An important thesis of Habermas's text was what he saw as the degeneration of a rationally based mode of public deliberation into a consumerist society dominated by a mass media that was itself compromised by its relationship with the State. His critics, in turn, have argued that such a transformation was not in fact a degeneration but a marker of a more egalitarian and democratic public culture. This conference seeks to re-examine the contours of this debate in the light of the significant transformations in digital technology and human communication that have taken place over the last few decades.
Forum on Contemporary Theory, Baroda in collaboration with Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University , Chandigarh
Theme: The Virtual Transformation of the Public Sphere
15-18 December 2010 Venue: Hotel Parkview, Chandigarh , India
Program-Schedule
Thursday, 16th December Venue: Banquet Hall (Upper)
10.00 – 11.30 am Inauguration Chair: Prof. Bhupinder Brar
10.00 – 10.10 am Welcome by Prof. Rana Nayar, Head, Department of English, Panjab University
10.10 – 10.20 am Welcome by Prof. Prafulla C. Kar, Convener, Forum on Contemporary Theory, Baroda
10.20 – 10.35 am Thematic Introduction by Dr. Gaurav Desai, Convener of the Conference
10.35 – 10.40 am Remarks by Prof. Lewis R. Gordon, on the Special Issue of the Journal of Contemporary Thought, “Degrees of Statelessness”
10.40 – 10.45 am Release of the Special Issue by Prof. Nicholas D. Mirzoeff
10.45 – 10.55 am Remarks by Prof. William D. Pederson, Editor of the Volume, Abraham Lincoln without Borders
10.55 – 11.00 am Release of the Volume by Prof. R. C. Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University , Chandigarh
11.00 – 11.05 am Remarks by Prof. Akeel Bilgrami, the Editor of the Volume Democratic Culture: Philosophical and Historical Essays
11.05 – 11.10 am Release of the Volume by Prof. Javeed Alam, Chairperson, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi
11.10 – 11.20 am Inaugural Speech by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. R. C. Sobti
11.20 – 11.25 am Address by the Chair, Prof. Bhupinder Brar
11.25 – 11.30 am Vote of Thanks by Dr. Surbhi Goel, Department of English, Panjab University , Chandigarh
11.45–1.00 pm First Session Venue: Banquet Hall (Upper) Keynote Address Chair: Gaurav Desai
Speaker: Nicholas D. Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media and Communication Studies, New York University , USA
Topic: “Global Visualities in Crisis”
Second Session 2.00 –3.30 pm Venue: Banquet Hall (Lower)
A1: Theorizing the Public Sphere Chair: Jasbir Jain
a) Meera Chakravorty, “The Virtual Transformation of the Public Sphere and Its Dynamics”
b) Nishat Kazi, “Internet and the Dynamics of Public Sphere”
c) Surhita Basu, “News and Public Sphere: Discourse is Power”
B1: Political Agency–Virtual and Real–1
Chair: Pushpinder Syal Venue: Conference Room
a) Anup Shekhar Chakraborty, “Identity and the Virtual Spaces among the Zo Hnahthlak: The Emergent Zo Cyber Politics”
b) Esha Mahadevan, “Internet as Public Sphere – The Emergence of New Forms of Politics”
c) Hiba Aleem, “Virtual Activism, Real Repercussions: An Analysis of How Facebook Impacts the Public Sphere in Light of Some Recent Campaigns”
d) Padam Nepal , “Virtualization of the Politics of Recognition: Mapping the Physical-Virtual Complementarity in Lepchas’ Struggle for Recognition as PTG in Darjeeling Hills (West Bengal) and Sikkim , India
C1: Democracy, New Media and the Public Sphere Chair: Harpreet Pruthi Venue: Board Room
a) K.M. Johnson, “Cyberspace and Postmodern Democracy: A Critique of the Habermasian Notion of the Public Sphere”
b) Garima Kalita, “Attested Freedom: Public Sphere of Media Democracy”
c) Timothy Allen Jackson, “Cybernecology: Liberation Aesthetics in the Public Sphere”
Third Session 3.30 –5.00 pm
A2: Historicizing the Public Sphere Chair: Parul Dave Mukherji Venue: Conference Room
a) Mary Bachaspatimayum, “Technological Advancement and Its Influence on the Public Sphere”
b) N. Nagaraju, “New Communities and ‘Their’ Public Sphere”
c) Anju Dhadda Misra, “Noosphere in Cyborg: The Virtual and the Virtuous”
d) Ashes Kumar Nayak, “Media Literacy: Strengthening the Public Sphere”
B2: Political Agency – Virtual and Real – 2 Chair: Meera Chakravorty Venue: Banquet Hall (Lower)
a) James Winchester, “Global Justice, Institutional Change and the Public Sphere in the Age of the Internet”
b) Arturo Brahms & William Pederson, “Media Transformations from Lincoln
c) Mandakini Jha, “New Media’s Use and Misuse of Lincoln as a Democratic Symbol in Asia ”
C2: Representations 1 Chair: Sunita Manian Venue: Board Room
a) Jasbir Jain, “Mediations between Collective Voices and Future Time: Politics and Media Representation”
b) Jaspal K. Singh, “Images of Sikh “Tortured Bodies” and the Construction of Sikh Solidarity and Identity within the Indian Nation-state and the Diaspora”
c) Divya Joshi, “Culture of Confession in The Bachchans: From Autobiography to Blogging”
Fourth Session (Plenary) 5.15 – 7.00 pm Venue: Banquet Hall (Upper)
Re-Reading William Godwin Chair: R. Radhakrishnan
Speaker: a) Tilottama Rajan , Canada Research Chair and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Western Ontario
Topic: “Mediating the Novel: Speculations and Discipline in Godwin’s St. Leon”
Speaker: b) Gour K. Das, Former Professor of English, University of Delhi and Vice Chancellor, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
Topic: “Culture of Anarchy: On the Shaping of Contemporary Media and Literary Cultures”
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