"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire

Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work

Skill formation and precarious labor: the historical role of the industrial training institutes in India 1950-2018

This paper explores the historical and ideological contestations over the meaning, nature and scope of industrial skill training in state-sponsored Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in their attempts to create a disciplined and committed labour force in India. Through a combination of conceptual insights drawn from Indian labour historiography and ethnographic participant research, the paper addresses the challenges faced by ITIs in maintaining a unified, centralized vision for industrial skill-training of workers under conditions of vastly uneven geographical development of the industrial sector and progressively intense interregional capital mobility in contemporary India

The politics and aesthetics of commemoration: national days in southern Africa

The contributions to the special section in this issue study recent independence celebrations and other national days in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They explore the role of national days in state-making and nation-building, and examine the performativity of nationalism and the role of performances in national festivities. Placing the case studies in a broader, comparative perspective, the introduction first discusses the role of the state in national celebrations, highlighting three themes: firstly, the political power-play and contested politics of memory involved in the creation of a country’s festive calendar; secondly, the relationship between state control of national days and civic or popular participation or contestation; and thirdly, the complex relationship between regional and ethnic loyalties and national identifications. It then turns to the role of performance and aesthetics in the making of nations in general, and in national celebrations in particular. Finally, we look at the different formats and meanings of national days in the region and address the question whether there is anything specific about national days in southern Africa as compared to other parts of the continent or national celebrations world-wide.Web of Scienc

Divided we stand: Diversity and national identity in India

This dissertation examines the attempts of the Indian state to produce and institutionalize definitions of national identity in the post-independence period. Through an examination of several selected sites or arenas of nationalist activity, I show that cultural diversity and civic identity are the main themes of official nationalism. Both these themes or emphases enable the state to build and legitimize its authority. The state\u27s definition of India in terms of its natural and inalienable cultural diversity allows it to present itself as the sole unifying agent—the institutional presence that is needed by the otherwise chaotic nation to achieve order and stability. Further, the emphasis on cultural diversity is selective, with only certain kinds of sub-national groups considered to be legitimate members of the diverse Indian nation. In sum, the emphasis on diversity is a strategy that allows the state to define and orchestrate practices of identity-formation at the sub-national level. The second theme of civic identity is also one which foregrounds the authority of the modern state over its national subjects. These definitions of national identity serve as effective legitimizing formulas because they have been presumptively established in the public sphere. However, the state\u27s quest for legitimacy proceeds at the expense of the freedom and security of individual subjects. At a theoretical level, I bring the state-institution back in to discussions of the nation, and argue that the modern ideology of nationalism does not just invent or imagine particular ‘horizontally’ constituted communities of individuals. It also imagines an identity for the state-institution that will represent the nation, and attempts to establish a ‘vertical’ link of legitimate authority between state and nation. Nationalism is, above all, a formula for explaining and legitimizing the existence of the modern state-institution, and the relation between the national community and the state is the central and guiding concern in all expressions of national identity

Divided we stand: Diversity and national identity in India

This dissertation examines the attempts of the Indian state to produce and institutionalize definitions of national identity in the post-independence period. Through an examination of several selected sites or arenas of nationalist activity, I show that cultural diversity and civic identity are the main themes of official nationalism. Both these themes or emphases enable the state to build and legitimize its authority. The state\u27s definition of India in terms of its natural and inalienable cultural diversity allows it to present itself as the sole unifying agent—the institutional presence that is needed by the otherwise chaotic nation to achieve order and stability. Further, the emphasis on cultural diversity is selective, with only certain kinds of sub-national groups considered to be legitimate members of the diverse Indian nation. In sum, the emphasis on diversity is a strategy that allows the state to define and orchestrate practices of identity-formation at the sub-national level. The second theme of civic identity is also one which foregrounds the authority of the modern state over its national subjects. These definitions of national identity serve as effective legitimizing formulas because they have been presumptively established in the public sphere. However, the state\u27s quest for legitimacy proceeds at the expense of the freedom and security of individual subjects. At a theoretical level, I bring the state-institution back in to discussions of the nation, and argue that the modern ideology of nationalism does not just invent or imagine particular ‘horizontally’ constituted communities of individuals. It also imagines an identity for the state-institution that will represent the nation, and attempts to establish a ‘vertical’ link of legitimate authority between state and nation. Nationalism is, above all, a formula for explaining and legitimizing the existence of the modern state-institution, and the relation between the national community and the state is the central and guiding concern in all expressions of national identity

Autophagy and Tumorigenesis

Autophagy, a catabolic process involved in the sequestration and lysosomal degradation of cytoplasmic contents, is crucial for cellular homeostasis. The current literature supports that autophagy plays diverse roles in the development, maintenance, and progression of tumors. While genetic evidence indicates autophagy functions as a tumor suppressor mechanism, it is also apparent that autophagy can promote the survival of established tumors under stress conditions and in response to chemotherapy. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms and the evidence underlying these multifaceted roles of autophagy in tumorigenesis, the prospects for targeting autophagy in cancer therapy, and overview the potential markers that may be utilized to reliably detect autophagy in clinical settings