To the American Mainstream Media and Public:

Cultivate the patience for self-examination of yourself and our politics and policies.....Don't let them silence you by falsely equating reflection and self-examination with blaming the victim, supporting terrorism or being unpatriotic. They are merely trying to poison the well and our/your silence keeps the truth (or something closer to it) from coming to the surface. We (Americans) are too uninformed and over entertained...and its time to do something about it.






Graphics copied from www.crooksandliars.com

Mumbai Conference Paper Abstract (Draft)

74th Amendment in Theory and Practice:
A case study of Mumbai’s P/N Ward
By Tara van Dijk


Abstract: The 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution, ratified in 1992, called for greater decentralization of money and powers to urban local governments and mandated the inclusion of women and scheduled tribes and casts (via seat reservation) at the local level deliberatory branches. This constitutional action, commonly heralded as “bringing power to the people,” was believed to be a harbinger of a new era of urban development marked by equitable participation, greater accountability, and sounder, more relevant, development and planning schemes. The question now, 13 years later, is has it ushered in a new and better era of urban governance and development and truly brought “power to the people,” in quantifiable ways? More specifically, how has it been operationalized and are urban citizens' (the poor and women in particular) varied needs better addressed by post-74th Mumbai governance? This paper begins to explore these questions via an in depth case study of Mumbai’s P-North Administrative Ward’s elected and appointed staff and processes to better understand the current workings of decentralization and affirmative action in Mumbai at the ground level.

AIDS as a Gender Issue

...."its like eating candy with the wrapper on"......this is what a young African man said about why he (who is HIV positive) doesn't use a condom when having sex. "This is not the West...here a man must have it skin to skin.." this is another response. Masculinity and promiscuity are intertwined in many societies where our (US) govt is wanting to push "abstinence education" and where some Catholic Churches tell their parishioners to abstain and that contraception is sinful.

Not only is HIV\AIDS a medical condition and a symptom of poverty in Africa (and other places) it is a cultural issue, more specifically it is also a gender issue. Men must be enlightened and women empowered to the fact that the current ways masculinity (conquest, promiscuity, ruler) and femininity (submissive compliant laborer etc) are constructed and reinforced via interaction dynamics are no longer sustainable and need to be re-imagined not only for equity and moral issues, but for issues of life vs. death.

Some groups like the "Men's Movement Against AIDS in Kenya" are addressing these gender issues and trying to get men (and women) to change in order to halt this disease. In my opinion this grassroots organization and others like it are what more of the US's AIDs prevention and treatment money should be funneled to.

Mumbai Photos are on-line!

http://www.picjar.com/pub/vandijk

Click here to view my Mumbai fieldwork photos and some other pics as well.

Jaco's Indian Look

Jaco in the traditional Indian Suite I brought him from Mumbai

What do King Kong and the Heart of Darkness have in common?

A lot....apparently. We went and saw King Kong last night and I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of what I thought would be perhaps a run of the mill action adventure movie. What I found instead was a beautifully directed movie with a strong subtext engaging themes of primal human sexuality and desire, the modern world's indifference to that which it cannot tame or commodify and so destroys, and of course the contrived difference between the civilized and uncivilized world...

Of course, as it is a movie for the masses, Jackson makes his themes clear by having one of the crew men be reading The Heart of Darkness and quoting from it directly to make the symbolism of Kong and the other characters more clear to those not familiar with this novels treatment of the hypocrisy of imperialism and the darkness that lurks within all men. A darkness that can be only be tamed...by beauty and compassion...

I highly recommend this movie.

Neo

Harold Pinter Nobel Prize Speech

If you can tolerate unabashed criticism of US foreign policy this acceptance speech is worth checking out. He also addresses his craft of course..

http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture.html

My Guys :-)

Jaco and Neo

Our Wedding Group Photo

Me and my Sari 

Dedicated Doctor

This lady is a doctor who works for the city at the ward I was researching. She was kind enough to take me on a "health tour" of the area to get a better idea of the basic health services the city provides. We went to the dispenseries, health posts, and visited a fishermen colony where polio vaccines were being given that day.

Me and two of the boys who worked at the restaraunt I ate at almost every day. 

A Bit Confused..

Fishermen Colony children after receiving polio vaccine

Welcome

Hello My Social Network!

Welcome to my blog. I am not sure what its theme and purpose will be. I am just going to let it evolve and not set any boundaries just yet.

Right now I am back home in Holland working (trying to) on my masters thesis on the current functionings of decentralization and affirmative action in Mumbai. Also, as I have been invited to present a paper next month at a conference in Mumbai on urban governance, I am working on that as well. I am really looking forward to returning to Mumbai as I had a great experience there and its a very dynamic city!!!

I hope you will visit my blog from time to time and please bear with me will I figure this mode of communication and information out ;-)

Happy Holidays from Tara, Jaco, and Neo!!!