[Reader-list] CMCS presents Talk by Melissa Butcher: 19th Feb 2009

[Shilpa Phadke]

*The Centre for Media and Cultural Studies*

*Tata Institute of Social Sciences*

is very pleased to invite you to a talk:

Navigating 'New' Delhi

The formation of 'Pedestrian Crossings' and 'No-Go Zones' in a Globalising
City

by

Melissa Butcher

*On 19th February 2009*

*At 4.30 P.M.*

*Room No. V, Main Campus, Deonar, TISS, Mumbai***



*Abstract:*

As a result of urban regeneration in Delhi in line with dominant models of
economic development, flows in the city have shifted resulting in the
traversing of new spaces, the re-appropriation of space in new ways and
engagement in new interactions by its inhabitants. This paper presents
findings from recent qualitative studies aimed at exploring  how the city is
being re-imagined, the possibilities and conflicts that are resulting from
spatial transformation and new mobility, focusing on shifting power
relations and cosmopolitan competencies such as imagination and empathy that
are deployed to manage change.



*About the Speaker:*

Dr Melissa Butcher is a Lecturer in the Department of Geography, the Open
University, UK. The focus of her current research is managing mobility,
cultural change and conflict in diverse urban spaces. Before joining the OU,
Melissa taught in universities in Ireland and Australia, and has also worked
as a journalist, a development education specialist, and an intercultural
consultant and trainer in the private, government and community sectors. She
has lived and worked in Asia, primarily India and Australia, and is
currently writing a book on transnational mobility and cultural change, as
well as co-editing the book 'Dissent and Cultural Resistance in Asia's
Cities' (with Selvaraj Velayutham, Routledge 2009). Her previous
publications include 'Ingenious: Emerging Youth Cultures in Urban Australia'
(with Mandy Thomas, Pluto Press, 2003), and 'Transnational Television,
Cultural Identity and Change: When STAR Came to India' (Sage, 2003). Melissa
presents and writes regularly on issues relating to globalisation,
migration, youth culture and global human resources management.