DALITS, INTERNET AND EMANCIPATORY POLITICS

The paper argues that Dalits in Maharashtra have learnt to make use of the internet in support of their emancipatory politics to voice their concerns about inequality, document instances of unfair treatment, rally together for a common cause, and share their successes and failures in their fight for equality. They have been able to exercise their agency in their use of the internet and have effectively used it to assert their ideas and voices. A large chunk of the Dalit population is definitely on the wrong side of the digital divide. However, a review of the various creative ways in which the Dalits have used the internet helps us paint a picture of resistance, a picture of hope and also of melancholy. The internet has been used by the Dalits in Maharashtra as an emancipatory space. With the help of the internet, they are getting access to authentic sources of information and an audience with a genuine interest in their stories. The internet helps them document their own history through their own gaze by bringing people together, protected by the comparative anonymity of cyberspace. There is a slow but steady transition from a universe of Grand Narratives of Dalit history to a multiverse of competing memories and histories taking shape.

Resumen El documento argumenta que los dalits en Maharashtra han aprendido a usar Internet para apoyar sus políticas emancipadoras, para expresar sus preocupaciones sobre la desigualdad, documentar instancias de trato injusto, reunirse para una causa común y compartir sus éxitos y fracasos en su lucha por igualdad. Ellos han podido ejercer su capacidad para usar Internet y la han utilizado efectivamente para hacer valer sus ideas y voces. Una gran parte de la población dalit está definitivamente en el lado equivocado de la brecha digital, sin embargo, una revisión de las diversas formas creativas en que los dalit han usado internet nos ayuda a pintar un cuadro de resistencia, una imagen de esperanza y también de melancolía. Internet ha sido utilizado por los dalits en Maharashtra como un espacio emancipatorio. Con la ayuda de Internet, obtienen acceso a fuentes de información auténticas y a una audiencia con un interés genuino en sus historias. Internet les ayuda a documentar su propia historia a través de su propia mirada reuniendo a las personas, protegidas por el anonimato comparativo del ciberespacio. Hay una transición lenta pero constante desde un universo de Grandes Narrativas de la historia Dalit a un multiverso de historias e historias en competencia tomando forma.

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Source http://fundacionmenteclara.org.ar/revista/index.php/RCA/article/view/42
Author Shraddha Kumbhojkar
Maintainer Fundación MenteClara
Last Updated June 6, 2018, 22:18 (UTC)
Created June 6, 2018, 22:17 (UTC)
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