I am a Senior Professor in Communication at University of Hyderabad, where I also hold a UNESCO Chair on Community Media. My teaching and research interests are in the areas of communication for social change, community media, community radio, and participatory communication for development.
Page 1. Working Paper 53-2010 Religions and Development Research Programme Religions, Ethics and ... more Page 1. Working Paper 53-2010 Religions and Development Research Programme Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, AP Page 2. ...
Introduction Politics of Community Radio in India Legislating for Community Radio A Comparative A... more Introduction Politics of Community Radio in India Legislating for Community Radio A Comparative Analysis of Policy Frameworks in other Countries Mixed Signals Radio Broadcasting Policy in India Facilitating Community Radio in India Profiles of NGOs and their Community Radio Initiatives Narrowcasting Development Community Radio and Participatory Communication Revitalizing Civil Society Forging Counter Publics with Community Radio Community Radio for Empowerment The Gender Dimension Conclusion Community Radio in India - Opportunities and Challenges Appendices References Index
only on a comparison with medieval ( ‘traditional’ ) hagiographies, ignoring the key intertext of... more only on a comparison with medieval ( ‘traditional’ ) hagiographies, ignoring the key intertext of the saint films (despite his interviewees’ indications of their influence). In the visual media section, another chapter that suffers from insufficient attention to the early proliferation of mythological and saint films is Steve Demé’s account of religious elements in Hindi commercial cinema. He concentrates instead on mythic models in more secular genres (hardly ’real news’, as Babb would say, particularly since Oemé relies heavily on analyses in Manushi and elsewhere). His question as to whether or not the cinema, seen as morally suspect, is a likely vehicle for religious innovation is rendered somewhat toothless by the exclusion of this crucial early moment. In contrast, Philip Lutgendorf’s richly informed account of Ramanand Sagar’s televised Ramayan is exemplary in its sensitivity to the wider narrative tradition of which this is the most popular recent manifestation. Tradition is understood here as process rather than essence, so that the intertexts of cinema, TV soaps and modem fiction are ranged alongside katha and ramlila. John Little’s examination of the use of videos in the Swadhyaya movement in India and the US is similarly attentive to the textual and performative frames of reception, which again include a distinctly modem source of cultic authority-the late 19th century cross-hatching of ’Vedic Hinduism’ with liberal ideas, and the discourse of science (which develops in popular printed literature, another area beyond the scope of this collection). Like Smith, Little relates the circulation of visual material to the perpetuation of charismatic personality cults, although what is remarkable about the use of videos in Little’s study is their strict confinement to viewing within the collective ritual context of sarsang. The question of the kind of collectivity addressed by mass media also comes up in the chapters by Regula Qureshi and Scott Marcus on interactions between audio recording technologies and participatory traditions of religious musical performance. Qureshi’s fascinating account of qawwali (sadly marred by proofing errors) tracks its negotiations between the commercial imperatives of the recording industry, continuing ritual control by religious leaders, and appropriation by state-run media in India
ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about co... more ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots commun... more In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots communication and decentralized information access during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the lens of UNESCO’s IFAP programme. Through an analysis of the conversations conducted by us online and other data about the work done by community radio (CR) stations during the pandemic in South Asia, we explain how CR emerged as a credible and vital link for those at the grassroots and margins during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about co... more ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
Page 1. Working Paper 53-2010 Religions and Development Research Programme Religions, Ethics and ... more Page 1. Working Paper 53-2010 Religions and Development Research Programme Religions, Ethics and Attitudes towards Corruption: A Study of Perspectives in India Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, AP Page 2. ...
