Sanjay Asthana, Ph.D., Middle Tennessee State University
The present generation of young people, unlike its predecessors, lives in an increasingly globalizing world that is being transformed by a wide range of technological innovations. Despite these major developments, it is a world that faces deep socio-economic disparities across various regions. This article will follow contemporary critical approaches to media education, youth, learning, and literacy by considering these as conceptual constellation that remains alert to the really existing social realties and life-worlds of young people and the communities. Through an examination of two initiatives from India, this article demonstrates how theory and praxis are indeed integrated in the media education practices pursued by young people. In creating and producing a variety of media content, the youth provide interesting perspectives on the local-global relationships which goes beyond the dominant understanding of the dialectic relations between the local and global contexts. For instance, young people raise crucial questions about power modalities around gender, poverty, and other generational and socio-economic inequities. In a preliminary manner, this article will explore some of the issues identified above, and suggest some possible connections with youth media education practices in the United States, and the role of media educators in fostering a globalist approach.
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