Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 7-14-2010 Hindutva Meets Globalization: The mpI act on Hindu Urban Media Women Monalisa Gangopadhyay Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI10112010 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Gangopadhyay, Monalisa, "Hindutva Meets Globalization: The mpI act on Hindu Urban Media Women" (2010). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 305. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/305 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida HINDUTVA MEETS GLOBALIZATION: THE IMPACT ON HINDU URBAN MEDIA WOMEN A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Monalisa Gangopadhyay 2010 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Monalisa Gangopadhyay, and entitled Hindutva Meets Globalization: The Impact on Hindu Urban Media Women, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Elisabeth Prugl _______________________________________ Francois Debrix _______________________________________ Laura Ogden _______________________________________ Gail Hollander, Major Professor Date of Defense: July 14, 2010 The dissertation of Monalisa Gangopadhyay is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Interim Dean Kevin O’Shea University Graduate School Florida International University, 2010 ii DEDICATION To Sanjay and Veer iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This is truly a work of collaboration. As I make a neat list of people I want to thank, I realize how deeply they have influenced my academic endeavors and supported me through my personal trials and tribulations. In my journey through Florida International University, I have been fortunate to study and learn from some of the finest teachers in the academy but my deepest intellectual debts are to the members of my dissertation committee. My chair, Dr. Gail Hollander is an inspiring mentor. With innate patience and unwavering support, Dr. Hollander has encouraged and guided me through my research work. For her insightful intellectual advice, incisive reading of my material and great humor, I don’t have enough words to express my thankfulness. To Dr. Elisabeth Prugl, I owe a debt of gratitude for bringing me into the program and then teaching me the importance of theoretical thinking. I deeply appreciate her for allowing me to walk into her office, without an appointment, to bounce off ideas that have deeply influenced my work and thought processes. I have been doubly fortunate to have Dr. Francois Debrix, as a teacher and a supervisor. He led some of the most interesting and intellectually explosive classes I have attended. Equally important was his support through my three years of working for the Ruth K. and Shepard Broad Lecture Series, during which, he extended complete support and guidance as I balanced classes, the assistantship and new motherhood. Finally, to Dr. Laura Ogden, I owe a special debt as my conversations with her strengthened my belief in interdisciplinary research. In her class, I experienced firsthand, the flexibility that working mothers deeply desire, which allowed me to balance academics and impending motherhood. iv I want to thank my wonderful friends and colleagues in the department, whose curiosity about India kept me on my toes and whose humor kept me in splits. I specially want to thank Serena Cruz and Diana Ter-Ghazaryan for their unending intellectual support and deep friendship. I also want to thank Alexandra Santillan for seeing me through periods of craziness and reading my work. A special debt of gratitude goes out to Rita Sabat for being my cohort-mentor and teaching me how to read. Finally to Raju Parakkal, I want to thank him for pushing me to re-think and un-think some deeply rooted sometimes-unquestioned notions about India. To my friends in Delhi, I have nothing but deep gratitude for going above and beyond their comfort zones to help me with my research. I especially want to thank Shikha Mishra for the numerous emails that she sent out to establish contacts for me and for ferrying me around in the madness that is Delhi. I want to thank Himanshu Verma for taking time out of his ever-busy schedule to help me set up interviews. I must thank the staff the library in Jagori for their patience as I sorted through hundreds of research texts. As I finish my dissertation, I am aware that I have been very fortunate to be part of the supportive atmosphere in Florida International University. Whether financial support through graduate assistantships and the Dissertation Year Fellowship 2009-2010 or the open doors of professors, FIU has offered me a unique and inclusive academic experience. None of this would have been possible without the love, support and complete belief of my family. My parents, Amit and Shila created a zone of comfort where I could question and challenge, without fear. Knowing that they are sheltering me with their love and prayers every minute of the day gives me the strength to plough on. My wonderful v sister, Manisha, with her constant optimism and complete faith in my ability to write has pushed me to work harder and embrace the idea of finishing on time. I also want to thank my brother-in-law, Anant whose sense of humor and ability to listen without passing judgment has made him a wonderful friend and sounding board. Finally for the two pillars of my life, my husband Sanjay and my three-year-old son Veer, I have such deep gratitude. I want to thank Sanjay for all his quiet unreserved support, from the morning cup of tea to sending me links to interesting academic works. I could not do this as easily without him. And, finally to Veer, who lets me work in peace and asks me if I felt better when I finish, yes I do! As my family and friends support me through my academic career, I am filled with gratitude towards the media women, most of them strangers, who talked to me with no reservations, called me out on my preconceived notions, constantly challenged me with their knowledge and astounded me with their spirit to take on the dusty pillars of patriarchies. And finally, for providing a canvas of swirling material, in the words of Alanis Morrisette, Thank you, India. vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION HINDUTVA MEETS GLOBALIZATION: THE IMPACT ON HINDU URBAN MEDIA WOMEN by Monalisa Gangopadhyay Florida International University, 2010 Miami, Florida Professor Gail Hollander, Major Professor This study examines the impact of globalization and religious nationalism on the personal and professional lives of urban Hindu middle class media women. The research demonstrates how newly strengthened forces of globalization and Hindutva shape Indian womanhood. The research rests on various data that reveal how Indian women interpret and negotiate constructed identities. The study seeks to give voice to the objectified by scrutinizing and challenging the stereotypical modern faces of Indian womanhood seen in the narratives of globalization and Hindutva. Feminist open-ended interviewing was conducted in English and Hindi in New Delhi, the capital of India, with 23 Hindu women, employed by electronic and print media corporations. Accumulated data were analyzed and interpreted using feminist critical discourse analysis. Findings from the study indicate that while the Indian middle class women have embraced professional opportunities presented by globalization, they remain circumscribed by mutating gender politics. The research also finds that as academic and professional progress empower the women within their homes, their public lives have become fraught with increasing gender violence and decreasing recourse to vii justice. Therefore, women accept the power stratification of their lives as being dependent on spatial and temporal distinctions, and have learnt to engage and strategize with the public environment for physical safety and personal-professional progress. While the media women see systemic masculine domination as being symbiotic with tenets of religious nationalism, they exhibit an unquestioned embracing of capitalism/globalization as the means of empowerment. My research also strongly indicates the importance of the media’s role in shaping gender dynamics in a global context. In conclusion, my research shows the mediawomen’s immense agency in pursuing academic and professional careers while being aware of deeply ingrained gender roles through their strong commitment towards their families. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on Third World nationalism, urban globalization and understandings of reworked-renewed masculine domination. Finally, the study also engages with recent scholarship on the Indian middle class (See Nanda 2010; Shenoy 2009; Lukose 2005; and Radhakrishnan 2006) while simultaneously addressing the notions of privilege and disengagement levied at the middle class woman,