukat-- became friends, and keen observers-participants of the various initiatives (IPTA, activist journalism) their husbands’ political affiliations opened up to them. This project proposes to document their witnessing of these processes of flux and transformation-- as women, as wives and as friends. Their shared time in the “Red flat”- an experiment in community living, and a time of bonding and exploration—forms the thematic and chronological reference point for this project. The attempt is to create a record of experience, an excavation of memory that operates at two (related) levels. One, to achieve a view of the new paradigm our protagonists found themselves in- a life of radical ideas, heady poetry and dreams as well as Spartan living –particularly as manifested in the arena of the domestic and everyday life. Second, to map the processes of change and reinvention within the women. Of interest here is their negotiation of their ‘pasts’—of being well born, conservatively reared Muslim women—in creating a delicate balance with their current bohemian reality. This includes their forays into new and hitherto taboo domains like theatre, performance and broadcasting. Our focus is thus on the journeys made by these women; equally important is their telling of these experiences-- the manner in which they perceive their own behaviour and where they locate (their) ‘revolutions'. The city of Bombay provides the backdrop, and also the context in which these processes are played out. The urban experience of buses, cramped living space and immigrant dilemmas is central to the protagonists’ narratives and forms a thread of enquiry in the project. The central objective of this project is thus to achieve an understanding of the experience of being a woman- and particular kind of woman, in that particular milieu. It aims at a documentation of narratives of the mundane—anecdotes and observations from everyday routines—that provide a view of a critical but understudied period of social/cultural transformation, seen through the lens of gender and memory. The end result will thus be a record, incorporating various levels of narration.  One, the spoken word. Audio recordings of the protagonists recounting events and experiences—a telling of their lives, as seen by them.  Two, the visual. Still photographs and slides of the women and the spaces they occupy now—in their homes and in the public domain. These will be layered with reproductions of photographs from the 1950’s from their own collections.  Three, text. This will include excerpts from letters and journals, notes to each other or themselves. An important consideration that will shape the end product is to allow for a relatively undirected telling of the stories. While author intervention is to an extent inevitable in such a project, my concern is to break with the trend in dealing with Muslim women of producing victimologies or apologies on behalf of this ‘constituency’. The attempt will be to allow a conversation between women who lived through a particular period in the past and their audience in the present, along themes of identity, freedom and communal divides that have tremendous resonance for women (particularly Muslim women) today. From achellappa at yahoo.com Mon Jan 26 10:33:52 2004 From: achellappa at yahoo.com (=?iso-8859-1?q?Aarathi=20Chellappa?=) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 05:03:52 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] First posting on Understanding the Patenting of Traditional Knowledge Message-ID: <20040126050352.72446.qmail@web41503.mail.yahoo.com> Patents have traditionally been awarded to promote invention and innovation. The aim of establishing a patent system was to encourage inventors in various fields of technology to develop new and useful products and/or processes and disclose them to the general public, in return for which, a monopoly over the manufacture or use of the product of process was awarded to the inventor. However, in order to qualify for a patent, the invention or innovation would have to be new, novel and useful. Whether a patent is new in its particular field of technology is tested against the existing body of knowledge in that field. In the light of this newness requirement, it is surprising that over the past few years, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (“USPTO”) has granted patents over products or processes already known in other parts of the world. I will examine patents granted by the USPTO over inventions or innovations that were already known in traditional knowledge systems in other parts of the world. The outcome of the research would be to understand why such patents were granted. There are numerous issues that arise in such an undertaking. Primarily, the concepts involved will have to be defined. What is prior art? What is traditional knowledge? Etc. Also, I am studying the overlap between traditional knowledge and prior art. In some cases, like turmeric, the knowledge is fairly widespread enough for it to be treated as known to the general public. In other cases, the knowledge is limited to a few members of a particular group. Would that also equate to prior art? Is such equivalence fair? I will also be examining what a prior art search would cover and what the limitations of a prior art search are. Another issue of concern is whether patent drafting methods can be adopted to avoid effective prior art searches? As part of my study, I will be examining the various attempts being made by organizations to protect traditional knowledge. Several moves are being made to database traditional knowledge, therefore making it available for prior art searches by patent offices worldwide. However, there is a possibility that careful patent drafting may frustrate these efforts. The materials that will be studied are the actual patent applications, articles and books on the subject, relevant case law and national and international laws. I hope to visit CSIR in Delhi to learn from them what efforts are being made to prevent the turmeric, basmati and neem situations from recurring. I will also visit other organizations in India that are undertaking similar efforts. The first phase is a review of literature and is underway. I have begun by reading available articles on the area, currently articles available electronically. I will be visiting libraries in the course of the next week. I look forward to feedback, comments etc. Thanks, Aarathi. ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" your friends today! Download Messenger Now http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html From sappho1999 at rediffmail.com Sun Jan 25 10:45:09 2004 From: sappho1999 at rediffmail.com (Sappho for Equality) Date: 25 Jan 2004 05:15:09 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] First posting for Sappho for Equality(Abir Neogy), Independent Fellow, January, 2004 Message-ID: <20040125051509.30043.qmail@webmail9.rediffmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040125/9bb53bcb/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- The burden of isolation, the torment of intolerance, the curse of invisibility, the deep ambiguity about homosexuality and lastly the overwhelming silence about the very existence of women with same sex preference worked as the impetus to find out like-minded people to build a support from within. Even this was not that smooth. The six women from Kolkata who founded Sappho, the only support group for lesbian, bisexual and transgendered women in eastern India, had to bank on support groups from outside the city to come closer. Immediate after the release of the film “Fire” as a response to a supportive article in a leading Bengali newspaper, a series of letters came up and proved the very existence of lesbians in Kolkata and put aside all the hesitation and rethinking about being organized. Thus Sappho came into being in 20th June, 1999. This study will narrate the organized effort of lesbians in Kolkata from its inception till date. Also it will highlight the facts about the hidden violence, which each and every woman with same sex preference comes across in life at any form. From sankarshan at hotpop.com Mon Jan 26 20:47:08 2004 From: sankarshan at hotpop.com (Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 20:47:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Abstract of study on GNU/Linux L10n initiatives and ICT4Defforts Message-ID: <001501c3e41f$7bd3c0e0$22023c0a@Dias> Hi, As part of the requirement for the CSDS-Independent Research Fellowship 2004, appended below is the abstract of the Study on the subject of GNU/Linux L10N initiatives and ICT4D efforts. Warm regards Sankarshan Preamble --------- Localisation (hereinafter abbreviated as L10n) have as the core objective the desire to take computing to the masses. L10n initiatives work with the entire GNU/Linux toolchain and existing distributions conforming to recent LSB specifications. Information and Communication Technologies (hereinafter abbreviated as ICT) are being gradually adapted to ensure that the 'digital divide' is successfully bridged. Using ICT for development has been the objective of ICT4D. L10n and ICT4D are possess a dynamic synergy so far as the broad aims and objectives are concerned. Title of Study --------------- "GNU/Linux L10n initiatives and their impact on ICT4D efforts with special relevance to management of such projects, integration and collaboration protocols, tools and methodologies". Short term objectives of the Study ----------------------------------- Analysing L10n initiatives in the perspective of ICT4D implementations has the immediate result in producing models of process(es) and protocol(s) that can be replicated and redeployed with customisation(s). Such a repository of models are useful in testing out L10n efforts and incorporating user feedback through a Participatory Model. Aim of the Study ---------------- In India, the major L10n initiatives include those for Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam and Marathi. These projects are being taken up for discussion as they show a considerable level of project maturity as well as proven releases of ISO images (or the project roadmap is public and in place). The aim of this Study is: · to understand the publicly available roadmaps for the formal conclusion of the first phase deliverables, to analyse the project and release management protocols in place · to propose a framework for collaboration with other L10n initiatives in order to ensure effective and optimised sharing of technological know-how · to analyse ICT4D efforts based on these localised GNU/Linux implementations and releases · to study the technological limitations of working with limited releases of localised applications · to enumerate and quantify the various economic aspects of ICT4D implementations · to propose optimisation of existing management practices and evaluate various independent paths · to locate and identify possible 'index cases' and test bench areas leading to a self-sustaining and viable ICT4D implementation · to create a model for successful replication of feasible implementations · to analyse regions of overlap between successful ICT4D installations and regional GNU/Linux L10n efforts · to propose a model repository for various generic applications as 'inclusive ICT4D' Layout and methodology of Study ---------------------------------- The Study is research-oriented and will thus include both primary and secondary research. The aim and scope of the proposal includes interaction with various members of Indic Consortium to understand the aims and objectives as mandated by the charter of the Consortium. It also includes first hand research of the currently running (pilot, test case and phase-in) ICT4D implementations, analysing media reports on the same and the financial projections of such implementations. The Study will include investigation of implementations of ICT4D programs on a global scale to rationalise the objectives and strategic goals. Evaluating such short-term strategic goals and long-term tactical initiatives on the basis of a ranking scale will lead to creation of a framework leading to a proposal for guidelines of ICT4D implementations. L10n efforts and initiatives are the delivery platform towards ICT4D. Thus the project involves detail study of various L10n initiatives and the relevant spinoff projects that are potential candidates for incorporation in an ICT4D effort. As part of the effort, it will also include investigation into 'Low Cost Computing' methods that focus on integrating Free/Libre Open Source Software development models towards dissemination of information. The Study shall be modelled on the method of iterative and regular releases of whitepapers and case studies. Such releases will address either one particular domain (or aspect) of the Study title or evaluate and propose methods and tools for rapid scalability of ICT4D projects. Regular releases of such project documents on mailing lists (such as BytesForAll, PRC) will ensure peer review and feedback on the methods employed to collate and collect data and analyse the same. The objective of the research is to produce a document that will serve as a guideline to various implementations by providing case studies and templates. The final project document release will provide a conceptual understanding of the various L10n initiatives and propose areas of collaboration and tie-up/tie-in together with methods of doing the same. A temporary content platform is created at www.geocities.com/sankarshan76/csds-study/index.htm to make content available in human readable format. This will be taken up in right earnest after a proper domain has been purchased and a Content Management System put in place. E-mail address for contact is sankarshan at hotpop dot com A related aspect of the Study is conducting talks and presentations at various academic institutions which are involved in F/L OSS initiatives with the aim of creating a technologically aware volunteer/enthusiast base. Thus, it also includes constant interaction with persons interested in education to explore new avenues towards promotion and implementation of F/L OSS based ICT4D efforts using both bottom-up and top-down approach. The project approach is two-fold: [i] investigate existing domains of ICT4D by interaction with the existing networks in order to understand processes [ii] participate in creation of new niche systems where ICT4D experiments can be carried out As part of point [ii] above, a list to address the issue of 'Low Cost Computing' (and the various contributory factors) has been initiated at Freelists.org. The project also requires closer interaction with members of WSF and FSF-India involved in the technology research. Initiation of participatory discussions with technology transfer organisations like Forum of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists (FOSET) will lead to a greater appreciation of the ground-level realities of technological challenges. The project will also include discussions with senior officials of the Government in order to provide a balanced perspective of the scenario. The Study will also take into account the roadmaps and strategic aims of the various stakeholders in the domain of L10n and ICT4D. Such an inclusive approach encourages a convergence to emerge. ----------------- Knowledge should be shared www.plos.org I Support PLoS Public Library of Science ----------------- --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.564 / Virus Database: 356 - Release Date: 01/19/2004 From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Tue Jan 27 09:53:15 2004 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 20:23:15 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Muslim popular devotional art in urban context In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20040127042315.11499.qmail@web41305.mail.yahoo.com> Dear friends I am an independent filmmaker and writer based in Delhi, India. I would like to introduce here my research/documentation project (under the Sarai/CSDS fellowships 2004). The topic of this research is "Syncretism in the Popular Art of Muslim Religious Posters in North India: Iconic Devotion in an Iconoclastic Religion". Below is an abstract of the project: Amongst the most vibrant examples of popular visual art found in the Indian towns and cities are the religious posters, calendars and framed pictures depicting deities, saints, places of worship and pilgrimage, and so on. While the religious posters or a Hindu devotee can be found in large numbers and variety, it is also not very difficult to buy posters depicting Muslim themes and folklore. Although most of the Muslim posters in India portray the shrines at Mecca and Medina, or the Quranic verses in calligraphy, it is also common to find portraits of local saints, their tombs, miracles, and other local folklore, represented as vividly as in a Hindu mythological scene, and often employing Hindu symbols and iconography. This proposal seeks to collect the contemporary religious posters depicting Muslim themes from 3-4 locations in north India (namely, Delhi, Ajmer