Abstract 54
Dr. Nagesh Rao
Dr. Nagesh Rao
Nationality, dissent, and the postcolonial nation
ABSTRACT
The identities of postcolonial nations have, without exception, been predicated
on the role played by voices of dissent that shaped, and were shaped by,
anti-colonial liberation struggles. In this sense, the modernity of postcolonial national identities is dependent on the traditions of dissent that defined their
recent past. However, the subsequent consolidation of the postcolonial nation-state
relied on an erasure or cooptation of these traditions of dissent. This is
particularly true in the era of neoliberal globalization, where an elite
consensus needs to be imposed upon a skeptical population.
This paper seeks to examine this proposition in light of public culture
in contemporary India. The emergence of “New India” on the world stage was
facilitated in large measure by the liberalization not only of the means of
production but of the means of communication. In turn, the proliferation of
mass media outlets helped produce and sustain a new national imaginary: the
image of “New India” or “India Inc.” as a bastion of liberal bourgeois democracy
with progressive, cosmopolitan values. Simultaneously, these same media outlets
have been successful in suppressing dissenting voices as “anti-national.” I
examine the role played by the rhetoric of the “anti-national” in the
neutralization of dissent in the public sphere, and seek to explain the
emergence of this rhetoric in the context of neoliberalism and globalization,
drawing on Michael Billig’s concept of “banal nationalism.”
The paper concludes with some observations on the precarious position of
the humanities in India’s universities today. If the memory and history of
dissent are kept alive in academia by the humanities and social sciences, then
the curtailment of these disciplines by a market-driven education industry does
not bode well for the future of democracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment