Abhijit Banerjee, Ford International Professor of Economics
| Feb/02 | Thu | 01:00PM-02:30PM | E52-432 |
Enrollment: Limited: First come, first served (no advance sign-up)
Democracy is humanity’s bravest experiment. The idea that everyone–women and men, poor and rich, illiterate and educated–should be in charge of shaping the state and society they live in, is at once totally obvious and deeply radical. And yet, the lived experience of democracy is almost always disappointing. Corruption is often the rule and change is slow and difficult.
This film is about living this tension, through the eyes and voices of every day participants in the world’s largest democracy, India. Using unique footage that we shot in dozens of locations all over the country over eight years, with interviews with everyone from theorists to thugs (who are sometimes the same people), we document how profoundly the so-called bit-players in the democratic narrative—the often semi-literate voters, the local activists and the small-time leaders–have absorbed the democratic ethos. For all their cynicism and fear, it is for the poor, the marginalized and the powerless that the idea of democracy matters the most, what gives them the greatest hope for the future.
Combining animation, folk music and street plays with casual conversations at street corners, expert analyses and stump speeches, this is a documentary about a nation, a people and one extraordinary idea.
A presentation of clips from The strange case of the water that went up the great-grandfather’s arse and other stories of democracy followed by a discussion on populism and democracy.
Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Beata Shuster, E52-439A, 617 253-8883, BSHUSTER@MIT.EDU