Page 88 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Interventionist Tendencies in Popular Culture 63

That television appears to have influenced the adoption of fertilizers
by farmers is indicative first and foremost of the success of the dis-
course of modernization (agriculture dependent on canal irrigation,
on HW seeds and, of course, chemical fertilizers), and only thereafter
of broadcast technology and programmes on agriculture through it
(like Krishi Darshan). After all, farmers have taken to fertilizers in
regions where television is still inaccessible to them! As a result, a
perspective on popular culture rooted in alternative communication
must highlight political processes concerning a critical rejuvenation
of subordinate and/or dormant knowledge systems. Thus, only those
interventions in popular culture that either pivot around a critical reju-
venation of subordinate knowledge systems towards facilitating the
assertion of people’s rights, can be regarded as initiatives in alterna-
tive communication.
The right to inform and be informed implies that the vertical dis-
pensation of knowledge to consumers by those who have access and
means to produce it should give way to a beneficial exchange through
horizontal, dialogical interaction—each individual or community being
at the same time a provider and receiver of experiences. Those who
discharge specialized functions should become aware of this political
requirement and their own learning process should reflect this need.
Although processes of alternative communication involve practices
in different media as also across a variety of social subjects, they are
invariably directed at the creation of a public sphere: a socio-cultural
common that stands distinctly from the institutions and norms of the
state and the market.
Throughout history the village square, chai shops, grain mandis
and street corners, have been the space for debating political happen-
ings and societal gossip. From an aggregate of many such encounters
developed what some call ‘public opinion’ which was oriented vari-
ously towards consensus building or reaffirming dominant norms. In
other words, the historical public sphere provided a milieu in which
politics and social values came to be framed. Of course, at different
times in history this public sphere excluded different individuals and
communities based on class, caste and gender; it neither provided for a
dialogue based on equity, nor did it shape all aspects of social life. What
is equally important to realize, however, is that such public spheres did
indeed contribute their share of dissent and criticism against dominant
social articulations.