and Lucknow), and analyze their contents, focusing on the symbols of multi-faith or composite culture, besides studying briefly the industry and the artists who manufacture and sell them, the devotees who buy them, the environments where they are adorned, and the reverence they evoke. The study would result in a poster collection and an analysis report, besides some photographs taken during the study. Moreover, a slide show of the posters as well as a portable exhibition could also be curated, subject to the availability of resources. What is important to explore during this study is how this visual depiction and the Muslim iconography as not only been legitimized in Islam (considered a purely iconoclastic faith), but also allowed to thrive in the form of an urban mass culture. Amongst other questions that would be explored are: what inputs/inspirations do these images get from the present day urban popular culture, who conceives the posters, who paints them, the artist's personal attachment with the subject? Who commissions them, who approves/legitimizes them, are these people other than Muslims? How do the orthodox or the purists react to these, and how are the local posters weighed against posters/images from Arabia/Gulf? Incidentally, the devotional posters also share space in the market with many other types of images and devotional items, such as shiny stickers, framed and gold-plated pictures, lampshades, key chains, clocks and electronic gizmos with religious themes. Although we cannot ignore such items while studying our specific images, we need to define our focus. This study/collection shall concentrate on posters and images meant to adorn the walls, bearing Islamic themes or at least some elements/symbols of Muslim folklore. The original images should have been hand-painted by traditional or semi-traditional artists/industry from India/south Asia, in a folk or popular art style. Full photographs and images designed on a computer are to be avoided, although these could be surveyed to see if they reflect the trend of sanitization of faith amongst Indian Muslims, and what space they share with the indigenous posters on a wall. Some more details, images, and updates on this project would also be available on the website: http://www.alif-india.com/popart You are welcome to send comments/suggestions on this project. Yousuf Saeed ysaeed7 at yahoo.com __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ From shireen_mirza at hotmail.com Tue Jan 27 16:38:39 2004 From: shireen_mirza at hotmail.com (Shireen Mirza) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:08:39 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] The Everydays of Eternity: A Study of Muhurrum processions among the Shias Message-ID: The Everydays of Eternity: A Study of Muhurrum processions among the Shias The History Karbala is the cornerstone of institutionalized devotion and mourning (azadari). Its tale is recounted in vivid details in the commemorative gatherings (majalis) during the first two months of the Islamic calendar, Muhurrum and Safar, and throughout the year in various other contexts, such as when personal losses are mourned. For Shias, the event of Karbala is inextricably bound to the issue of succession to the Prophet Mohammed, the issue that caused the first major split in the larger Muslim community: The Prophet had clearly designated his successor in the form of his cousin and son-in-law, Ali b. Abi Talib, after whom the spiritual leadership of the Muslim community would be the sole providence of Ali�s chosen descendants (the Alids). However, after the Prophet�s death, the position of Ali and his descendants was usurped by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and then the Umayyad family. The Alid resistance to this usurpation manifested itself in Karbala when Ali�s son, Hussain, refused to pay allegiance to the Umayyad ruler Yazid.* The Procession During the two months when mourning is observed, the entire community wears black clothes and recalls the tragedy through speeches delivered by the mullahs and through songs sung to the rhythm of beating chests (matham). The first ten days of Muhurrum are recalled as the family of Imam Hussain suffers without food and water (a fact much mourned and exaggerated) and the suffering culminates in death on the tenth day. On the tenth of every Muhurrum, after the afternoon prayers, the Shia men and children gather to form the army that was led to death�with horses, flags and alms; while the women look on, silently beating their chests and the tragic tale is sung as the men bleed their bodies with blades, knives and chains; signifying the battle fought to save the community and thereby immortalized in time as an act of martyrdom. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a topic that has a million resonances with me. I am looking at Muhurrum procession, more popularly called Taziya which is not a mere remembering the holy tragedy of Karbala (680 A.D) but a re-enactment of the war by the entire community every year on the tenth of Muhurrum (4th March this year). The martyrdom of Hussain and his family during the battle of Karbala is singularly the most important historical/religious event around which the notion of a �Shia� community is built. Muhurrum has always always evoked a sense of bewilderment in me, mostly because I couldn�t understand the pain everybody around me felt and because I couldn�t understand why an armed group of men would beat themselves (as opposed to hurting another). And my study intends to do just this� But before I ask the obvious questions, I feel the need to understand basic categories that I might be assuming before looking at Muhurrum and what it means to the Shias. I feel the need to grapple with the term �religion�. What is religion? Why do certain experiences get clubbed as religious? And what is it about the nature of �religious� experience that make it transcend spatial, temporal boundaries�where does the sense of eternity come from? >From time to time, moral sentiments are fanned into strong emotions by ceremonies of intense social interaction, times of religious effervescence, when the moral authority of society is easily assimilated into the idea of God. If most categories of thought can be held in the mind because of the possibility of pointing to the physical object of reference, do not religious categories have a special difficulty in remaining stable since they have no physical reference but refer to society itself, an abstract idea in the minds of those who live together? How do religious concepts get defined and practiced? My project aims at understanding the filtering residue from the 680 AD battle of Karbala, that the Shia community carries with it till today. What ghosts needs to be kept alive, how is it being kept alive and most importantly why is it being kept alive? It isn�t easy to circumscribe experience, religious experience being doubly difficult. S.N. Balagangadhara explains religion as a continuum of human responses to the revelation of the Divine. Religion itself has a history, and as such, it is a part of human history. The history of religion evolves, and this history is the history of the evolving human responses to the revelation of the divine (1994). Balagangadhara proposes a concept of religion, which presupposes the existence of God, of a divine revelation (that would include the presence of a holy book, a messenger of God, a time of revelation). Religion then becomes a historical/epistemological category that is premised on the idea of a single, universal truth. I would like to look at Muhurrum�remembering Karbala as the node at which two divergent ways in which we understand and experience religion intersect. An instance where the demarcations between tradition and religion, practice and proposition, truth and multiple perspectives, blur and something more complicated is operating. I�m making two distinctions here in my conceptual understanding: one between religion and tradition�as a distinction between a single, universal truth and between multi dimensions of truth; of one between propagation and proposition. The other distinction I am making is between the concept religion and an individual�s experience of a religious practice. Karbala cannot be remembered without the belief in Hussain, the family of the prophet, his sacrifice to protect the ideals of Islam and broadly as a religious activity. But then how does it translate itself at an individual level? What are its driving factors? This project will document responses from within and without the Shia community�of what the martyrdom/the procession means to them. I intend covering a range of people�from the religious instructors (who make their money during the two months), to the �progressive� individuals, the spectators, the children (who also participate in the processions). I want to look at the social dynamics of this event, as an occasion for the people to meet, a time to catch up on the gossip and a time when most marriages are arranged. A considerable amount of money is spent to organize the event in terms of infrastructure and mostly on distributing a meal after every majlis, so much so that among the poorer households the occasion is seen as a time to feast. In Raichur, for instance entire villages and communities (including the Christians and Dalits) participate during the procession. It is accompanied with alcohol, merry making and singing the tragic tale of Karbala. How do we understand the different traditions coming together? I would like to capture the pain felt during the procession through pictures and photographs, and understand this pain. Why do the Shias believe in suffering and pain, why is there a sense of sacrificing oneself? I would also be looking at what the Sufi tradition has borrowed from the martyrdom of Hussain, its own poetry and its concept of love. My study will be based in Durul Shifa in Hyderabad old city, where the procession begins at Sur Towk ka Alawa and moves through the city to Moosa naddi and maybe also look at processions in interior districts of Raichur. Please write to me if you have anything you�d like to say or add, and any advice will be most helpful� shireen_mirza at hotmail.com * �Iqbal and Karbala� Syed Akbar Hyder in Cultural Dynamics (3) 2001 _________________________________________________________________ Easiest Money Transfer to India. http://go.msnserver.com/IN/41490.asp Send Money To 6000 Indian Towns. From diya at sarai.net Tue Jan 27 22:08:31 2004 From: diya at sarai.net (diya at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:38:31 +0100 (CET) Subject: [Reader-list] tragic murder of Sarita and Mahesh in Gaya and response to it Message-ID: <33114.210.7.79.44.1075221511.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> MessageFYI PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY Dear friends, Most of you must have heard that Sarita and Mahesh, two activists working on land issues in Gaya (Bihar), have been shot dead "by the local land mafia with the support of the RJD MLA" (I am quoting a message received from Biraj). We cannot let this go. Protests are being organised in Patna on 31 January and in Delhi on 1 February. Please spread the word and mobilise widely. The contact person in Delhi is Apoorvanand (apoorvanand at rediffmail.com, tel 2649 5976). I have also asked Vivek (vivekdse at vsnl.net, tel 3091 7116) to start a temporary e-group to facilitate the mobilisation efforts. Further info will be circulated through that e-group a.s.a.p. We share the grief of Sarita and Mahesh's family and friends, especially Pushpendra (Sarita's husband) who is a dear friend of many of us, as was Sarita. Jean Dreze -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040127/739b6107/attachment.html From joshirutul at yahoo.co.in Tue Jan 27 16:57:12 2004 From: joshirutul at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?Rutul=20Joshi?=) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:27:12 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] 1st Posting.... Colours of Surat Message-ID: <20040127112712.99706.qmail@web8201.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Everyone, HI, Let me introduce myself. I am Rutul Joshi. I am Lecturer at Faculty of Architecture, SCET, Surat. I am an Architect- Urban Planner (completed from CEPT, Ahmedabad in 2003). The following is my research proposal for the fellowship program 2004. Working Title"Composition of Surat: A Study in urban cultural confluence and conflicts" Conceptual Premises – City as an archive of cultural confluence The flows of diverse streams of culture have enriched various facets of the public life such as music, literature, architecture and social relations. Various ethnic groups coming by the sea route or by the land route in Gujarat have interacted and contributed to the art and public culture over the centuries. The aspects of confluence of culture have not only influenced the society at the elemental level but it has however touched upon the ‘deep structures’. Cities document history through its form and functioning. Various layers of Social and spatial composition of the city gives possibilities to explore narratives of the past that represents these confluence. It is necessary to unravel some of these narratives to understand the public culture of the cities. This kind of search and bringing it out in the public domain is very much relevant in the context of emerging situations of communal segregation in the cities of Gujarat. Context – The City of Surat The city of Surat in south Gujarat has played an important role in economic activities and cultural exchanges, as it is one of the oldest mercantile centers in Gujarat. Surat is located on the banks of river Tapi (Tapti) in the South Gujarat Region. It has witnessed a long history of trade-commerce and subsequent cultural imports since the early decades of the 17th century. However, from such a prominence during this period it fell to the position of a sub-regional urban center by the end of the eighteenth century. It did not take a long time for a section of the local traders to find avenues of capital employment especially in small-scale industries within and around the region. Surat is emerging as a very ‘strong’ economy that is based on textile, diamond cutting-polishing, pharmaceuticals and agricultural products. It is one of the fasted growing urban area in the country with its population count reaching up to 3 millions by the end of 2003, now being known as the second largest city in Gujarat (12th largest in the country). The city has grown immensely in the last decade resulted by the continuous male migration from the various parts of the country. This has lead to the rise in the slum population of the city and sharp reduction in the sex ratio between 1991-2001. A study by Bishwaroop Das[1] reveals that in ever increasing slum population of the city, about 80 percentage of the population consists migrants from various parts of the country. Industrial ghettos created by continuing rural-urban migration and increasing disparity within the city are another facet of the city which known for its prosperity, pomp and glitter. Today, Surat urban agglomeration is an amalgamation of the ‘original’ suratis – Khatris, Ghanchis, Bohra Muslims, Kolis, Macchis and the ‘outsiders’ like tribal from the immediate sub region, kathiawadis from Saurastra, Marwadis from Rajasthan, Jaunpuriyas from the Eastern UP, Udiya, Bihari and many other groups. These ‘outsiders’ have located themselves in the different parts of Surat and the city is composed by the dominance of a particular community or regional groups in the various parts of the city. Focus – Narratives of confluences and conflicts Every city develops its own culture in the course of time. It reflects in language, literature, lifestyle, food habits and architecture. Surat has a very different cultural milieu compared to the other cities of Gujarat. Being one of the oldest mercantile hub of Gujarat and the center of activities in the South Gujarat region, it has developed its own urban public culture with cosmopolitan overtures. The city has significantly contributed to Gujarati literature especially poetry. The city has unique food culture which is reflected in the proverbs like – ‘Surat nu Jaman and Kashi nu Maran’ meaning ‘Food in Surat and Death in Kashi (secures you place in heaven). Popular food items with the strange names like locho, ghotalo etc. are not much heard about in the other parts of Gujarat. The city also has a reputation for the slangs and other such innovations being part of the local lingo. Gujarati Gazal as an example of confluence of cultures Gazal is a very recent form of poetry for Gujarati literature and probably a prime example of cultural confluence in urban context. Gazals in Gujarati has clear references of Urdu literature and grammar at the same time; it has been adopted for spiritual and religious overtures with the references of Krisha-Radha. Many of the Urdu Shayars started writings Gazals in Gujarati since the pre-independence days. Surat witnessed formulation of some of the most profound Gazals in Gujarati. In fact, it is one of the few cities where the Gazal form of Gujarati poetry was prospered. The culture of mushayaras and baithaks very much existed in Surat. Areas like Zampa Bazaar, known for the non-vegetarian delicacies were also famous for the regular mushayaras for Gujarati and Urdu Gazals. This study is aimed at exploring such narratives and spaces that gives accounts of cultural confluence in the urban context. The predominant ‘Surati’ Culture and the conflicts within The recent debate of ‘Mumbai for the Mumbaikars’ was the product of exclusivist socio-political mindset, which is trying to invoke the predominant consciousness against the subjugated one. The question is ‘what is Surati about Surat?’ Is it just the food culture, different accent and lingo, commercial activities and cultural spats? This leads to larger level debates about the sustenance of the predominant local culture. About who belongs to the city and which predominant culture represents the city in the today’s time? The tribal population coming from the immediate sub region and which is part of the eastern tribal belt of Gujarat, do they really belong to the city? Or they have always been excluded from the discourse of predominant ‘Surati’ culture? Did the tribal settling down in urban areas sustain their cultural practices as a parallel culture or they merged in the predominant culture? The answers of these questions need to be explored through rigorous fieldwork and research. This study will also attempt at discovering narratives that have existed either as part of the predominant ‘Surati’ culture or as part of other ‘excluded’ sub-cultures. --------------------------------- [1] Bishwaroop Das (1994): Socio-Economic study of slums in Surat city, Center for Social Studies (CSS), Surat. Yahoo! India Mobile: Ringtones, Wallpapers, Picture Messages and more.Download now. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040127/644ac989/attachment.html From rupali_gupte at rediffmail.com Tue Jan 27 08:36:42 2004 From: rupali_gupte at rediffmail.com (Rupali Gupte) Date: 27 Jan 2004 03:06:42 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] first posting- Tactical City- Sarai fellowship Message-ID: <20040127030642.19406.qmail@webmail29.rediffmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040127/e974eff1/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- Hello, I am a fellow at Sarai, an architect by training and an urbanist by interest and profession. Tactical City is an attempt to write an alternative history of Bombay's urbanism. The fellowship project will be a re-representation of this in a web format. Here is an elaborate abstract of the project: Regards, Rupali Gupte TACTICAL CITY, TENALI RAMA AND OTHER STORIES OF MUMBAI’S URBANISM Tactical City ‘TACTICAL CITY, TENALI RAMA AND OTHER STORIES OF MUMBAI’S URBANISM’, is a fictitious history of Mumbai. The contention of the thesis is that conditions in most third world cities have gone beyond the means of any rational positivist planning. All through Mumbai’s political and economic history pervading power structures have ensured a lopsided distribution of resources. Through new structural adjustments this has carried forward to the contemporary global context. Contemporary global cities now face escalating problems of environmental deterioration, burdening of infrastructure, lack of housing, growing informalisation of labour coupled with declining bargaining capacity, unemployment and an increasing polarization of economy and on a cultural level a loss of identity. Many of these have been inherited as consequences of earlier modes of production. The sheer scale and extent of the gap now requires NEW EYES to see the present conditions and NEW TOOLS to OPERATE and perhaps a NEW IMAGINATION to intervene in these conditions. TACTICAL CITY is such an IMAGINATION. Tactical City is a way of thinking about cities and is perhaps applicable to other developing contexts. The context here however is Mumbai. Tactical City derives it name from Michel De Certeau’s thesis of tactics vs. strategies: where he says that strategies are the tools of the dominant elite while TACTICS work in the shadow of strategies and are ‘an art of the weak’ , which form mute processes that organise socio economic order. It thereby bases itself on De Certeau’s argument against Foucault’s thesis of an all pervading power structure, to quote De Certeau, “ If it is true that the grid of discipline is everywhere becoming clearer and more extensive, it is all the more urgent to discover how an entire society resists being reduced to it, what popular procedures (also miniscule and quotidian) manipulate the mechanisms of discipline and conform to them, only to evade them and finally what ways of operating form the consumer’s (or dominee’s ) side of the mute processes that organize socio- economic order. “ Tactical City is a means of bringing these mute processes to mainstream discourse and exploiting their creative potentials and their constant attempts at bridging the gaps between the dominant imagination and the aspirations of the city. The thesis believes that the TACTICAL is an appropriate metaphor to conceptualise the context as well as an important tool to formulate interventions in the city. Methods and devices Tactical City, as a fictitious History of Mumbai’s urbanism, uses many devices, literary and visual – the protagonist of the story is the popular south Indian folkloric figure Tenali Rama. The choice of Tenali Rama is primarily because he is known as a simple, everyday character who transforms the status quo with his tactics. The stories that follow do two things: one they help build the nuances of the cultural context of Mumbai and two, they make way for a tactical intervention, which could be a design intervention or an analytical one. Existing format The existing format of the research is a mixed media novel. The structure of the novel is tripartite. One part presents the history of Mumbai as it shifts through the political and economic structures and their consequences on urbanism, the second distorts this rendition of history with the infiltration of various tactical interventions via the character of Tenali Rama in the city and the third is a device, which employs relevant cultural and urban theorists as markers of certain ways of thinking about the urban. Margin notes provide a brief account of their theses. Objective of the project The objective of the project is to add to this existing body of work done by the author and to convert it to an appropriate (web based) digital format for 2 reasons: 1. To open out a larger dialogical space for the work in the public domain through a web based format. 2. To use an appropriate digital interface to present the complex notion of a TACTICAL history of Mumbai, further enhancing the research’s tripartite structure. The website is seen as yet another tactical device geared towards dissemination, representing multiple histories and involving reader interactivity. From ahmed.109 at osu.edu Wed Jan 28 04:45:21 2004 From: ahmed.109 at osu.edu (Waquar Ahmed) Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 18:15:21 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Understanding the Patenting of Traditional Knowledge-In response In-Reply-To: <20040126050352.72446.qmail@web41503.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <5.2.1.1.2.20040127175135.0267ce90@pop.service.ohio-state.edu> The issue discussed below is of great interest to me, especially since my M.Phil dissertation at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi was on Traditional Knowledge Systems amongst indigenous (tribal) people in India. Through this dissertation, I have examined traditional knowledge as an essential part of the identity construction of indigenous people and its usefulness in their lives. I have also examined how colonialism, modernization (including the idea of nation state, national laws, dam building, etc) and globalization vis-a-vis WTO and the intellectual property rights regime have tended to dis-empower indigenous people and has failed to understand the very essence of these people's way of life. It is important to understand as to how these knowledge systems come into existence and evolve within a community and that the evolution of this intellectual property is very different from 'formal inventions' that take place primarily in laboratories with its inventors being recognizable as an individual or a group of individuals (private ownership). Most indigenous communities in India have their own 'traditional healers' or 'witch doctors' who have in depth understanding of their natural surroundings and they are the ones who know how to use the plants and other biotic and abiotic resources as medicines. Their knowledge is part of the oral tradition which is passed down from one generation of 'traditional healers' or 'witch doctors' to another. Traditional knowledge related to agricultural and hunting practice is known and evolves within the community and is know to most members within the community. Here, I do not intend to say that traditional knowledge related to healing/medicines do not evolve on account of contribution/feedback from the community, in fact it does. Unless community rights over intellectual property is recognized, it will not be possible to economically reward the inventors of traditional medicines or seeds or resources that is useful to society at large (from which most of the modern medicines and seeds are derived) and Pharmaceutical and seed companies are going to contest any such effort with all their financial might. You are most welcomed to get back to me with questions on the social, political and ecological dimensions of this discourse. Besides, you could also meet Dr. B. S. Butola at the Centre for Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University while you are there in Delhi. He is a genius and meeting him will be worth the effort in the context of your project. Another person that you could meet is Dr. Suman Sahai of Gene Campaign (an NGO in Delhi). Gene Campaign specializes on the issue that you are examining. They work for the rights of farmers and indigenous peoples vis-a-vis issues of biopiracy, TRIPS, WTO, et al. Their website is www.genecampaign.org . You could also go through my M.Phil dissertation (and take note of all the references) which is titled as 'Society Nature Relations and Traditional Knowledge of Indigenous Communities: A Case Study of Uttaranchal'. Though the title might sound misleading, it contains in detail all that I have written above briefly. Best wishes, Waquar Ahmed. Graduate Teaching Associate and Ph.D. Student, Department of Geography, 1155 Derby Hall, North Oval Mall. Ohio State University, Columbus 43210. Email: ahmed.109 at osu.edu At 05:03 AM 1/26/2004 +0000, Aarathi Chellappa wrote: >Patents have traditionally been awarded to promote >invention and innovation. The aim of establishing a >patent system was to encourage inventors in various >fields of technology to develop new and useful >products and/or processes and disclose them to the >general public, in return for which, a monopoly over >the manufacture or use of the product of process was >awarded to the inventor. However, in order to qualify >for a patent, the invention or innovation would have >to be new, novel and useful. > >Whether a patent is new in its particular field of >technology is tested against the existing body of >knowledge in that field. In the light of this newness >requirement, it is surprising that over the past few >years, the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office >("USPTO") has granted patents over products or >processes already known in other parts of the world. > >I will examine patents granted by the USPTO over >inventions or innovations that were already known in >traditional knowledge systems in other parts of the >world. The outcome of the research would be to >understand why such patents were granted. There are >numerous issues that arise in such an undertaking. >Primarily, the concepts involved will have to be >defined. What is prior art? What is traditional >knowledge? Etc. Also, I am studying the overlap >between traditional knowledge and prior art. In some >cases, like turmeric, the knowledge is fairly >widespread enough for it to be treated as known to the >general public. In other cases, the knowledge is >limited to a few members of a particular group. Would >that also equate to prior art? Is such equivalence >fair? I will also be examining what a prior art search >would cover and what the limitations of a prior art >search are. > >Another issue of concern is whether patent drafting >methods can be adopted to avoid effective prior art >searches? As part of my study, I will be examining the >various attempts being made by organizations to >protect traditional knowledge. Several moves are being >made to database traditional knowledge, therefore >making it available for prior art searches by patent >offices worldwide. However, there is a possibility >that careful patent drafting may frustrate these >efforts. > >The materials that will be studied are the actual >patent applications, articles and books on the >subject, relevant case law and national and >international laws. I hope to visit CSIR in Delhi to >learn from them what efforts are being made to prevent >the turmeric, basmati and neem situations from >recurring. I will also visit other organizations in >India that are undertaking similar efforts. The first >phase is a review of literature and is underway. I >have begun by reading available articles on the area, >currently articles available electronically. I will be >visiting libraries in the course of the next week. > >I look forward to feedback, comments etc. >Thanks, >Aarathi. > > >________________________________________________________________________ >Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" >your friends today! Download Messenger Now >http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html >_________________________________________ >reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. >Critiques & Collaborations >To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with >subscribe in the subject header. >List archive: From geert at desk.nl Wed Jan 28 13:20:05 2004 From: geert at desk.nl (geert lovink) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:50:05 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Police in India push cybercafe restrictions Message-ID: <08c501c3e573$581d2290$7602a8c0@geert> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3431645.stm Internet cafe owners in India's commercial and entertainment capital, Bombay, are angry at plans to regulate the city's cyber centres. They object to plans which would force them to keep records of people using their internet facilities. The proposals will be put to the state legislature next month. Police say they need new powers to prevent the misuse of the web by what they call terrorists, hackers, paedophiles and users of adult sites. If the proposals are adopted by the state of Maharashtra, cyber cafe owners will need to buy a license to set up shop. They will be legally required to install software filters to screen out pornography and unsuitable content. They will crucially have to ask potential surfers to fill out lengthy forms listing addresses, telephone numbers and other details. All of these would legally have to be made available to the police, if required. Cyber cafe customers would need to display photo identity cards. Only then could they go online. ... Sincerely, Christopher Chiu Technology Policy Analyst American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street New York NY 10004 USA Phone: 212-549-2535 E-mail: cchiu at aclu.org From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Jan 28 22:17:55 2004 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 22:17:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Understanding the Patenting of Traditional Knowledge-In response In-Reply-To: <5.2.1.1.2.20040127175135.0267ce90@pop.service.ohio-state.edu> References: <5.2.1.1.2.20040127175135.0267ce90@pop.service.ohio-state.edu> Message-ID: <200401282217.55608.jeebesh@sarai.net> I had made some notes during the workshop 'IP and Social Knowledge' (Sarai/Hivos/ALF, Nov.03) trying to tie up the various strands in the discussions. What follows is a version of these notes (primarily engaging with TK). I am sure many of the list members who participated in the workshop will have much more to add and share. