Negotiating Communication Rights

Pradip Ninan Thomas is an internationally recognised scholar and academic, and is currently based at the School of Communication & Arts (SCA), University of Queensland. He has published widely in areas including communication and social change, the political economy of communication, media and religion, and Indian media. He has published in the world’s top ranked journals including the Journal of Communication, Media, Culture & Society; the International Communications Gazette; the International Journal of Communication; and the European Journal of Communication along with key Indian journals such as the Economic and Political Weekly. He sits on numerous editorial boards and is an Associate Editor of the International Communications Gazette. He is known specifically for his attempts to expand, redraw and renew theory in communication and social change, and his many writings have introduced both theorists such as E. P. Thompson and Raymond Williams and concepts such as ‘contentious action’ from social movement studies to communication and social change theory. He has previously published a trilogy on Indian media with SAGE, and his forthcoming publications include a study of telecommunications history in India. He is currently a coeditor of the book series—the Palgrave Studies on Communication and Social Change (along with Elske van de Fliert). As a former Vice President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), he is a well-known academic on the international circuit—his works have been widely referenced, cited and used as texts in communication-related courses throughout the world. This is his sixth publication with SAGE. Apart from writing, research and teaching, Pradip is keenly interested in natural history and bush walking, and is an amateur photographer and a Blues music fan. He lives in Brisbane with his wife Preetha and his golden retriever Moss.

Pradip Thomas’s analysis of the relationship between various forms of globalised and local media and the proliferferation of Christian fundamentalist religion in India is not for the faint-hearted. Not only does this book cover a wide spectrum of socio-politico-religious issues within the vast and varied historical landscape of a cosmopolitan and multi-faith nation, but is a blueprint for a truly communal inter-faith India…The book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking a survey of current scholarship in the field.

• Foreword Prof Cees HamelinkPrefacePart 1 : TheoryA Brief History of Communication RightsA Philosophy of Communication RightsObservations on the Theorising of Communication Rights in IndiaThe Communication Rights of Refugees and Displaced PeoplePart 2 : Case Studies in IndiaThe Right to Information MovementThe Community Radio MovementThe Women and Media MovementThe Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) MovementThe Citizen Journalism MovementPostscript: On the Operationalisation of Communication Rights in India TodayReferencesIndex