Public Spaces in India (Essay)

Introduction to classical sociological theory

Select any two thinkers from amongst those covered across this semester – Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx and W.E.B. Dubois. Write either an argumentative essay or a short debate-style dialogue between the two thinkers of your choice evoking certain core ideas from their body of work which are appropriately applicable to interpret a situation of current affairs. The situation based on current affairs titled “Public spaces in India”.

Some questions upon which you may ponder while writing from your theorists’ perspectives are: What are public spaces? Who defines public spaces? Do they have any reason(s) to exist? Who plays a larger or smaller role in these spaces? How?What happens if they cease to exist?

Here’s the Essay…

A public space is an open place where people of various age groups come together, engage in discussions and debates, have fun, gossip, savour street-food, buy things from the small markets; it’s a place where you come across people who are different than your own self. The best public spaces in the world are multifunctional and multicultural, and attract different kind of people. Vibrant public spaces draw crowds from all walks of life and the diversity enriches our everyday experience of life.

Great cities across the world have historically been defined by the quality of their public spaces (and less by the architectural beauty); public spaces have also been used for political discourse and prayers since the ancient times. For many it’s the place to unwind after a hard day’s work, and for some is the place to catch-up on the latest gossip of the day.

Unfortunately in India, public spaces are diminishing in size, and gradually making way for spaces of consumption, which is a not a very healthy development for any society. Rapid urbanisation (popularity of gated communities in the outskirts) is leaving very little space for accessible public spaces, which in turn creates divisions and rifts within our cities. Then there are political parties (call them the authoritarian state agencies) who are now trying to control these public spaces. It’s common for them to put curbs on activities such as protests, which are lawful civil activities, by trying to move these public demonstrations from public spaces to places of insignificance, where it doesn’t have much impact.

The decline of meaningful public spaces weakens opportunities for participatory democracy, which fuels tensions and conflicts among people.

Here we take a look at a couple of great thinkers who wanted to make the society a better place to live in, and will see how their philosophies applies to this situation of “Public spaces in India”.

W.E.B Du Bois was the best known spokesperson for African-American rights during the first half of the 20th century, who fought for the rights of blacks (and later on women) in America. Du Bois could clearly see that people in power were restricting the rights of blacks, and he vehemently opposed such moves. Du Bois first came into the limelight when he publicly opposed Booker T. Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise,” an agreement that suggested that vocational education for blacks was more valuable to them than social advantages like higher education or political office. However, Du Bois believed that it was an inferior strategy and criticized Washington for not demanding equality for African Americans. In the following years, he fought for the rights of blacks and also vocally supported women’s rights.

Here are a couple of instances from the “Public spaces in India” case study, where Du Bois’s philosophies could be applied. First is the recent controversy over the disruption of namaz (prayer offered by Muslims) in several public places in Gurgaon; in the past, public spaces have commonly been used for offering prayers by people in India. So this is clearly a case where certain people think they can dictate how public spaces could be used. Second is the case where authoritarian state agencies tried to limit the impact of civic protests in central areas such as Jantar Mantar in Delhi or College Square in Kolkata. State authorities have frequently been taking such measures under the garb of public interest (to prevent noise pollution or traffic congestion) to rob people of the opportunity to let other people know about their plights or the causes they’re fighting for.

These problems are similar to what the blacks and women faced in America in the nineties and the early twentieth century. Backs and women did not have same rights over several things in the society. This has been true in America since the colonial era. Wealth, power, and opportunities were afforded to people based on their race or ethnicity, and even based on gender. Protests by blacks, demanding a change in status quo, were crushed. Blacks and women faced continuous discrimination for centuries, thus causing damage to both individuals and communities, and resulting in a society where people didn’t trust and respect each other.

Another great thinker, Karl Marx was of the opinion that capitalism had flaws and would eventually lead to communism. He saw several flaws in capitalism and argued that in capitalism there is an ever-growing economic and social gap between capitalists and workers. While the rich may seem to have an endless supply of money, wage-workers on the other hand have to work extremely hard to support their family. Marx also highlights some glaring problems with Capitalism. While slavery and inequality existed centuries back, the masters ensured the welfare of their slaves during difficult times such as famine. However, under capitalism, when there is an economic downturn or when profits are in decline, workers are fired/ laid off during these hard times.

Contrary to what many felt, Marx actually had a very positive view of work, of labor, and felt an individual’s productive skills and capacities were important for the society. But he felt a communist society was a lot better for the society, as there would not be any the division of labor and social classes won’t exist. While capitalism has not yet crumbled and given way to communism, it has undergone lot of changes. And while workers today have lot of freedom, workers themselves have become commodities to be bought and sold.

Here are instances from the “Public spaces in India” case study, where Marx’s philosophies could be applied.
First instance is that of the rapid urbanisation in India and how people now live in clusters (known as gated communities). While the case study refers to Gurgaon, this type of development is now going on in most parts of India. There are several problems with this kind of development. First, it leaves very little open public space, since these gated communities have free space of their own where the people within the community interact.

Gated societies are increasingly becoming popular in India, but it’s only those living in such societies get to interact, which is a much smaller percentage and a one-dimensional crowd, compared to what you expect to see in a big, meaningful public space. And increasingly, such gated communities are abodes of financially well-off people; most of the time a status symbol is attached to living in a particular gated community and people living in there do not prefer to interact much with people from the neighbourhood.

Secondly, for most, these apartments are expensive and only a distant dream. For such people, roads and pathways are the only community spaces for people to come together, deliberate and celebrate. This style of urbanism in India is leaving virtually no space for huge, accessible public spaces which can attract people across all sections of the society. Attempts by the government at place-making will also not work because they are more of token beautification exercises. Such urbanisation will only create more divisions in the society, which in turn will cause frequent rifts and tensions in the society.

Another instance cited in the case study is how communication has evolved over the years and the significance of technology in modern day communication. Political communication, in the age of social media, has undergone a sea change. Today, when most people are glued to the phone rather than talk face-to-face, a one can build a movement through WhatsApp, propagate it through Twitter and document it on Instagram. The BJP government leveraged this medium to the fullest when the won the last elections.

This instance shows an advantage when people are equals, something that Marx believed in. In this case, technology is accessible to everybody, the rich and the poor, without differentiating between their classes. And the result is that it makes it easier to mobilise lot of people to do particular tasks/things. This instance also shows how capitalism has changed over the years; people today have more freedom and are able to access a lot of things that would have been thinkable a century ago.

Marx said that each mode of production will eventually be replaced by an improved system, and capitalism will eventually make way for communism. However, it seems we are far away from that day. Meanwhile, rapid urbanisation continues to put pressure on the public spaces in India, and continues to divide the society. The only so called public spaces left are for the poor daily wage workers whose community life revolves around the leftover spaces between buildings, and these are definitely not positive signs for any modern society.

References:

• How Indian Cities are Squeezing the People out of Public Spaces – The Wire. Retrieved from
  https://thewire.in
• firstpost.com
• W. E. B. Du Bois from Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois
• Karl Marx from Wikipedia. Retrievd from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx

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