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on Social Knowledge and IP December, 2003 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- i) Community based knowledge systems/ practices 'Communities' needs to be understood as `fuzzy` (Lawrence). This fuzzyness refers to not-so-clear boundaries, evolving and layered protocols of creation, sharing and transmission. These knowledges have certain qualities: - They have emerged from collective social practices. - They have a temporal depth that is difficult to quantify. - They are about materials and processes. - The laboratory of innovation and experimentation is the field and, in this sense, open. - They are imbricated in complicated practices of exclusion and heirarchies. - The transmission of these knowledges have been through oral cultural forms, hereditary practices and mediation of local markets. - They have survived as common resource, and without determinate authorship claims. It is important to recognise that a large base of this knowledge has eroded over the last 200 years. It lies scattered, forgotten, out of practice/use; some alive due to hybrid practices, and some alive due to stubborn practices. Its very survival shows that it has a sustainability basis not yet properly appreciated. Here it is also critical to understand that these knowledges have survived through violent histories of dispossesion and inferiorisation; and thus a large number of its practitioners are without much social resources or social representations. ii) Legal Entity : NGOs Many NGOs have, over a long period, been working on local knowledge and practices. These practitioners have over a period of time documented, collected and organised a large number of these practices, proccesses and materials. The processes of collection have not been easy and have had to be done over a long period of gathering information and creating a sense of conservation. Here, it is critical to recognise that a simple practice of collecting varieties of `rice-seeds` is not easy as this is part of a larger politics of seeds that emerged with the Green revolution. This collection and documentation has been achieved within a politics of knowledge that has been in favour of a dominant paradigm of science and technology research. (In this I would request you to see the career of two biologists, Richaria and Swaminathan.) Now. There are very many NGOs with a huge collection of materials and processes and a `goodwill` within communities. Usually they have the consent from the communities about holding the materials and the knolwedge about processes. iii) Enter Multi-lateral global legal instruments. TRIPS onwards. Here the language of intellectual property is introduced into this knowledge space. The space of the IP regimes is made broader to cover huge domains of materials and practices. The critical factor is the protection given to new research that emerges from these earlier knowledges, primarily through patents. Patents are disclosures with strict monopoly over usage. Here we need to recognise the State functionaries as an important player. Like all IP insertions, great dreams of wealth create new constellations and aggregates. The nightmares of dispossesion battles a weak battle, at times emerging as bargaining rhetorics. iv) The Enterprise. New pharma, seed and biotech companies need new knowledges about materials and processes. It is critical for their survival as it will generate more investments and wealth. State gains by getting more revenues out of this `space of production`. The Enterprise needs `rights` to use and modify materials and processes. The Enterprise needs IP protection for its new products and processes. Here the laboratory is a critical mediation. But these are closed laboratories and its knowledge is made public only through the patent regime. That is, disclose and thus retain the rights to its reproduction as an exclusive monopoly. Where will it go in search of these knowledges (materials and processes)? What kind of legal instruments will it use? v) The Transaction The present transaction debate is around: a) Models of `benefit-sharing`. The dominant position as articulated through State and section of the NGOs is `state institution` managing on behalf of the community and then dispensing it back into the `community`. The Enterprise pays an amount for usage and modification and then proceeds with its new products with guaranteed IP protection and enforcement. The State is supposed to distribute the amount into the community. Here it is important to note that from the `fuzzy` community we will move into `enumerated` communities. b) Producer rights. This is a right that keeps for the non-enterprise producers to make their own variety, claim IP on it and proceed. It also guarantees that reselling of enterprise stuff can also be carried by the producers. (Here we need to bear that the players are very unequally pitched). Also, the viscious enforcement legal instrument (speaking like POTA laws) have been put into place to make sure that IP protection is being understood in everyday practice. Critical to recognise here is that the IP protected materials and processes cannot by REPRODUCED by other producers and neither can thay be MODIFIED. This basic value of IP protection goes against the foundation of the protocols in which these earlier forms of knowledges evolved and survived. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- What does Open Source ethos do to this debate? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open Source movement is a critical vantage point to enter this debate. - It sees the USER as a PRODUCER (immediate or potential). - It sees knowledge as collectively produced, and protects that collective effort. - It ensures that all user have atleast the following minimum rights: Unlimited right to USE and the right to make COPIES and circulate. Some practices make it mandatory that the user retain the right to MODIFY and profit from it. The debate is: What is the status of this new modified version? Some practices (i.e GPL) force the modification to be retained in as a part of the larger code base commons. Some practices (e.g BSD) gives the users the option of not contributing to larger code base. BUT open source is very clear that the `common code base` needs protection and is always to be available to all users to use, reproduce and circulate. I would think that this mode of thinking the USER/PRODUCER as a joined practice will change the fundamentals of many dicussions on biodiversity (these knowledge practices had this built into them) and culture (the language of protection is based on a fixed idea of a frozen `end user`.) This is all for now and I am sure all of you have lot more to say about this. Looking forward to explorations and adventures with ideas... best Jeebesh _______________________________________________ commons-law mailing list commons-law at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law ------------------------------------------------------- From madhuja_m at yahoo.co.in Wed Jan 28 07:41:29 2004 From: madhuja_m at yahoo.co.in (=?iso-8859-1?q?madhuja=20mukherjee?=) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 02:11:29 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [Reader-list] 1st posting , madhuja mukherjee In-Reply-To: <40122B4E.5040702@sarai.net> Message-ID: <20040128021129.95103.qmail@web8206.mail.in.yahoo.com> Hi, I am Madhuja, I am a Lecturer with Film and Media Studies Dept. of St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. I have been working on the Studio Era of Indian Cinema for last few years. Lately, I came across a huge collection of glass plate negatives of working stills and publicity material of films of the period. This finding set off multiple queries like why were glass negatives used as a professional format till as late as 1950s? Was it a question of technology, economy and culture? How was the technology different from the use of ‘film’ for still photography? What were the cameras like? How was it distinct as an experience? And, beyond such inquisitions was a plain interest to know what these dark glasses – that are now in the form of negatives- embody . The driving force behind this archival project is perhaps this quest to see through these glasses and the shadows of the past. LOOKING AT THE GLASSES DARKLY: REVISITING CALCUTTA FILM STUDIOS. THE PROJECT: A project to retrieve some one thousand 'lost' Glass Negatives of the Studio Era and map histories of cinematic practices through the reading of photographs and interrogating the use of glass negatives in mid twentieth century. The aim is to examine the practices and the technology of using 'glass plates' for photography and understand the cultural meaning of photography as a method of documentation. The 'Studio Era' of Indian cinema is perhaps crucial for Film Studies for the plurality of symptoms. The complexity of the times is avowed through attempts to formalise the production-distribution- exhibition systems just as, a number of articles published during this period project a self -conscious intendment to defined cinema as a vehicle for 'modernity'- reading modernity in terms of technology and technique. Cinema was seen as a "scientific" business that required expertise, an understanding of the methodology and knowledge of execution. The economic- political conditions of the day somewhat demanded regularised cinematic practices that would emerge from the multifarious production procedures and vast aesthetic possibilities. However, a fuzzy area remains outside such striving for cohesion. Perhaps, the use of glass plate negatives till 1950s are one of those instances. WORK PLAN: The objective of the project, however, is not to ‘historicise’ the studio era. . The aim is to look into practices of photography and the area of photographs that were used as a method of documentation These 'glass negatives' emerge somewhat like symbolic 'dark holes' in the memory of Calcutta studios that needs to first scanned, then through a reverse mode - or rather by reverting a historical process as it were - may be turned to positives. The project hopes to identify people, films/projects, studios and the times and categorise those accordingly and thereby probe into the cultural modes, cinematic practices, technical and formal diversities of the era. As suggested earlier, several questions come forth at this point. For example, what were the technological and economic necessities and cultural exercises that encouraged the use of glass negatives in 1950s, despite the obvious difficulties of handling glass? Which studios? Which people? Why did the film studios that had access to 'film' use glass plates to document its own works? Frankly, there is no way of telling what lies beneath. Who? What? Why? What appear in the negatives are shadows of people and inscriptions that are apparently posters, printed brochures and lobby cards. Nevertheless, what seems like a 'historical thriller' includes enormous amount of documents of an epoch that has been such infrequently chronicled. Interviews conducted with K.N. Dey, of D.Ratan & Co., (established around 1915, Kolkata), and S.Dutta, of Universal Art Gallery (established around 1920, Kolkata) this month (January 2004), reveal experiences of using glass plates. The cameras were largely German, Japanese, and American made and the technologies of developing were more or less similar to ‘film’ photography’ while, the size of the glass plates would vary from 2.5x3.5 inches to 16x20inches. As a matter of fact, the size of the negative plates and the developed and printed photographs would be exactly the same. For the lack of appropriate enlarging technologies professional photographers particularly preferred glass negatives to achieve sharper images of large 'group photographs'. Therefore, (among other reasons) though 'roll film' was available in as early as 1930s, photographers used glass. Nonetheless, it was perhaps also a question of cultural practices in the way distinctive images and moments were captured and portrayed on glass frames and collected for posterity. Copies of the ‘photographs’ with all necessary details shall be submitted to Sarai, and with the technical support of Sarai, the entire material may be accessible on website. Yahoo! India Mobile: Ringtones, Wallpapers, Picture Messages and more.Download now. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040128/8f9c548b/attachment.html From monica at sarai.net Wed Jan 28 14:55:50 2004 From: monica at sarai.net (Monica Narula) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 14:55:50 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Lots of new postings... Message-ID: Dear List-members As you all must have noticed, there have been a number of postings over the last couple of days on a range of ideas, and some of them are tagged '1st posting' :-) These are the postings made by the researchers supported by Sarai's independent fellowship programme 2004. The idea behind the programme, besides fostering new research, is also to develop a public culture around the evolution of a research project as well as building a collective resource base of ideas, materials and methodologies. The architecture of the fellowship programme expects of the researchers a sharing of the process of their research and their work in progress, in anticipation of a vibrant discussion on this list. I hope that these postings can open out new ideas and terrains for us all, and i look forward to fresh discussion. best Monica Narula List Admin -- Monica Narula Sarai:The New Media Initiative 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 www.sarai.net From db at dannybutt.net Wed Jan 28 16:52:43 2004 From: db at dannybutt.net (Danny Butt) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 00:22:43 +1300 Subject: [Reader-list] Understanding the Patenting of Traditional Knowledge-In response In-Reply-To: <200401282217.55608.jeebesh@sarai.net> Message-ID: Kia ora all Thanks Aarathi for the post and Jeebesh for the excellent response, which I think is a very important field of research. An area I'm very interested in at the moment is the relationship between Western discourses of 'freedom', particularly among white settler cultures in relationship to indigenous knowledge-management. A few quick points I think are worth exploring: 1) Open Source emphasises freedom of a particular kind: the absolute freedom of use and circulation. This particular conception of freedom as absolute mobility emerges from the particular social arrangements and spatial imaginary of the US nation state [1]. While considering that, it's worth holding in mind the very different conceptions of mobility and freedom held by the people of that land before European colonisation. As Amartya Sen puts it, "There is a deep complementarity between individual agency and social arrangements."[2] For these reasons, while there are many aspects of Open Source I support, I question its ability (and its *desire*) to provide a framework for quite different struggles for informational control (which have little to do with computer programming :7) in different locations. 2) My discussions in First Nations/Indigenous contexts in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia suggest to me that Indigenous Peoples do have a desire for *control* over their knowledge, information and culture, which is more than just about freedom to use it. Jeebesh's notes state that: > Critical to recognise here is that the IP protected materials and processes > cannot by REPRODUCED by other producers and neither can they be MODIFIED. > This basic value of IP protection goes against the foundation of the > protocols in which these earlier forms of knowledges evolved and survived. I don't think this can be argued for all forms of traditional knowledge. In an excellent essay on Indigenous Sovereignty, Ned Rossiter notes that indigenous cultural policy researchers in Australia have argued that 'the concept of intellectual property has been a defining characteristic of Indigenous culture from the beginning. It determines intellectual property rights and responsibilities, identity, and each person's place in society in relation to the [customary] law' [3]. Eric Michaels' work succinctly outlines a similar argument[4]. While in Aotearoa the cultural history is different, the theme remains similar. The link of Indigenous "Intellectual Property Regimes" or Traditional Resource Rights to customary control [Kaitiakitanga - more like guardianship] of land is particularly important in Australia and NZ.[5] 3) If I can freelance out of my philosophical depth a little :7, I think there is an error in trying to disembed knowledge from its practices of circulation. If knowledge is a relation - a signifying practice that is situated in a particular context - the method of circulation is constitutive of what that knowledge "is", and is part of what gives it its use-value. We're used to seeing restraint on information circulation in the West as a way of making an artificial scarcity for commercial gain (the IP model). I would argue that in the Australasian context indigenous desires to restrict knowledge circulation are not necessarily about commercial gain, but are essential for maintaining that knowledge. That is to say, while many forms of Western knowledge gain value through circulation, indigenous knowledge may in some instances be devalued by unrestricted circulation and modification. That is not to say the cultures maintaining this knowledge are "fixed" or "frozen end users" in the way Jeebesh suggests. They have their own logic of maintenance and development which is continually evolving. But that evolution may require the exclusion of users who do not have culturally determined responsibilities to maintain that knowledge. 