[Reader-list] shiju first posting: Public Sphere as a Site of Knowledge Production: Negotiations over Tremors, Well Collapses and Coloured Rains in the Malayalam Press

[Shiju Sam Varughese]

Dear friends, I am Shiju Sam Varughese, currently doing PhD in Zakir Husain
Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. My
research is on the role of the publics in democratizing modern science. This
is my first posting to the SARAI reader-list.
My research project for Sarai independent fellowship is titled, "Public
Sphere as a Site of Knowledge Production: Negotiations over Tremors, Well
Collapses and Coloured Rains in the Malayalam Press". The objective of the
proposed study is to understand the functioning of the public sphere as a
site of knowledge production in Kerala in the context of scientific
controversies. A scientific controversy is defined here as a polemic
regarding any aspect of science, which is deliberated upon by the public.
The scientific community loses its control over the issue while it erupts
out into the public sphere and thereafter several players participate in the
negotiation. A scientific controversy can therefore be considered as a
special occasion that brings out the internal ambivalences of scientific
knowledge production into full public view.

The scientific controversy that will be analysed in the proposed study
erupted out in the regional press when an earthquake of low intensity
occurred in Kerala on 12th December 2000. Malayalam newspapers drew public
attention into the contradictory explanations to the earthquake provided by
scientists. Many tremors of lower intensity continued striking the region
from then on and the controversy grew up into multiple dimensions. The issue
became intensified after the Gujarat earthquake on 26th January 2001 when
reports appeared in the press linking it with the tremors in Kerala.
Questions on whether Kerala becomes prone to earth quakes and a serious
criticism of scientists' incapability in providing convincing answers have
been raised. The second episode of the controversy began when several
extraordinary geophysical events appeared all over the state. Well
collapses, oscillations and rise in water levels, changing colour of water
in wells, cracks on buildings, appearance of ground fissures, leaf fall and
so on have been reported from various parts of the region. Newspapers
brought together similar incidents from the nuke and corner of the state and
once again scientists failed to give satisfactory explanation. The third
phase of the issue started followed by a report of red rain from
Changanacherry on 26th July 2001, a major town near Kottayam. Incidents of
coloured rain have been reported subsequently from other parts of Kerala
also. Scientists from Centre for Earth Science Studies (Thiruvananthapuram)
after studying the incident argued that it was due to a meteor explosion,
and it triggered off a big controversy. Scientific explanations of a wide
range were offered thereafter, and the controversy got a new lease of life
when a group of microbiologists came out with evidences for the existence of
large quantities of biological cells in coloured rainwater samples.
Questions regarding the interconnectedness of different phenomena also have
been raised in this context.

Although I have separated out the deliberations into three consecutive
phases, the inception of a new phase never stopped the controversies
generated in the previous phases. In each phase the debate became
multifaceted by the inclusion of more and more actors such as journalists,
readers, members of civil society initiatives, political parties, policy
makers and spokespersons of government and research institutes. Scientists
from a wide array of disciplines and institutions all over India
participated in the controversy, and the role of newspapers was crucial in
preparing ground for negotiations about the content of science. The
controversy continues in the regional press even today. The latest episode
started in 2006 June, when two physicists claimed that the cells found in
coloured rain was not fungal spores as suggested earlier, but 'cells of
extraterrestrial origin'.

The study involves empirical research on the scientific controversy. The
news reports on the scientific controversy that appeared in five major
newspapers of the region (Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Deshabhimani,
Madhyamam and Kerala Kaumudi)  will be analysed. News reports, special
science articles, editorials, letters to the editor, and visual images
(photographs, maps and diagrams) appeared in them will be examined in
detail. Also the key actors in the controversy including scientists and
journalists will be interviewed in order to understand the process of
negotiation.

In a nutshell this is what I intend to do. The outcome of the research will
be an academic article. Since the project is in its initial phase, your
feedback is very much crucial for taking it further. Therefore I am eagerly
waiting to hear from you all……

With regards,

 Shiju Sam.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20070324/01a134f9/attachment.html