Introduction Politics of Community Radio in India Legislating for Community Radio A Comparative A... more Introduction Politics of Community Radio in India Legislating for Community Radio A Comparative Analysis of Policy Frameworks in other Countries Mixed Signals Radio Broadcasting Policy in India Facilitating Community Radio in India Profiles of NGOs and their Community Radio Initiatives Narrowcasting Development Community Radio and Participatory Communication Revitalizing Civil Society Forging Counter Publics with Community Radio Community Radio for Empowerment The Gender Dimension Conclusion Community Radio in India - Opportunities and Challenges Appendices References Index
only on a comparison with medieval ( ‘traditional’ ) hagiographies, ignoring the key intertext of... more only on a comparison with medieval ( ‘traditional’ ) hagiographies, ignoring the key intertext of the saint films (despite his interviewees’ indications of their influence). In the visual media section, another chapter that suffers from insufficient attention to the early proliferation of mythological and saint films is Steve Demé’s account of religious elements in Hindi commercial cinema. He concentrates instead on mythic models in more secular genres (hardly ’real news’, as Babb would say, particularly since Oemé relies heavily on analyses in Manushi and elsewhere). His question as to whether or not the cinema, seen as morally suspect, is a likely vehicle for religious innovation is rendered somewhat toothless by the exclusion of this crucial early moment. In contrast, Philip Lutgendorf’s richly informed account of Ramanand Sagar’s televised Ramayan is exemplary in its sensitivity to the wider narrative tradition of which this is the most popular recent manifestation. Tradition is understood here as process rather than essence, so that the intertexts of cinema, TV soaps and modem fiction are ranged alongside katha and ramlila. John Little’s examination of the use of videos in the Swadhyaya movement in India and the US is similarly attentive to the textual and performative frames of reception, which again include a distinctly modem source of cultic authority-the late 19th century cross-hatching of ’Vedic Hinduism’ with liberal ideas, and the discourse of science (which develops in popular printed literature, another area beyond the scope of this collection). Like Smith, Little relates the circulation of visual material to the perpetuation of charismatic personality cults, although what is remarkable about the use of videos in Little’s study is their strict confinement to viewing within the collective ritual context of sarsang. The question of the kind of collectivity addressed by mass media also comes up in the chapters by Regula Qureshi and Scott Marcus on interactions between audio recording technologies and participatory traditions of religious musical performance. Qureshi’s fascinating account of qawwali (sadly marred by proofing errors) tracks its negotiations between the commercial imperatives of the recording industry, continuing ritual control by religious leaders, and appropriation by state-run media in India
ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about co... more ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots commun... more In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots communication and decentralized information access during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the lens of UNESCO’s IFAP programme. Through an analysis of the conversations conducted by us online and other data about the work done by community radio (CR) stations during the pandemic in South Asia, we explain how CR emerged as a credible and vital link for those at the grassroots and margins during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about co... more ABSTRACT This paper argues that religion influences the ways that people think and speak about corruption, typically leading to condemnation. However, it is also argued that, in a systemically corrupt country, such condemnation is unlikely to influence actual corrupt behaviour. Based on fieldwork in India, the paper finds that existing anti-corruption policies based on a principal-agent understanding of corruption, even if they incorporate religious organisations and leaders, are unlikely to work, partly because people consider “religion” to be a discredited entity. Instead, the paper argues that if corruption were to be seen as a collective action problem, anti-corruption practice would need significant rethinking. Despite its current lack of influence, revised policies and practices may see a role for religion.
The Routledge Handbook of Media Education Futures Post-Pandemic, 2022
In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots commun... more In this chapter we analyse the role of community radio as an effective tool for grassroots communication and decentralized information access during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the lens of UNESCO’s IFAP programme. Through an analysis of the conversations conducted by us online and other data about the work done by community radio (CR) stations during the pandemic in South Asia, we explain how CR emerged as a credible and vital link for those at the grassroots and margins during the pandemic.
The Routledge Companion to Radio and Podcast Studies, 2022
The chapter argues that grassroots media initiatives such as community radio emerged globally as ... more The chapter argues that grassroots media initiatives such as community radio emerged globally as a challenge to the dominant paradigm of linear, top-down communication from the elites to the marginalized. It argues further that, in South Asia, even as the rhetoric is grafted on to a participatory communication perspective, community radio has been co-opted into a fairly benign model of ‘development radio’.