4) At an empirical level, multinationals seem to desire the knowledge of indigenous people more than those people desire the intellectual property of multinationals :). So far. 4) The interesting issue is that open source cannot always be seen in this context as politically progressive. Given that so many of it's supporters are obssessive gun-toting gringo libertarians, not to mention overwhelmingly male, that should not be surprising :). Which is not to say the OS movement doesn't have an important role in disrupting the inequities of transnational capitalism increasingly articulated through IPRs, particularly in Western markets. But there are cultural limits to its applicability. To suggest otherwise is, from my perspective, to put Open Source's *idea* of freedom in conflict with this area's very immediate struggles to indigenous self-determination (another freedom). I think similar questions arise between European activist philosophy's critiques of "sovereignty" and the very real appeal the term holds among indigenous cultural activists. I'm looking forward to the discussions along those lines. Best, Danny [1] See http://www.opensource.org/docs/history.html [2] Amartya Sen (1999) Development as Freedom, Anchor: New York [3] Morris and Meadows, quoted in Rossiter, Ned (2002) "Modalities of Indigenous Sovereignty, Transformations of the Nation-State, and Intellectual Property Regimes" Borderlands ejournal 1(2) http://www.borderlandsejournal.adelaide.edu.au/vol1no2_2002/rossiter_modalit ies.html [4] Eric Michaels, Bad Aboriginal Art. Tradition, Media, and Technological Horizons. Minn.: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. [5] See information from the Waitangi Tribunal on the Wai 262 legal claim for Maori control of customary knowledge and resources (Matuaranga Maori and Taonga): http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/research/wai262/wai262xxxx.asp -- http://www.dannybutt.net From simon at lipparosa.org Wed Jan 28 15:21:54 2004 From: simon at lipparosa.org (Simon Yuill) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 10:51:54 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call For Entries - MACHINISTA 2004 Message-ID: <9A9ACA8E-5177-11D8-AF9C-000393CCA224@lipparosa.org> ------------------------------------------------------ Call For Entries - DEADLINE: 28th February 2004 ------------------------------------------------------ MACHINISTA 2004 Submissions for the following three themes are welcomed in all media. 1. "Art from the Machine: gleams of the inhuman" Works created completely or mostly by a machine or an artificial intelligence system. 2. "Artists Against Machinic Standards" Breaking, destroying, hacking, unexpected (non-utilitarian?) usage of customary programs as an art experiment. 3. "Full-Screen Robovision" Moving image works (experimental/scientific imaging, audiovisual code, short films, animation and VJ mixes) illustrating "the world as seen by machines" see http://www.machinista.org for more details and to participate. (Deadline: 28th February 2004) Machinista is a yearly unmediated open-submission online exhibition. Creative and technological practices including visual and software art, science and design projects, moving image, experimental music and performance are featured in various scales and stages of development ranging from documentation of prototypes and exploratory installations to fully operational systems. In 2003 there were 128 submissions featured in Machinista plus offline events in Moscow and Perm in the Urals. MACHINISTA GLASGOW* An offline festival each year in a different host city showcases key entries to the online exhibition. Participants in www.machinista.org are commissioned to travel and present/ exhibit/install/ perform to wide audiences. This year, Machinista talkes place in Glasgow, Scotland on the weekend of May 7-9 2004 with some additional events later in the year in Perm, Urals. Machinista 2004 http://www.machinista.org Machinista 2003 htttp://www.machinista.ru (Russian) http://www.machinista.ru/en (English) *Supported by the Scottish Arts Council & CCA Glasgow (please forward) _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From habis955 at newschool.edu Thu Jan 29 02:44:59 2004 From: habis955 at newschool.edu (Shahnaz Habib) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 16:14:59 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] A muslim woman breaks a taboo - the search for gender equality in mosques Message-ID: 1) Associated Press - Woman Fights for Equality in W. VA Mosque 2) Daily Times of Pakistan - How a Muslim woman broke a taboo by praying with men 3) More Information on Asra Nomani (Interviews, stories, and her web site) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From the Associated Press - January 25, 2004 Woman Fights for Equality in W.Va. Mosque MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - For three months, Asra Nomani has been defying convention at the mosque she attends � by walking through the front door. Nomani, a journalist who has written for the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, is trying to change a rule that women should enter the Morgantown mosque through a side staircase and pray separately from the men. A growing number of mosques have such rules. "I can interview the Taliban," said Nomani, 38, "but I can't walk through the front door of my mosque." Before ever approaching the front door, Nomani asked the mosque's board of trustees for equal access for women. But when she later went to the mosque, the board president stood at the front door and said, "Sister, please, the back entrance," Nomani noted in a discrimination complaint she filed with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. About three months ago, Nomani, her mother and her 12-year-old niece rejected the women's entrance for the front door. Once inside, the women chose not to pray in a balcony built for women in the rear of the mosque � where the main prayer space cannot be seen. Instead, they began praying under the same vaulted, sunny ceiling as the men � but several feet behind them. "The men interrupted the start of 'taraweeh' prayer," Nomani recalled in the discrimination complaint. "A man said, `We cannot pray until she leaves.' A group of men told my father to tell me to leave. He said he would not. "Four men assembled around me and told me to leave. Two men took positions directly behind me and started to pray. One of the men assembled around me asked in an intimidating way whether I wanted to remain with these men behind me. Another man poked his finger at me and spoke to me in a threatening way. I remained." Nomani and her father, Zafar, a professor emeritus of nutrition at West Virginia University, mosque founder and current board member, recently filed a police complaint saying that one man in the congregation yelled at her, called Zafar Nomani an idiot and waved his arms at them before other members of the congregation restrained him. "If women are not treated with respect and dignity in our mosques, we have failed," Zafar Nomani said. "I am concerned not only about women but the second generation of immigrant children growing up in America." Asad Khan, acting president of the mosque's board, said a meeting on the issue will be held soon but declined further comment until after the meeting. Morgantown's mosque is among a growing number of U.S. mosques that put women behind a partition or in another room to pray. In 1994, 52 percent of mosques had such a practice, but that rose to 66 percent in 2000, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The world's holiest mosque � in Mecca � allows women and men to pray together, said Nomani, who has prayed there. She was born in India and lived in New Jersey before moving to West Virginia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From the Daily Times of Pakistan - January 29, 2004 http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_30-12-2003_pg7_37 How a Muslim woman broke a taboo by praying with men By Khalid Hasan WASHINGTON: A young Muslim woman�s bid to pray in the same area of a mosque as men has triggered a controversy with the more conservative male members of a small West Virginia community up in arms at what they see as a heretical act. The young woman who has triggered the storm is Asra Q Nomani, an Indian-American Muslim and a direct descendent of the great Islamic scholar Maulana Shibli Nomani. She is a former Wall Street Journal reporter who was in Karachi gathering material for a book and a series of articles when Daniel Pearl arrived there from Bombay with his wife Marion to investigate the Islamist terrorist network and its links to Al Qaeda. Mr Pearl and Ms Asra had been colleagues at the Wall Street Journal for nearly 10 years. The Pearls moved in with Ms Asra who had rented a house in Defence, Karachi. Mr Pearl was lured to an appointment, kidnapped and killed. The men said to be behind his killing, including the mastermind Omar Sheikh, were caught, tried and sentenced. They are now in jail pending an appeal. Ms Asra, a freelance writer, journalist and single mother lives in Morgantown, West Virginia with her parents. During the month of Ramazan, she refused to be relegated to the women�s section of the local mosque, and she wanted to pray with the men, since it was her view that Islam placed no restrictions on where women should pray. In the Washington Post on Sunday, she wrote about her unique and courageous bid to be treat as an equal Muslim despite her gender. She walked in through the front door, accompanied by her mother, her niece, her father and her infant son and they all sat themselves down in the main prayer hall, about 20 feet behind the men. The reaction was immediate. She was told to go to the women�s section. She declined, saying. �Thank you, brother, I am happy praying here.� The next day, the mosque board, all male, voted to make the main hall and the front entrance accessible solely to men. Her father, who set up the first mosque in Morgantown over 30 years ago, dissented and the matter is now receiving an internal legal review. Ms Asra has also filed a complaint with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which seeks to protect Muslim civil rights. Her �Eidi� this year from her father was the key to the front door of the mosque, which he had bought at a fund-raiser on the last day of Ramazan. Despite the protests, Ms Asra has entered the mosque through the front door and prayed in the main hall about 30 times. But only four other women have joined her, one being a relation. She said during the first days of Ramazan this year, she tried to accept the status quo, entering the mosque through the rear entrance, praying upstairs in the women�s section and listening to sermons addressed to �brothers�. She writes that she had witnessed the marginalisation of women in many Muslim countries but she was not prepared to be treated this way in America. She began researching the practice and concluded that mosques that bar women from the main prayer space are not Islamic. In the US, a survey revealed that out of 66 American mosques sampled, women prayed separately in each mosque. The practice was less rampant 30 years earlier, which shows the creeping radicalisation of Islam in America. Ms Asra writes that in the Prophet�s time (PBUH), women of Medina prayed in the mosque in the same space as men. However, by the third century of Islam, women�s rights began to be whittled away. She notes that the Fiqh Council of North America supports women�s rights in the mosque. In practice, however, mosques in America have become a male preserve where women and children are not welcome. Many American mosques have been taken over by conservative Arab men following Salafi teachings. The mosque libraries mostly carry books published by the Saudi government, which takes the view, Ms Asra points out, that partitions and separate rooms are required in mosques. She writes that in her mosque, only men are allowed to use a microphone. When she asked the reason, she was told, �A woman�s voice is not to be heard in the mosque� for fear that it would cause sexual titillation. When asked what her motivations were, Ms Asra answered, �I have prayed like this from Mecca to Jerusalem. It is legal within Islam.� -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) More Information on Asra Nomani Asra Nomani web site - http://www.asranomani.com/site/ Beliefnet Story - http://www.beliefnet.com/story/129/story_12945_1.html Salon.Com - Asra's Stories - http://archive.salon.com/directory/topics/asra_q_nomani/ From nisar at keshvani.com Wed Jan 28 19:00:07 2004 From: nisar at keshvani.com (nisar keshvani) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 20:30:07 +0700 Subject: [Reader-list] LEA Special Issue: Digital Arts and Electronic Music in Asia and the Pacific Message-ID: ** Sincere apologies for cross-posting ** Please feel free to spread the word widely: LEA Special Issue: Network Leaps, Bounds and Misses: Critiquing Regional Strategies for Digital Arts and Electronic Music in Asia and the Pacific Guest Editor: Fatima Lasay The Leonardo Electronic Almanac (ISSN No: 1071-4391) is inviting papers. Under the UNESCO Digi-Arts Knowledge Portal for technology-based arts and music, an international colloquium took place on 4-5 December, 2003 at the Sarai Center for Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, India. The meeting, entitled "Old pathways/New travelers: new media, electronic music and digital art practices in the Asia Pacific region", sought to launch a media arts and electronic music initiative sponsored by UNESCO Digi-Arts and Sarai, to promote and develop research, networking, mutual cooperation, training and knowledge in these fields within the region. The meeting also aimed to point out the role and place of media and technology in a social, cultural and economic landscape inscribed by ancient histories of contact and paths that internally connect the landmass of Asia and the island cultures of the Pacific regions, its impact on young people and its potential as a unique tool to promote cultural diversity. As critical and engaging discussions of such a network of associations are underway, what do our past and current national and regional practices reveal about the limits of localization, proximity and regional reification? What lies beneath or within concepts of media and technology as instruments for promoting cultural diversity? Is media and technology a result or cause of culture? What is the position of media, art and technology in the ontological divide between regionalization and globalization? In which aspects do we need to transcend the regional level in the regional network building efforts? What is the significance of local ontologies within the process of building a regional network? Can asymmetrical local and regional development and promotion of digital arts in the region be addressed by mere institutional and conventional proximity? If geographic proximity is insuficient, then which conceptual spaces might provide a more solid basis for cooperative development? What critical and realistic approaches have been and can be made, in both imagination and actualization, to move in opposite directions and still meet together, across the globe, in building that strong and balanced support structure for digital arts in the region? For the June issue of LEA, we invite contributions from artists, musicians, practitioners, curators and critics that address regional networking competence problems and realities in the field of digital arts and electronic music in the Asia Pacific cultures. LEA encourages international artists / academics / researchers / students to submit their proposals for consideration. We particularly encourage authors outside North America and Europe to send proposals for articles/gallery/artists statements. Proposals should include: - 300 word abstract / synopsis - A brief author biography - Any related URLs - Contact details Deadline for proposals: 31 March 2004 Please send proposals or queries to: Fatima Lasay fats at up.edu.ph or Nisar Keshvani LEA Editor-in-Chief lea at mitpress.mit.edu http://lea.mit.edu ******************************************************************************** What is LEA? ------------- Established in 1993, the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (ISSN No: 1071-4391) is the electronic arm of the pioneer art journal, Leonardo - Journal of Art, Science & Technology. The Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA), jointly produced by Leonardo, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST) and published under the auspices of MIT Press is an electronic journal dedicated to providing a forum for those who are interested in the realm where art, science and technology converge. Content ------- This peer reviewed e-journal includes profiles of media arts facilities and projects, profiles of artists using new media, feature articles comprised of theoretical and technical perspectives; the LEA Gallery exhibiting new media artwork by international artists; detailed information about new publications in various media; and reviews of publications, events and exhibitions. Material is contributed by artists, scientists, educators and developers of new technological resources in the media arts. Mission ------- LEA's mission is to maintain and consolidate its position as a leading online news and trusted information filter while critically examining arts/science & technological works catering to the international CAST (Community of Artists, Scientist and Technologists) ******************************** From hopa65 at yahoo.com Wed Jan 28 20:26:09 2004 From: hopa65 at yahoo.com (Hope) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 06:56:09 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Exhibition: Traces of India, UCLA Fowler Museum Message-ID: <20040128145609.29584.qmail@web20609.mail.yahoo.com> At the University of California, Los Angeles, Fowler Museum of Cultural History: Traces of India: Photography, Architecture, and the Politics of Representation, 1850-1900 March 7, 2004 to July 3, 2004 Traces of India explores how 19th-century European photographers captured the great architectural sites of India�from Mughal, Jain, and Sikh monuments in the north to Hindu temples in the southern region of Tamil Nadu to other Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist monuments in central India�reflecting imperial attitudes to travel, archaeology, and the politics of memory. The exhibition presents more than 200 master photographs, as well as drawings, books, artifacts, and a selection of popular imagery, situating them in a changing political culture. