Media and social change: the modernizing influences of television in rural India

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of television in rural life, and the influence it has had on various social, economic and political processes that have been revolutionizing the landscape of village India in recent years. Data from ethnographic fieldwork in two remote villages in the mountains of Western Maharashtra (Danawli and Raj Puri) are presented in the context of development and social change. In particular, the article establishes the framework and rationale for an ethnographic approach to the research. It discusses the unique characteristics of television that make it an important agent of cultural change. Furthermore, the article analyzes various social processes that include consumerism, urban modeling, restructuring of human relationships, linguistic hegemony, migration and the emergence of an information underclass. Some villagers see these processes as positive, yet others view them as negative developments. The article concludes with a discussion of social change at both the structural as well as psychological levels and argues that the village audience is an active and vibrant participant in the use of media, which has ramifications for `development' both at the village level and beyond.