JSAWS vol. 13, n. 1

[Enrica Garzilli]

[sorry for cross posting]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am happy to announce that we have just published the Journal of South 
Asia Women Studies vol. 13, n. 1 http://bit.ly/V2ZhHY

In this issue
Editorial Note
Papers: “Indian Women in Community Radio: The Case Studies of Radio 
Namaskar in Orissa and Radio Dhadkan in Madhya Pradesh” by Daniela 
Bandelli; “The Politics of Neo-liberalism, Sexuality and Islam by 
Shaireen Rasheed.

Abstracts

Indian Women in Community Radio: The Case Studies of Radio Namaskar in 
Orissa and Radio Dhadkan in Madhya Pradesh, by Daniela Bandelli

Community Radio stations are run by community-based organizations, their 
programs are usually in local language and produced by ordinary people 
according to territory specific information needs. In India, Community 
Radio is a flourishing sector and an opportunity for women, who are 
traditionally excluded from the public sphere. This paper aims to 
provide an understanding on four dimensions of empowerment that are 
initiated through participation in Community Radio and on how gender 
norms and roles interweave with such a process. This objective is 
pursued through two qualitative case studies: Radio Namaskar, in Orissa, 
and Radio Dhadkan, in Madhya Pradesh. The study shows that, although 
responsibility of domestic duties, restricted mobility and submission to 
in-laws hinder women’s participation in Community Radio, elements of 
empowerment, such as improved awareness, skills, access to information, 
consideration within family and community and motivation to engage in 
social change, occur.


The Politics of Neo-liberalism, Sexuality and Islam, by Shaireen Rasheed

In order to rethink the role of experience in the critique of 
postcolonial modernity, it becomes important to examine the links 
between the poetic work of language and the feminist critique of 
experience. By critically examining the work of the current genre of 
south Asian writers such as Irshad Manji and Ayaan Hirsi Ali my paper is 
going to analyze how such literary discourses are being used to 
negotiate cultural stereotypes of women and Islam. Ultimately by 
contextualizing the current literary discourse on women and Islam within 
an ethical phenomenology, I hope to further problematise the voice of 
the subject in these literary texts and question whether it can ever be 
understood, experienced, and read in such a way as to be authentic.

Enjoy!

Dr Enrica Garzilli
Editor-in-Chief