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History 310/825-4361 http://www.fowler.ucla.edu Associated programming: Thursday, April 15, 2004 7 pm Lecture: Between Village and City: Continuity, Change and Ambivalence in South Indian Architecture Join Peter Nabakov, an anthropologist, writer, and professor in UCLA�s Department of World Arts and Cultures, for this lecture about the architecture of India. Thursday, April 22, 2004 7 pm Lecture: An Introduction to the Visions, Sounds, and Themes of Popular Indian Cinema Learn about the vast film traditions of Bollywood! This lecture, featuring film clips with English subtitles, will be lead by Joseph Nagy and Yogita Goyal, both professors in UCLA�s English Department. Sunday, May 2, 2004 noon�5 pm Family Festival: INDIA! Join performers and artists for an exciting day of activities and food inspired by Indian art and culture. Saturday, May 15, 2004 9 am�5 pm Symposium: Monumental History: Photography and the Making of National Memory in India This symposium will feature exhibition curator, Antonella Pelizzari, and leading scholars in Indian history. Organized for the Fowler Museum by UCLA assistant professor of Art History, Saloni Mathur, and associate professor of Comparative Literature, Aamir Mufti. Saturday, May 22, 2004 2 pm Screening: Satya ("Truth") Directed by Ram Gopal Verma, this acclaimed 1998 Hindi film is a paradoxical tale of an orphaned Indian man called Satya living in the Mumbai underworld. The running time is 170 minutes and the film will be preceded and followed by comments from Vinay Lal, associate professor of history, UCLA. All events are free and open to the public. All lectures will be held in the Lenart Auditorium. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/sb/ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From opjain at sanskritifoundation.org Thu Jan 29 14:09:14 2004 From: opjain at sanskritifoundation.org (opjain) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 14:09:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Regarding 30th january Message-ID: <200401291409.14924.dak@sarai.net> Dear Friends, Due to unavoidable circumstances the conference on Investigating Visual Studies at JNU, on 30th January has been cancelled. Inconvenience is regretted. regards, Nayantara Nath Programme Coordinator Please note: Mr OPJains New Residential Cum Office Address Sanskriti Pratishthan C 11 Qutab Institutional Area New Delhi 110016 Tel- ( R) 26961757, 26966300, ( o) 26963226, 26527077 Sanskriti Pratishthan (1978-2003) Twenty five years in the promotion of Art,Culture and Environment. website www.sanskritifoundation.org _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ranita at sarai.net Thu Jan 29 17:50:08 2004 From: ranita at sarai.net (Ranita Chatterjee) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 17:50:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] TALK @ SARAI: Chris Csikszentmihaly, MIT Media Lab Message-ID: <200401291750.08061.ranita@sarai.net> Dear Friends, Sarai invites you to a talk under its Media Publics and Practices Seminar Series on EDGY PRODUCT by Chris Csikszentmihalyi, MIT Media Lab on Tuesday, February 3, 2004, 3:30 pm at the Seminar Room, CSDS, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 54. Contemporary technology design rests upon one of two major rationales: Productivity or Entertainment. In part because of a paucity of imagination, the restrictions of the market and the acquired interests of scientists and engineers, most of the spectrum of human experience is not addressed through technology. At the Computing Culture group, several projects are underway that seek to redress this problem by injecting both politics and poetry into software and hardware to create edgy, contentious technologies. Chris Csikszentmihalyi is the Fukutake Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences and directs the Computing Culture Group at the MIT Media Lab. He has worked in the intersection of new technologies, media, and the arts for ten years - lecturing, showing new media work, and presenting installations in both Europe and North America. Interested in cultural narratives, his work typically aims to create a new technology to embody a particular social agenda. His most recent piece, "Afghan Explorer," is a technology designed to defend the First Amendment by creating a tele-operated robot reporter that bypasses American military censorship. It recently won an AICA award for Best Web Art. His previous piece, "DJ I, Robot" won the Special Award for new media at the Split Film Festival, and was nominated for the "Best Artistic Software" award at Berlin's Transmediale. His "Natural Language Processor," was commissioned by the KIASMA Museum in Helsinki, Finland. Cheers, Ranita The Sarai Programme Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054 Tel: (+91) 11 23960040 (+91) 11 23942199, ext 307 Fax: (+91) 11 23943450 www.sarai.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From ravikant at sarai.net Thu Jan 29 18:01:42 2004 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 18:01:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] WSF - another report is possible! Message-ID: <200401291801.42037.ravikant@sarai.net> The media - both the print and the audio-visual - has either outrightly trashed the WSF 04 or has raised very fundamental ethical and political questions about what in their version looks like a pointless jumboree of anti-globalisation groups from God knows where. Even those who were willing to write positive things about WSF focused either on the sensational or the iconic. The skeptics of course wondered aloud whether we managed to make another world in the week's time! Thankfully, I was there. So I have another view of what was going on at WSF. Yes, I was there but I don't think any one person or even a few people can give you a full sense of what was happening when a whole sea of humanity tried to make itself heard. I will try and present a few word-sketches and some fragments. At the outset, I feel like congratulating the organisers who efficiently managed a very impressive show wothout crying hoarse from the microphones. ot without guiding traffic. After the morning of the second day's chaos about the non-availabilty of printed programs, it was all smooth and clean. The toilets, the foodstalls, the panels were all set and running after a few initial hiccups - when people were still trying to figure out what was happening at what place and could not make to the stipulated venues at the right time. I think the organisers relied too much and and too soon on the geographical intelligence of the visitors. In retrospect, this made for a very unobtrusive 'wrok environment'. To give you one small example, everytime the tubelight or the fan( it was really stuffy!) went off when somebody shook the stall wall, we would find a mechanic within five mnutes! The loos were kept sparkling clean, the food was cheap, non-spicey and diverse. One alternative shop was selling 'kokam-NOT-COKE' for five rupees. Starting with the first, when the Pakistani sufi band Junoon had everyone of the 50, 000-strong crowd in thrall, every evening was marked by screenings of films or plays or song-and dance performances. In fact, some of the more famous shows( a Brazilian band and one African group) spilled over into the city whose night life is amazing by Delhi's austere and conservative standards. It is also equally remarkable that the city absorbed the huge crowd without straining its public and private resources. A much smaller rally in Delhi would have resulted in endless traffic jams and general public outcry of gruesome violation by unwanted non-city elements. I don't think we heard even a murmur of protest. In fact, if the conversations one had with the autowallas are any index, the city appeared quite obliviuos of such a major event. The autowallas of course sensed quick business opportunity and flocked in large numbers to the Nesco ground in Goregaon, which was very convenient. The entry to the venue was also easy - there were at least 60 counters for registration. Anybody could buy a 5-rupee coupon and get in. So one could not see any unmanageble Qs getting formed, which is what one is used to at Delhi's Pragati Maidan book fair or trade fair. What was it like being inside? Frankly, it was quite overwhelming and it was impossible not to loose focus. What do you when you have to watch an endless stream of protest marches through the main throughfares? Protest marches from various parts of the world - forming into small bands, singing, dancing or blowing strange bugles, or beating a variety of drums, marches with half a km long banners, or with 20-feet high stilt-walkers, marches distributing multicoloured pamphlets. The entire ground and the poles and trees was festooned with posters of innumerable intent, design, content, size and colour. Some were pre-made and some were cooked on and for the occasion. In fact you could scarcely find space for your own poster if you had missed the first day. And civilised people do not tear off somebody else's poster to make room for their own. But the way out was distributing handouts - about your movement, about the issues that bother you, any information about your panel, event or stall that you wish to share with you don't want to know whom but you know that that somebody will be interested. As you could expect, it was a multilingual space - people wanting to get heard had translated their stuff into English, and people who could not understand English had made their own arrangements, like this very efficient Korean group which was seen herding together adjacent to a venue, listening to simultaneous translation and radio transmission, as eagerly and seriously as some of us did in those cricket's radio commentary days. People were there to express solidarity, to collect and give information, to buy and sell books, to talk and to listen, of course. But they were also there to just be there and to feel a certain thereness. So, beyond a point language was a non-issue. One could hear peer-to-peer announcements, but also one-to-all announcements - in various languages. And that to me was the strength and beauty of such a gathering. The WSF was multitudinous and contradictory. Only hegemonistic designs insist on slavish agreements. Here people amply demonstrated that it was possible to disagree and yet inhabit the same civic and political space. Like the filmmaker who was collecting signatures against the organisers who did/could not a screening of his film on Gujarat. I saw that he found whole lot of willing signatories. On the basis of all this one can say that while mainstream Indian, national media misreported the event, the Mumbai Resistance group miscalculated its scope. It could very well have protested against WSF from within and could have hoped to have got heard more! That's it readers for now. Thanks for your patience. I hope to write more in coming days. Comments, reflections and add-ons are most welcome. cheers ravikant From geert at xs4all.nl Fri Jan 30 13:07:37 2004 From: geert at xs4all.nl (geert lovink) Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 08:37:37 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Launch of the Fibreculture Journal Message-ID: <05f501c3e708$92d28290$c600000a@geert> Launch of the Fibreculture Journal (http://journal.fibreculture.org) The Fibreculture Journal (http://journal.fibreculture.org) is now online. The Fibreculture Journal is the online journal of the Fibreculture network of critical Internet research and culture in Australasia. It has grown out of the 'fibreculture' online mailing list that started in 2001 (http://www.fibreculture.org). Dedicated to critical discussion of the Internet and new media in relation to IT policy, networked culture, new media education and arts in an Australasian context, the list now has over 750 subscribers. The Fibreculture Journal is a peer reviewed, scholarly publication that extends the research and theoretical discussion of the list culture. The journal encourages transdisciplinary approaches to thinking about new media and networked knowledge and practices and seeks to foster experimental and dissident intellectual endeavours. At this stage the journal will be published in online text form but we will be seeking to experiment with database systems and content in the near future. We also plan to experiment with submissions of new media forms such as weblog writing, Shockwave Movies and Flash projects, all of which will be subjected to peer reviewing processes. We are celebrating the launch of the Fibreculture Journal by publishing two issues. The first issue of the Fibreculture Journal takes the politics of networks as its theme. There are articles on biometrics, the 'military-entertainment complex', an anthropologist's view of the politics of the Internet,creative labour and IP, and the general politics of technology. Issue 1 - the politics of networks 'Report: Creative Labour and the Role of Intellectual Property' Ned Rossiter 'Perfect Match: Biometrics and Body Patterning in a Networked World ' Gillian Fuller 'Internet Politics in an Information Economy' Jon Marshall 'The Military-Entertainment Complex: A New Facet of Information Warfare' Stephen Stockwell & Adam Muir 'The Erasure of Technology in Cultural Critique' Belinda Barnet The second issue of the Fibreculture Journal takes both new media theory and education and technology as its themes. There are articles on learning objects, hypertext and learning, WebCT, new media such as the hologram in relation to older media such as photography, and email, rhetoric and presence. Issue 2 - new media, new worlds? 