Many Voices, Many Worlds: Critical Perspectives on Community Media in India (ed. Faiz Ullah, Anjali Monteiro, K.P. Jayasankar, 2021
The two-decade-old community radio (CR) movement in India, right
from its inception, has had to c... more The two-decade-old community radio (CR) movement in India, right from its inception, has had to contend with the political question.1 Advocates and activists campaigning for the opening up of airwaves in India for third-sector broadcasting, independent of the state and the market, were cautious to eschew an argument based on communication rights, something that would have surely been construed as overtly political by the government in power in Delhi which was wary of the demand for CR. Instead, campaigners deployed an already prevalent paradigm of communication for development which seemed somewhat benign and acceptable to the state.
In this chapter, we provide a review of the historical context in which broadcasting policy in India evolved from the patronizing and authoritarian colonial control to the post-colonial period when the state swung schizophrenically between autonomy and regulation. In the second part of the chapter, we offer an analysis of the paradigmatic choices made by (mostly urban) media activists and advocates to graft an older media technology (radio, albeit in its new frequency modulation [FM] avatar) on to an equally settled discourse of development communication and, more hesitantly, on to ongoing political and social struggles in Latin America and elsewhere.
MAKING OUR MEDIA: Global Initiatives Toward a Democratic Public Sphere (Vol.1: Creating New Communication Spaces, eds Clemencia Rodriguez, Dorothy Kidd, and Laura Stein), 2010
The paper is based on case studies of four community radio stations in India and explores how the... more The paper is based on case studies of four community radio stations in India and explores how they are developing community-based programming in cooperation with local women and their voluntary associations, using local dialects and indigenous cultural forms, to provide relevant local information and discussion about issues of governance, agriculture, natural resources, and gender inequities. The article analyses women's contributions in five dimensions, as listeners, program content contributors, producers, and planners and managers. Drawing on Nancy Fraser, the article discusses how the work of these women contributes toward the creation of counter-public spheres that articulate and give visibility to women's realities and bring their concerns, identities, and issues to the dominant public agenda.
Communication in International Development: Doing Good or Looking Good?, 2018
This chapter examines issues of visibility in communication for development (C4D). Based on a qua... more This chapter examines issues of visibility in communication for development (C4D). Based on a qualitative analysis of the institutional histories of communication in four UNICEF offices, generated as part of a larger research project that addressed the challenges of evaluating C4D via action research approaches, the chapter examines the contextual factors and historical legacies that influence the nature of C4D thinking and practice within the organization today. Our analysis reveals that C4D teams face internal and external pressure to produce work that “looks good” in the eyes of key decision-makers in order to secure the resources required to “do good”. The analysis provides strategic lessons for the development of institutional contexts conducive to communication for development.
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Papers by Vinod Pavarala
from its inception, has had to contend with the political question.1
Advocates and activists campaigning for the opening up of airwaves in
India for third-sector broadcasting, independent of the state and the
market, were cautious to eschew an argument based on communication
rights, something that would have surely been construed as overtly
political by the government in power in Delhi which was wary of the
demand for CR. Instead, campaigners deployed an already prevalent
paradigm of communication for development which seemed somewhat
benign and acceptable to the state.
In this chapter, we provide a review of the historical context in
which broadcasting policy in India evolved from the patronizing and
authoritarian colonial control to the post-colonial period when the
state swung schizophrenically between autonomy and regulation. In the
second part of the chapter, we offer an analysis of the paradigmatic choices made by (mostly urban) media activists and advocates to graft an older media technology (radio, albeit in its new frequency modulation [FM] avatar) on to an equally settled discourse of development communication and, more hesitantly, on to ongoing political and social struggles in Latin America and elsewhere.