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CISA Lunchtime Talk: "Is Literacy Necessary for Democracy? Some Provocations."

In this talk, Professor Akhil Gupta argues that literacy is neither a sufficient nor necessary condition for democracy. Though the demands for literacy from government bureaucracies do put poor people at a disadvantage, democratic mobilization allows forms of redress that compensate for some of those disadvantages. Moreover, through strategies of writing back and counterfeit writing, poor people undermine the uses of literacy for domination.

Monday, October 10, 2011
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Bunche Hall, Room 10383

The UCLA Center for India and South Asia announces its first "Monday mela" noon lecture, part of the biweekly CISA colloquium series.
 

Prof. Akhil Gupta (Anthropology UCLA)

"Is Literacy Necessary for Democracy? Some Provocations."

Light refreshments will be served.  

Cost: Free and open to the public

Sponsor(s): Center for India and South Asia