'Halflives, A Mystory: Writing Hypertext to Learn' Lisa Gye 'Learning Through New Media Objects' Karen Woo 'WebCT: Will the Future of Online Education be User-friendly?' Tama Leaver 'That-which-new media studies-will-become' Philip Roe 'Email and Epistolary Technologies: Presence, Intimacy, Disembodiment' Esther Milne We are open to contributions for future issues of the Fibreculture Journal, and invite people to contact the editors (a.murphie at unsw.edu.au) with feedback and ideas. We are currently thinking of possible future issues along the following lines: "new media" and "networked media"; distributed aesthetics; Multitudes, Creative Organisation and New Media Labour; McLuhan Now! - Media Theory and Design after the Delirium; and Distributed Cognition, Distributed Networks: the theory, politics and technologies of models of thought. We are, however, very open to ideas. Indeed, our main aim is that the Fibreculture Journal will be extremely responsive to the concerns of both the Fibreculture community and like-minded networks the world over. The journal currently has an executive editor, Andrew Murphie (School of Media and Communications, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia) and 6 members of an editorial committee (Gillian Fuller, Lisa Gye, Esther Milne, Anna Munster, Ingrid Richardson and Ned Rossiter). There is also an editorial advisory board, with members from around Australasia and the world. Editorial Advisory Board Belinda Barnet (Swinburne University of Technology) Sandra Buckley (Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal) Danny Butt (University of Waikato, New Zealand) Linda Carroli (Fine Art Forum) Chris Chesher (University of New South Wales) Melinda Cooper (Macquarie University, Sydney) Kate Crawford (University of Sydney) Sean Cubitt (University of Waikato, Hamilton) Michael Dahan (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) Pia Ednie-Brown (RMIT, Melbourne) Mary Flanagan (Hunter College, New York) Terry Flew (Queensland University of Technology) Phil Graham (University of Queensland) Melissa Gregg (University of Sydney) Maren Hartmann (University of Erfurt, Germany) Robert Hassan (Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne) Larissa Hjorth (Artist/Academic Melbourne) Teri Hoskin (Artist/Academic Adelaide) Troels Degn Johansson (IT University, Copenhagen) Andrew Kenyon (University of Melbourne) Geert Lovink (Brisbane/Amsterdam) Lev Manovich (University of California, San Diego) Graham Meikle (Macquarie University, Sydney) Adrian Miles (RMIT, Melbourne) Brett Neilson (University of Western Sydney) John Potts (Macquarie University, Sydney) Melinda Rackham (Artist/ACMI) Philip Roe (Central Queensland University) John Scannell (University of New South Wales) David Teh (University of Sydney) Darren Tofts (Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne) Gregory L. Ulmer (University of Florida) Catherine Waldby (Brunel University/UNSW) Jill Walker (University of Bergen) Shujen Wang (Emerson College, Boston) Launch of the Fibreculture Journal (http://journal.fibreculture.org) The Fibreculture Journal (http://journal.fibreculture.org) is now online. The Fibreculture Journal is the online journal of the Fibreculture network of critical Internet research and culture in Australasia. It has grown out of the 'fibreculture' online mailing list that started in 2001 (http://www.fibreculture.org). Dedicated to critical discussion of the Internet and new media in relation to IT policy, networked culture, new media education and arts in an Australasian context, the list now has over 750 subscribers. The Fibreculture Journal is a peer reviewed, scholarly publication that extends the research and theoretical discussion of the list culture. The journal encourages transdisciplinary approaches to thinking about new media and networked knowledge and practices and seeks to foster experimental and dissident intellectual endeavours. At this stage the journal will be published in online text form but we will be seeking to experiment with database systems and content in the near future. We also plan to experiment with submissions of new media forms such as weblog writing, Shockwave Movies and Flash projects, all of which will be subjected to peer reviewing processes. We are celebrating the launch of the Fibreculture Journal by publishing two issues. The first issue of the Fibreculture Journal takes the politics of networks as its theme. There are articles on biometrics, the 'military-entertainment complex', an anthropologist's view of the politics of the Internet,creative labour and IP, and the general politics of technology. Issue 1 - the politics of networks 'Report: Creative Labour and the Role of Intellectual Property' Ned Rossiter 'Perfect Match: Biometrics and Body Patterning in a Networked World ' Gillian Fuller 'Internet Politics in an Information Economy' Jon Marshall 'The Military-Entertainment Complex: A New Facet of Information Warfare' Stephen Stockwell & Adam Muir 'The Erasure of Technology in Cultural Critique' Belinda Barnet The second issue of the Fibreculture Journal takes both new media theory and education and technology as its themes. There are articles on learning objects, hypertext and learning, WebCT, new media such as the hologram in relation to older media such as photography, and email, rhetoric and presence. Issue 2 - new media, new worlds? 'Halflives, A Mystory: Writing Hypertext to Learn' Lisa Gye 'Learning Through New Media Objects' Karen Woo 'WebCT: Will the Future of Online Education be User-friendly?' Tama Leaver 'That-which-new media studies-will-become' Philip Roe 'Email and Epistolary Technologies: Presence, Intimacy, Disembodiment' Esther Milne We are open to contributions for future issues of the Fibreculture Journal, and invite people to contact the editors (a.murphie at unsw.edu.au) with feedback and ideas. We are currently thinking of possible future issues along the following lines: "new media" and "networked media"; distributed aesthetics; Multitudes, Creative Organisation and New Media Labour; McLuhan Now! - Media Theory and Design after the Delirium; and Distributed Cognition, Distributed Networks: the theory, politics and technologies of models of thought. We are, however, very open to ideas. Indeed, our main aim is that the Fibreculture Journal will be extremely responsive to the concerns of both the Fibreculture community and like-minded networks the world over. The journal currently has an executive editor, Andrew Murphie (School of Media and Communications, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia) and 6 members of an editorial committee (Gillian Fuller, Lisa Gye, Esther Milne, Anna Munster, Ingrid Richardson and Ned Rossiter). There is also an editorial advisory board, with members from around Australasia and the world. Editorial Advisory Board Belinda Barnet (Swinburne University of Technology) Sandra Buckley (Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal) Danny Butt (University of Waikato, New Zealand) Linda Carroli (Fine Art Forum) Chris Chesher (University of New South Wales) Melinda Cooper (Macquarie University, Sydney) Kate Crawford (University of Sydney) Sean Cubitt (University of Waikato, Hamilton) Michael Dahan (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) Pia Ednie-Brown (RMIT, Melbourne) Mary Flanagan (Hunter College, New York) Terry Flew (Queensland University of Technology) Phil Graham (University of Queensland) Melissa Gregg (University of Sydney) Maren Hartmann (University of Erfurt, Germany) Robert Hassan (Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne) Larissa Hjorth (Artist/Academic Melbourne) Teri Hoskin (Artist/Academic Adelaide) Troels Degn Johansson (IT University, Copenhagen) Andrew Kenyon (University of Melbourne) Geert Lovink (Brisbane/Amsterdam) Lev Manovich (University of California, San Diego) Graham Meikle (Macquarie University, Sydney) Adrian Miles (RMIT, Melbourne) Brett Neilson (University of Western Sydney) John Potts (Macquarie University, Sydney) Melinda Rackham (Artist/ACMI) Philip Roe (Central Queensland University) John Scannell (University of New South Wales) David Teh (University of Sydney) Darren Tofts (Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne) Gregory L. Ulmer (University of Florida) Catherine Waldby (Brunel University/UNSW) Jill Walker (University of Bergen) Shujen Wang (Emerson College, Boston) From chandernigam at rediffmail.com Thu Jan 29 20:36:38 2004 From: chandernigam at rediffmail.com (chander nigam) Date: 29 Jan 2004 15:06:38 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] abstract Message-ID: <20040129150638.24342.qmail@mailweb33.rediffmail.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20040129/63dc7caf/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- Dear All Here is the abstract of my proposal for the Sarai Independent fellowship. My research is based on Tis Hazari Court. It would be an effort to understand the daily life of this court as a public space and how it intervene the socio-cultural and legal fabric of the city. Tis Hazari is the first District and Sessions Court in Delhi, which came into being after Independence. Situated in the middle of Mughal,s Shahjahanabad and Colonial Civil Lines, Tis Hazaari is one of the biggest Distt. and Session Court in Asia not only in terms of number of cases but also in terms of number of advocates. People come to this court premises related to various civil as well as criminal cases such as theft, doucaty, prostitution, rape, murder, matrimonial, recovery etc. in different roles. Some comes as accused while others come to support him to bail out, some comes as witness while some witness comes for turning hostile, some comes to plead for the accused, while other comes to deliver justice. Many come to help the court proceedings as Govt. & non Govt. employees (such as court staff, private MUNSHIS and bar employees). Some are regular in the court with the typing and Xerox machine while some are with STD/PCO booths. Some has tea stall while some other comes as hawker. Some comes as tout while some other comes to search clients for prostitution. All these are having their own mood and modes of operation. Judiciary is know as the third pillar of democracy, bur my experience and observation force me to realize that this temple of justice has some pillars of injustice also. Sitting underneath the chair of My lord, Reader / Ahelmad (court staff) never talk to clients even sometimes to advocates without having NAZRAANA (favored). After taking their fees from clients advocates thinks to find out ways how to get more money from clients pocket. Touts are always ready to “volunteer” their service to clients and new comers to the premises. Sometimes they even offer their service to the un-uniformed advocates. Typists busy in thinking that how Rs. 30/- or 40/- can be charged for one page of typing, pco owner successfully charge Rs. 3-4 for one call. Police! Even after taking note of 50/- or 100/- they keep shunning the relatives and acquaintances of accused who try to meet them. Sometimes this happens even after the permission of magistrate. After finishing court works advocates’ MUNSHIS move towards THEKA (wine and beer shops), flesh traders (male and female) form different parts of the city start searching their clients around the advocates’ chambers and thus the time of SHARAB AND SHABAB starts in the holy premises of justice. However, for some chambers this always goes on, no matter whether it is day or night, morning or evening. It is a fact that the ongoing activities in and from the court premises have certain relationships and networks, which give new meanings, dimensions and shades to this space. And these altogether form new trends in the city life and these trends are very significant for the city’s daily life. Therefore, it is obvious to be curious towards this court premises. As far my knowledge is concerned, till date there has been no documentation of such a life, which operate within and from the court campuses. My opinion is that the general public must know the reality and this is why I am trying to document this. As a practicing lawyer I know this space and I have some observations of it. And being a woman I feel this space some other ways also. During my research period I would try to share all these experiences and activities with you. And I hope you will help me through your suggestions and comments in the coming days. My next posting will followed soon. Tab tak ...i n t z a a a a a r .... cheers and thanks chander From jeebesh at sarai.net Sat Jan 31 03:26:19 2004 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 03:26:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Documentray filmmakers against censorship Message-ID: <200401310326.19519.jeebesh@sarai.net> Documentary filmmakers from all over the country have been fighting for the last 6 months on Censorship. The campaign has been run through emails compilations, distributed meetings and pro-active actions of withdrawals. Remarkably it has able to provide a new way of working that combines discussion, debate, opening of new creative posssibilities and yet focused actions. They will bring out a comiplation of all the emails and it will be a great asset for any movement. For more information write to MIFF CAMPAIGN Enclosed is an article on the latest in this campaign..... ------------------------------------------ Not Merely 'Miff'ed Scharada Bail's article One could hardly be an independent documentary filmmaker in our country if one was even remotely faint-hearted. These men and women, who make films about marginalized people, neglected issues, and matters so disturbing that they can only be spoken of in whispers, if at all, battle odds that would daunt the most courageous amongst us. Funds for making films through official patronage or private sponsorship are hard to come by, and institutions that support the documentary can still be listed in a slim volume. Completed films can rarely hope to reach even an audience of the size of a flop Hindi film that is withdrawn in its first week. Screenings of documentaries remain confined to select venues and audiences, with television also becoming a virtually closed medium after the rise of commercial satellite channels, and Doordarshan's reduced interest in documentaries. In the circumstances, it is extremely heartening that documentaries are still being made with passion and determination, and gaining international recognition. If there is one forum that brought cheer to documentary filmmakers since 1990, it was the Mumbai International Film Festival, or MIFF, (formerly BIFF) that is held every two years in Mumbai, and organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Films Division. A festival for documentary, short and animation films, with a national and international selection of films, a competition and an information section, and tributes to legendary documentary makers, this was the place where the non-fiction filmmaking fraternity converged every couple of years, a place to meet, screen your films, and see some of the best work among your peers. Not any more, it appears. In a series of developments chillingly similar to changes sweeping many of our institutions and public domains in the past few years, MIFF 2004 is mired in a controversy relating to censorship, and silencing dissent through discriminative processes. The deadline for submitting entries for MIFF 2004 was September, and by August, more than 200 independent filmmakers across the country were already up in arms at the demand for clearance from the Censor Board for their festival entries. The filmmakers' concern and anger was understandable in view of the fact that foreign entries were exempted from the Censor Board clearance. Moreover, censorship does not play a role in any international festival of note, nor had a Censor Board clearance been necessary for MIFF since its inception in 1990, and this had become established as the convention. It appeared as if the authorities were in a hurry to invoke the Censor's clout against the dreaded G word that they feared would come up again and again at the festival, and in fact, quite a few films deal with the blow that the events in Gujarat have dealt to our nation. When independent filmmakers banded together under the banner of CAC or the Campaign Against Censorship, and succeeded in receiving support from their friends in other countries, the organizers withdrew the Censorship clause for MIFF 2004 entries, and the process of submitting films concluded in September.The experience made filmmakers feel it was important to discuss issues of political censorship, hate speech and censorship related laws. They decided to hold a seminar on these issues alongside MIFF 2004. However, the entire filmmaking community was again thrown into agitation by the selection of films for the festival. In January 2004, just weeks before the festival is held from February 3 to 9 in Mumbai, there has been a series of letters written by filmmakers protesting at the manner of selection, and raising questions about the composition of the selection committee, and the procedure followed, which appears to be a clear departure from the past. The atmosphere has been so vitiated by what one filmmaker has described as the "pattern of backdoor censoring of films with political text or a pattern to censor films that put 'shining India' in a bad light" that many filmmakers whose films have been selected for the festival have withdrawn their entries. (See box for list of films) Many excellent films, already recognized, or decorated by awards at other festivals, have been rejected, and filmmakers from across the country have decided to organize a parallel film festival to MIFF 2004 called Vikalp - Films for Freedom where these and other films will be screened. In what appears to be the final straw around the MIFF controversy, Girish Karnad has resigned from the MIFF jury, and Chennai based filmmaker R.V.Ramani has resigned from the organizing committee of MIFF. The last decade has seen India break with many traditions of cultural freedom and honesty. While icons like Mahatma Gandhi have been consigned to as much obscurity as the present political leadership can cover them with, a new breed of aggressive leaders and their agents have risen to prominence at every available public forum, loudly proclaiming their allegiance to 'nation' and defining daily the genetic, religious, and political qualities that citizens of such a nation should aspire to. In fact, such a 'nation' appeared many years earlier in the speeches of Adolf Hitler, when he seduced Germany to vote him into power. What is most revealing in the current MIFF controversy is the organisers' choice of personality for special tribute - Leni Reifenstahl. This was 'Hitler's favourite filmmaker' an actress and director whose propaganda film 'Triumph of the Will' and 'Olympia', a film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics contain many of the ideas of ethnic purity and