Page 85 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

60 Vibodh Parthasarathi

application of video technology towards the varied practices clubbed
under ‘development communication’. On the face of it, video technol-
ogy has been employed towards the self-expression of the voiceless and
marginalized. In celebrating the alleged contribution of such partici-
patory video, what is often pointed out is the degree of innovation and
novelty in the social application of dominant technology. However, to
begin with, an innovative application of technology does not in itself
reflect emancipatory tendencies in cultural interventions. What is
crucial is that besides portraying ‘alternative’ imagery, video activism
involves questioning the legitimacy of dominant representation as also
exposing the institutional process delivering this dominant imagery
(D’Agostnio and Tafler 1995: xvii). Efforts in participatory video have
invariably come round to being exercises for the underclass and not
by the underclass, as mentioned before. Moreover, the notion of par-
ticipation itself is being harnessed by industry (in office management
and labour relations) (Waterman 1988) and by the state (such as pan-
chayat raj). Consequently, not only is a radical epistemological shift
required in the notion of participation, but, if and when it is achieved,
such participation would constitute but one aspect of democratizing
communication processes.
Moreover, the three aforesaid facets of technology impart every
means of communication a content, an ideological content, which is
a function of its primary social objective. This substantially lays down
the range of priorities concerning the utilization of communication
technology. In other words, what needs to be realized is that the socio-
economic origin of communication technology substantially defines its
principal application (Hamelink 1986).
Having said this, are we to infer that these origins are so ‘loaded’
that they outweigh any significant alternative, notably an unintended
social application of communication technology?

Resistance and Cultural Practice

To begin with, one needs to move away from simply elucidating either
the applications of communication technology in general or the char-
acter of non-dominant media in particular. In recognizing that com-
munication technology under certain circumstances may contribute
to a movement away from dominant norms of representation and