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SUMMARY:The methodological complications and opportunities of  video docum
 enting activism in India - Heather Plumridge Bedi\, Department of Geograph
 y\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20100209T131000Z
DTEND:20100209T140000Z
UID:TALK22434@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Hilary Powell
DESCRIPTION:Underlying social movement organising around industrialisation
  and development issues in India are concerns about land\, social inequity
 \, and environmental justice. Across India communities\, social movements 
 and others are mobilising against what some describe as pressures associat
 ed with market liberalisation. Research attempted to document activism rel
 ated to concerns about the proliferation of industrial enclaves in India. 
 As a part of mixed ethnographic methodology\, a digital video-camera (prov
 ided by the Smuts Fund) was used to document resistance by two social move
 ments. Video recordings were used document how the ‘everyday processes
 ’- the language\, symbols\, networks and culture of activism - are defin
 ed\, created\, and maintained (Laureau 1989 in Lichterman 2002: 137). Thro
 ugh video documentation\, the researcher was able to visually capture meet
 ings\, protests\, personal narratives\, and informal gatherings. \n\nThis 
 presentation will explore the benefits and challenges associated with vide
 o documenting activism in a charged political environment. A brief video c
 lip will illustrate how the video documentation recorded activism. The fol
 lowing methodological questions will be raised: how does the introduction 
 of an expensive piece of technology (video-camera) change the experience o
 f a researcher?\; what are the methodological ramifications of sharing/ no
 t sharing visual resources?\; how does research positionality change as a 
 result of video documentation?\; how are activists and movements represent
 ed via this visual medium?\; and is it is it a fair representation of acti
 vism? In reflecting on these methodological issues the group can reflect o
 n the complications and opportunities associated with video documentation 
 of activism.\n
LOCATION:Entertaining Room\, Darwin College
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