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
 
Featuring
Mohan Dutta
Viktor Chagas
 
Sponsors
The 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 Chagas
Associate Professor | Department of Cultural Studies and Media | Fluminense Federal University
Director, Laboratory of Research on Communication, Political Cultures, and Collaborative Economy (coLAB)
Twitter: @ombudsmanviktor
 
Works referenced in episode:
Jokes and Targets by Christie Davies
Chagas, 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 Bonelli
Tom 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
 
Featuring
Mohan Dutta
Usha Raman

Sponsor:
The 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

Usha Raman
Professor in the Department of Communication | University of Hyderabad 
Vice President | International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
Twitter: @usharaman

Works 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 Bonelli
Daniel 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
 
Featuring
Mohan Dutta
Cheryll Ruth Soriano

Sponsor:
The 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

Cheryll Ruth Soriano
Professor of Communication | De La Salle University 
Principal Investigator, Fairwork Philippines
Twitter: @chesoriano
Works 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.

Featuring
Mohan Dutta
Noor Aswad

Sponsor:
Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University Qatar

More from the host & speakers:
Mohan Dutta
Professor, Dean's Chair | School of Communication, Journalism, and Marketing
Director, Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)
Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand
Twitter - @mjdutt @CAREMasseyNZ

Noor Aswad
Doctoral student in the Department of Communication
University of Memphis
Twitter - @noorghazalaswad

Papers/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.

The International Communication Association presents the ICA Podcast Network, where we’re grappling with questions about how to navigate, transform, and make sense of a changing world. Our podcasts will bring together scholars and practitioners from around the world to showcase the most exciting and important work in our field and amplify researchers, educators, and advocates who are underrepresented in our field. 
 
We're so excited to introduce One World, One Network‽, Interventions from the Global South, Architects of Communication Scholarship, Digital Alchemy, Feminist Networks and the Conjuncture, Ask Us Anything, Growing Up Comm, JCMC: The Discussion Section, and Communicating for Impact. 

Visit our website to learn more and listen to each podcast.