Ravi Sundaram addresses the new discourse for an Information Society among Indian elites who are striving to join the world economy with all its aporias, like the intellectual property rhetoric and a culture of national security, surveillance and high levels of continuing social violence. He compares this scenario with earlier moves by South Asian elites, reaching back to developmentalism in the 1950's, and English colonialism in the 19th century.
Ravi Sundaram is a Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi and the Joint Director of Sarai, a New Media Initiative. He is researching issues of urban cultures in India in the context of the decline of the rural imaginary of old-style nationalism, and the rise of new urban cultures of conflict, violence and increased access to a global modernity.