Interventions from the Global South

In this episode, Professor Mohan Dutta speaks with Professor Viktor Chagas on humor in Brazilian politics. Professor Chagas offers a humor lens to Brazilian independence from Portugal, pointing out how Brazilian people made Portuguese people the butt of the jokes as a means to create a national identity. We hear about Professor Chagas’ research into private far right WhatsApp group chats and the ethical and safety considerations that come with covert research methods. Professor Chagas and Professor Dutta also discuss the need to decenter the hegemony of political communications research and the challenges associated from the perspective of the Global South.Click here for the episode transcript FeaturingMohan DuttaViktor Chagas SponsorsThe Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University Qatar More from our guests:  Mohan Dutta Dean’s Chair Professor of Communication | Journalism and Marketing Massey University | University of New Zealand Director, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)Twitter: @mjdutt; @CAREMasseyNZ Viktor ChagasAssociate Professor | Department of Cultural Studies and Media | Fluminense Federal UniversityDirector, Laboratory of Research on Communication, Political Cultures, and Collaborative Economy (coLAB)Twitter: @ombudsmanviktor Works referenced in episode:Jokes and Targets by Christie DaviesChagas, V. A cultura dos memes: aspectos sociológicos e dimensões políticas de um fenômeno do mundo digital. Salvador: EdUFBA, 2020.Chagas, V., Modesto, M., & Magalhães, D. O Brasil vai virar Venezuela: medo, memes e enquadramentos emocionais no WhatsApp pró-Bolsonaro. Esferas, 14, 2019. Chagas, V., Freire, F., Rios, D., & Magalhães, D. Political memes and the politics of memes: a methodological proposal for content analysis of online political memes. First Monday, 24, 2019.  Copy and Audio Editors:  Dominic BonelliTom Dixon

In this episode, Professor Mohan Dutta’s guest Professor Usha Raman discusses her early professional career and how it shaped her scholarly interests. She describes her current worker-centered and feminist approach to the design and deployment of digital platforms and tools to align, with a special eye to the Global South,  the future of work with human dignity, creativity, and pleasure. Click here for the episode transcript FeaturingMohan DuttaUsha RamanSponsor:The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University QatarMore from our guests:  Mohan Dutta Dean’s Chair Professor of Communication | Journalism and Marketing Massey University | University of New Zealand Director, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)Twitter: @mjdutt; @CAREMasseyNZUsha RamanProfessor in the Department of Communication | University of Hyderabad Vice President | International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)Twitter: @usharamanWorks referenced in episode:Raman, U., & Arora, P. (n.d.). Femlab. FEMLAB.Raman, U., & Komarraju, S. A. (2018). Policing responses to crime against women: unpacking the logic of Cyberabad’s “SHE Teams”. Feminist Media Studies, 18(4), 718-733.Komarraju, S. A., Arora, P., & Raman, U. (2021). Agency and servitude in platform labour: a feminist analysis of blended cultures. Media, Culture & Society, 01634437211029890.Raman, U. (2018). MAYANOTES. Super Vision. Raman, U. (2021). Pandemic Learning: How do we make it (all) count?. Indian Academy of Sciences.Bhattacharya, S. (2021). Desperately seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the search for intimacy and Independence. Harper Collins Publishers India. Copy and Audio Editor:  Dominic BonelliDaniel Christain Executive Producer:DeVante Brown

This episode features Professor Cheryll Ruth Soriano in conversation with Professor Mohan Dutta. Professor Soriano discusses her research on Filipino platform workers, expanding on linkages between migrant workers and the rise of entrepreneurial solidarity amongst digital workers. They further discuss the implications of the Philippines' past as a colonial subject and the country’s present as a site of political, particularly anti-neoliberal, activism.Click here for the episode transcript FeaturingMohan DuttaCheryll Ruth SorianoSponsor:The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University QatarMore from our guests:  Mohan Dutta Dean’s Chair Professor of Communication | Journalism and Marketing Massey University | University of New Zealand Director, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)Twitter: @mjdutt; @CAREMasseyNZCheryll Ruth SorianoProfessor of Communication | De La Salle University Principal Investigator, Fairwork PhilippinesTwitter: @chesorianoWorks Referenced in Episode: Soriano, C. R. R., & Cabañes, J. V. A. (2020). Entrepreneurial solidarities: Social media collectives and Filipino digital platform workers. Social Media+ Society, 6(2), 2056305120926484.Munck, R. (2002). Globalisation and labour: the new'Great Transformation'. Zed Books.Copy and Audio Editor:  Sharlene Burgos Executive Producer:DeVante Brown

In this episode, host Mohan Dutta discusses with guest Noor Aswad the legacies of imperialism in Syria. They stress the importance of not portraying imperialism with a broad brush stroke. Aswad points out how the converse of America as a beacon of light, which is America as an unstoppable imperial actor, erases the micropolitics of resistance; in this way, America is not the only actor of oppression in Syria. She also discusses the struggle among oppressed people to organize a narrative that resonates with the Western world.Click here for the episode transcript.FeaturingMohan DuttaNoor AswadSponsor:Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University QatarMore from the host & speakers:Mohan DuttaProfessor, Dean's Chair | School of Communication, Journalism, and MarketingDirector, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)Massey University, Aotearoa New ZealandTwitter - @mjdutt @CAREMasseyNZNoor AswadDoctoral student in the Department of CommunicationUniversity of MemphisTwitter - @noorghazalaswadPapers/Journal referred to in the episode:Aswad, N.G. (2021). Radical Rhetoric: Toward a Telos of Solidarity. Rhetoric & Public Affairs 24(1), 207-222.Ghazal Aswad, N. (2019). Biased neutrality: the symbolic construction of the Syrian refugee in the New York Times. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 36(4), 357-375.Aswad, N. G., & De Velasco, A. (2020). Redemptive Exclusion: A Case Study of Nikki Haley’s Rhetoric on Syrian Refugees. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 23(4), 735-760.Hensman, R. (2018). Indefensible: Democracy, Counterrevolution, and the Rhetoric of Anti-Imperialism. Haymarket Books.

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