superiority and 'cultural nationalism' that we in India in 2004 can ill afford. With their spirited resistance to the discrimination and censorship of MIFF 2004, Indian documentary filmmakers have lived up to their courageous vocation. Scharada Bail ---------------------------------- Films that have been withdrawn by their makers in protest at the MIFF 2004 selection and exclusion. Ajay Raina -- I am Human Gautam Sonti -- Anjavva is Me, I am Anjavva' Gopal Menon -- Naga Story:The Other Side of Silence Kabir Khan -- The Taliban Years and Beyond Meghnath & Biju Toppo -- Development Flows From The Barrel Of A Gun P Baburaj and C Saratchandran - The Bitter Drink Pankaj Butalia -- Tracing The Arc Reena Mohan -- On An Express Highway Surabhi Sharma -- Aamakaar (The Turtle People) Films that have received recognition elsewhere and been rejected by MIFF Naata (The Bond) (45 min) Bombay/India, 2003, dir - K P Jayasankar and A Monteiro Naata is about Bhau Korde and Waqar Khan, two friends who work on conflict resolution and communal amity initiatives between the different communities in Dharavi, reputedly, the largest "slum" in Asia. Naata is the second in a series of films on the people and city of Mumbai, and is a sequel to Saacha (The Loom), 2001. A Night of Prophecy (77 min) India, 2002, dir-Amar Kanwar The film travels in the states of Maharashta, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, and Kashmir. Through poetry you see where all the territories are heading towards, where you belong, and where to intervene, if you want to. The narratives merge, allowing us to see a more universal language of symbols and meanings. This moment of merger is the simple moment of prophecy. Resilient Rhythms (64 min) India, 2002, dir - Gopal Menon India's caste system places nearly 160 million people, the dalits, at the outskirts of society. It exploits their services but at the same time denies them acceptance as human beings. Resilient Rhythms deals with a range of dalit responses to their marginalisation, from armed struggle to electoral politics. The Unconscious (19 min) Maharastra/India 2003, dir - Manisha Dwivedi This film is a journey with men who call themselves kothi. They are men for their families and society, but for themselves they are women, and wives of other "macho" men. They walk two tightropes, both of fear and disgrace of and for their families and 'husbands'.And yet, they celebrate womanhood in their world of disguises. Vikas Bandook Ki Naal Se (Development Flows from the Barrel of the Gun) (54 min) India, 2003, dir-Biju Toppo and Meghnath The film gives voice to people affected by development projects-and repressed by the state for speaking out. The film asks why most of these incidents have taken place in areas where indigenous Adivasi people are majorities, and leaves us to ask why, in the age of globalisation, the state has turned from protector to predator. (on behalf of CAC we would like to point out that the following films have not been rejected by MIFF as reported in the above article : Resilient Rhythmns, The Unconscious, Vikas Bandook ki Naal Se) From jeebesh at sarai.net Sat Jan 31 05:21:31 2004 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh Bagchi) Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 05:21:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Understanding the Patenting of Traditional Knowledge-In response In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <200401310521.31800.jeebesh@sarai.net> Thanks Danny for opening up the question of `freedom` in open source. I would agree with you that the open source idea of `freedom` would be difficult to apply in areas of `embodied knowledge practices`. (1) My response was not so much about how traditional knowledge will be or can be or is `protected` by it's practitioners but how IP regimes intervenes within these knowledge practices and the story then on. After IP intervention, a new `disembodied-mobile` knowledge form would emerge and would be protected through `no end user rights to reproduce or modify`. It is within this context that user/producer models can help challenge this dominant form. I would never propogate (would shudder) the translation of `open source` ideas as an intervention into `traditional` forms of knowledge production, circulation or sustanance. Similarly it is IP regime i refer to when i talk about end user being an frozen concept within it. On the other hand I am not so sure whether we can extrapolate the conceptual and legal framework of `property` into earlier practices. There is a danger there. It makes `property` a cultural-legal universal outside the social arrangement within which it emerged. This is one area i am at present very cautious and unsure about. Though i agree that there are various complicated arrangements and protocols within which knowledge is sustained, practiced and transmitted. And these protocols are also about `custodianship` and `withholding`. And these can be harsh in its `exclusionary` frameworks. But to call these arrangements property would be difficult. If we take the example of `classical music` in South Asia, we do see complex social arrangements, codes and protocols that helped it survive, elaborate and grow. You have to learn through practice under guidance and then only you will be able to belong to it. But i would not think it ever articulated a conceptual framework called `property`. But, Danny let me add a caveat to your arguments. I think that the problem with IP regimes along with one of artificial construction of scarcity is one of what Shuddha calls the `unauthorised interlocutors`. This `unauthorised interlocutors` could be a problem in other forms of knowledge practices. In Mahabharata a brilliant archer called Ekalavya had to give us his thumb for the story to continue. He could not prove his authentication in front of the `authenticators`. (more of that Sarai reader 04 ....to be out next month...(..).... best and thanks for your lovely response...looking forward to carrying forward our collective thinking... Salaam Jeebesh 1) We would also have to think harder on the american constitutionalism basis of lot of the arguments to ground open source ideas of freedom. Martin Hardie has written about this in the forthcoming Sarai Reader 04. (forthcoming) From shuddha at sarai.net Fri Jan 30 21:28:32 2004 From: shuddha at sarai.net (Shuddhabrata Sengupta) Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2004 21:28:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] WSF - another report is possible! In-Reply-To: <200401291801.42037.ravikant@sarai.net> References: <200401291801.42037.ravikant@sarai.net> Message-ID: <04013021283202.07239@sweety.sarai.kit> Thank you Ravikant for your most vivid report on the WSF in Mumbai. As someone who was present (briefly) at WSF, I cannot but echo my own delight in the the diversity, enthusiasm and verve that I saw at WSF, and which Ravikant's report evokes. Of course, it was like a 'Kumbh Mela' a gigantic conglomeration where everyone and their uncle had pitched their tent. But that perhaps, was precisely what was valuable. The sense of equivalence, which made an obscure anarchist group from a marginal constituency present in the same space as the most established and well funded ngo, or mass organization of a political party. To the bystander, or the interested and curious forager from stall to stall, both would have to ultimately be judged by the quality of their arguments, and the conviviality and enthusiasm that they brought to bear on any interaction with the public at large. This arrangement made it possible to 'surf' the WSF in a way that made for many discoveries, unexpected and often pleasant surprises, and a tolerance that enabled the smallest voice or the group with no folk dancers but a long and colourful banner, to be registered on to the consciousness of those (like me) who were present. As Ravikant has painted a bright and clear picture of the atmosphere, I will stick to some encounters that I found interesting and also describe some of the panels that I attended and participated in. I also want to place on record here my utter disgust with the cavalier and motivated reporting of the event that took place almost throughout the English language press and electronic media. Barring the Hindu, and the city pages of the Mumbai Times of India not a single English language newspaper has made any attempt at any serious reportage. Generally, the event was covered in a facetious and smug fashion, with much ill informed jeering and jibes (in editorials, op eds, reports, box items etc) at the 'character' of the event. Having participated in the event, I now get a real sense of how shallow media coverage can be. This means that i cannot but take everything that the media here reports (as an event) with a generous handful of salts. These hired hacks, and tv divas (Barkha Dutt's extremely partisan 'We The People' on NDTV was pathetic) have had their day, and anyone who takes them, or their whining seriously anymore, does so only at peril to their own self respect. At least this the WSF could prove - the mainstream media in India is a sad sham shadow of a tacky spectacle machine, obsessed with the agendas of the same boring idiots who grace it. Another media may or may not be immediately possible, but I think that for our collective sanity, it is certainly desirable. Anyway, to come back to the WSF, for me the most important thing was the fact that the global umbrella like character of the deliberations also ensured that a lot of things that get left unsaid or silenced in fora in India actually got said. This meant for instance, that there were more than one panel on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where matters were discussed in a serious, and not always rhetorical manner. It also meant that sex workers, sexual minorities, unorganized workers, migrants, peasants, activists working with prisoners, small publishers, free software enthusiasts could all find their place under the sun at Goregaon. This is not to enthuse over some 'Rainbow Coalition' of the alternative political spectrum, or to exult on the bigness of the big tent, but to suggest an alternative, caravan mode of politics. There is clearly a journey underway all over the world, and different kinds of people are pitching their tents in the clearing that marks the zone of interesections between their respective journeys as people navigate their own tracks, and plan the trajectories of the immediate future. This zone of intersections becomes a space for new conversations, alliances, and the circulation and sharing of knowledge and experience. The caravan makes its way, haphazardly, with arguments, with no clear map or compass - but the gatheing together of the tents, the directions that people have come from and the directions that they are going to, together, suggest the contours of the journey. That is what I found most interesting of all about the WSF. The possibility that a human rights activist from Kashmir might marvel at the laughter of a Malaysian sex worker, and that a professor of economics might begin to learn something about the political economy of free sottware. In one panel, the title of the panel - Zones of Occupation - Iraq, Palestine, Kashmir - said all that needed to be said. In another, (one that I attended), on Kashmir - The Way Ahead, organised by a Kerala based Human Rights organization, the speakers included Mohammed Yasin Malik from the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Parvez Hoodhboy and Karamat Ali from Pakistan. I found the attentive and respectful atmosphere at this panel quite remarkable. Yasin Malik spoke freely and at length, he talked about the sense of betrayal he felt because Indian intellectuals, liberals and especially Gandhians (for some reason he singled out Gandhians although he spoke with great regard for Gandhi) had refused to take a categorical stand against state terror in Kashmir. He also offered a public apology to the Kashmiri Pandits who had left the valley, and expressed the hope that they can return to a peaceful valley soon. A heckler did rise to interrupt him on a few occasions, but the crowd, which must have been about 300-400 strong, insisted that Yasin Malik be heard. Yasin Malik is not a remarkable speaker, nor did he say anything particularly significant or electrifying. But I think the very fact that a Kashmiri activist with the kind of views that Yasin Malik has was heard and applauded enthusiastically in an open public gathering in a city where Bal Thackeray still calls the shots is in itself salutary. This may have been impossible without the aegis of the WSF. What it meant was that many people, in many gatherings of the kind that I have just described throught the week that the WSF was in Mumbai, were exposed to, and discussed, and argued about things that are increasingly difficult to talk about, and sometimes even to imagine. If nothing else, it sets a precedent, it means, that the next time someone wants to hold a public discussion on something highly contentious, or very marginal, they may take that one step away from self censorship that has infected so many of us living in India today. To come back to this meeting, for me, the highlight was the brief intervention made by Karamat Ali from Pakistan. With great gentleness and good humour he took apart the armour of nationalism that every south asian state uses to cover up its rotten vitals. He spoke of the way in which India and Pakistan have trodden over the aspirations of peace and freedom of all the peoples of South Asia, and hoped that instead of always falling back on a half remembered history of mystic harmony and togetherness, we can actually begin to take steps to make our present, and our immediate futures in South Asia more livable. In the context of Kashmir, this clearly meant the need to evolve imaginative and pragmatic solutions for the total demilitarization of all of Jammu and Kashmir (including both Indian occupied and Pakistani occupied parts of the Kashmir valley) within the ambit of a loose South Asian structure that can bypass the paralytic binary of the India-Pakistan gambit and measures to restore contact between people on both sides of the line of control I came away from the Kashmir panel and after Karamat Ali spoke feeling that after a long time, I had heard someone talking sense about Kashmir. Another panel that I went to (where I was invited at the last moment to speak) was titled 'LIfe After Capitalism'. Now, I wont bore you with what I said, but what struck me was how much of a time warp many leftists of the stalinist-maoist variety still live in. Although the majority of the speakers (myself included) actually tried to focus on what Capitalism is like today, as a global system, and how a society (necessarily expressed globally and not in/through nation states) that overcomes it might have to make arrangements to continue with everyday life on a global scale (the old question of how things are going to be made, distributed, decided, etc.) , our stalinist-maoist (Sta & Ma) comrades only found it necessary to denounce our silence about, or our refusal to pay homage to the USSR of Stalin and the China of Mao Ze Dong. Almost in the same way as in Hindu ritual practice, one cannot undertake any endeavour, or worship, without first taking the name of Ganesh, the remover of obstacles, so too, the Sta & Ma comrades cried blasphemy, when the panel discussed collaborative arrangements, the nature of health care, the generalization of democratic forms of decision making, the flexible morphology of communities - etc in a possible world beyond and after capitalism, without first singing elegies to dead mass murderers like Stalin and Mao. I did not see this as at all necessary, as the panel was supposed to be about life after capitalism, and not about life under 'actually existing' state-capitalism. The loud denunciations of the Sta & Ma brigade were amusing, and at the most somewhat distracting, but again, what I found interesting was the fact that in the context of the WSF, where there were no captive audiences that one can fool with the romance of 'revolution' or of socialism in one country, family or generation, the lung power and eloquence of the Sta & Ma brigade found its true perspective, as just another somewhat more hoarse voice than others. An audience of workers, students, intellectuals and activists from different parts of India, in one room with with their counterparts from South Korea, Brazil, South Africa and Europe (which is what the audience for the panel I went to looked like) has a whole world to talk about, experiences to relate, futures to imagine. For me, this was the most important thing about the WSF, in any of the panels that I went to, chanced upon, or eavespropped upon, the presence of the world was manifest in a way that I have never witnessed before in India. A small begining, but it may lead to the restoration of visions of larger, more ample and open horizons. -- Shuddhabrata Sengupta (Raqs Media Collective) Sarai Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054 Phone : 91 11 23942199 Ext 305 www.sarai.net