The political lives of Information: Information and invisibilisation in digital India
This talk is based on my recent book, The Political Lives of Information: Information and the Production of Development in India, which examines the history of the idea of “information” and its political implications for poverty alleviation in India. We live in a world that sees information as empowering and democratising. But how does information work in practice and who does it work for? The book examined three cases in India—the circulation of price information on mobile phones in a fish market in Kerala, government information in computer kiosks operated by a non-profit in Puducherry, and a political campaign demanding a right to information in Rajasthan—to explore their divergent uses of information to support goals of social change. Drawing on the book and these cases, the talk will challenge claims that treat information as naturally empowering for everyone. It will use the alternative construct of an “information order” to refocus attention on how caste, class, and gender shaped who got to define information and benefit from it in the cases it considers.

Janaki’s research and writing has examined the politics of informational and digital exclusion in initiatives spanning varied digital technologies and parts of India. Her current interests include privacy and the algorithmic control of labour. For the past 5 years, as co-investigator on the Fairwork India team, she has been involved in researching and advocating for change in the precarious working conditions of digital platform-based gig workers in India. Prior to joining the University of Oxford as Associate Professor in Digital South Asian Studies In October 2024, Janaki was on the faculty at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore and convenor of its Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy. She has a PhD in Information Management and Systems from the University of California Berkeley and Masters degrees in Physics and in Information Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and IIIT Bangalore.
Date: 5 November 2024, 14:00
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Pavilion Room
Speaker: Janaki Srinivasan (University of Oxford)
Organising department: Asian Studies Centre
Organisers: Nayanika Mathur (Oxford), Ankita Pandey (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: asian@sant.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Modern South Asian Studies Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editors: Clare Salter, Thomasina Eustace