Social Work Profession in India: An Uncertain Future

Book Review

Social Work Profession in India: An Uncertain Future

T.K.Nair

Niruta Publications

Pages: xvi+256

Price: INR 500

K.R. Gangadharan*

Social work in India has three components: clinical social work (in particular, psychiatric social work), developmental social work (or development work), and social action (for social justice and social equity) according to Prof. T.K. Nair. The present book contains ten articles from social work practitioners and social work scholars who critically analyse the different dimensions of social work practice and education.

 “Philosophy of Social Work in Changing India”, by late Professor M.V. Moorthy traces the philosophy of social work in India from ancient times to the modern era. He observes rightly that theory and practice should go hand in hand; but behind theory and practice there should be philosophy to give tone, tenor and temper to the profession.  Prof. Moorthy adds: “Whatever may be the line of development followed by professional social work in the West, we in India cannot ignore the ethical contents and spirit of social work profession”.

Professor Henry D’ Souza’s article “Social Justice in India: Reflections” focuses on redistributive justice because the lack of it reinforces injustice in gender, religion, caste and tribe. He describes in detail poverty, slavery and bonded labour, corruption and bribery in India. He says that social justice struggles in our diverse, complex and largest democracy will need to continue fearlessly and with relentless determination. He is not optimistic of the effectiveness of social work profession in promoting social justice though some social workers educated in the schools of social work may commit themselves to serve the vulnerable and poor by engaging themselves in organizing local communities, and initiating struggles for social and economic justice.

“Evolutionary Excellence in Social Work” by Sampath and Kalpana Sampath underscores the conviction of the authors that individuals and institutions strive towards excellence. To align individual and organizational values, a continuous clarification process is essential which should ideally involve the ability to “connect, correlate and create”.  For any individual or organization, excellence is an ongoing process. When individuals and institutions pursue excellence, they make a difference to themselves and to those around them.

Dr. Shanthi Ranganathan has devoted her whole life for treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics and other substance addicts under the auspices of the TTK Hospital, which she founded, for which she was awarded the Padma Shri and the UN Vienna Civil Society Award. In the article, “Substance Use Disorders and Social Work Interventions”, she explains in detail the measures for prevention of substance use disorders, early identification and enhancing motivation, treatment and followup. Besides individualized therapy, family therapy is arranged to reinforce the rehabilitation process. Professional social work has been given a key role in TTK hospital, a global leader in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) as the founder - director herself is a social worker. But Dr. Shanthi says that schools of social work give low preference to training of social workers with skills needed to work with persons with SUDs.

CAP Foundation, a social enterprise, founded in 1997 by Dr. Nalini Gangadharan, believes that skill development is the key for empowerment of young men and women. Her article “Poverty Alleviation through Skill Building : A Social Work Initiative” presents the CAP model of “Linking Learning and Livelihood”  needs of working children and youth to equitable market-oriented employability opportunities. CAP’s vision is to be an end - to - end community – based solutions provider in quality education to build safer, healthier and productive communities of young people capable of supporting self- directed growth and positive citizenship. Till 2013, CAP Foundation has trained 2, 54,395 young persons in 15 states and it has international presence in 8 locations.CAP Foundation is an illustration of the developmental social work initiative.

Ms.Annie Namala has been actively involved in promoting social equity and protecting Dalit human rights for more than three decades. Annie Namala’s article “Promoting Social Justice, Human Rights and Empowerment” discusses in details the rights violations. Dalit communities continue to face caste - based violence despite the prohibition of untouchability and all forms of caste - based disabilities. On education and social inclusion, the article refers to the poor implementation of the various government provisions and schemes. Ms. Annie points out that social work studies need to constantly engage in a praxis process between theoretical instruction and field action. She wants the schools to engage field practitioners to be part of their faculty for periods of time.

Professor B. Devi Prasad, in his article “Voluntary Sector and Professional Social Work: Trends and Challenges” makes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of both the sectors. The strengths of the voluntary sector are the diversity of areas covered by the sector; the innovative role by experimenting and promoting new areas of development work; and the closeness to people. The weaknesses of the voluntary sector include suspected allegiance of foreign - funded organizations; absence of transparency and credibility of many organizations; and uncertainty of regular funding support. The strengths of professional work according to Devi Prasad are its professional base with a track record of performance globally; sound knowledge base; and accountability to society. The weaknesses include the deteriorating quality of professional social work education; and the ideological deficit. On social work education, Devi Prasad comments that it is “a sea of mediocrity with islands of excellence and visibility”.

Professor R.R. Singh’s article “Education for Professional Social Work in India: Overview” critically looks at the education for professional social work in the context of the changing  perspectives of the profession, proliferation of social work institutions, problems in the maintenance of standards, less availability of senior faculty for professional socialization  of students, and variations in courses and credits. Dr. Singh examines almost all aspects of social work education in India in this article with authority. R.R. Singh observes that the proliferation of such institutions is indeed a threat to the quality of professional social work education and practice. Most of these are self serving institutions which are not preparing competent professionals to serve society.

In the article “Should We Re-think the Nature of Social Work?”,Dr. M.Nadarajah is of the view that social work, as a mode of engagement, is an expression of our compassionate sentiment, born out of our sociability, and it is essentially directed at those in need of help.  Dr. Nadarajah states that social work today is a profession in the economy and job market. It has also been commodified, bringing it within the universe of profit motive. While social work has the features, in relation to addressing human misery, it has also assumed features that are towards profit maximization. In as much as it is in this orientation, there must be a constant supply of human misery.  The general effort of professional social work as an institution will not be directed at social prevention but towards curative activities, much like how the medical industry works. Dr. Nadarajah is of the view that society where people engage at all levels to address human suffering and consider radical structural reforms and prevention would not be in the interest of modern, professionalized social work.

Professor T.K. Nair, in his article “Humanitarianism Professionalized: Dilemmas of Social Work in India”, traces the history of social work profession and social work education. The proliferation of social work courses under different auspices; the dominance of HR (human resources) concentration in the social work curricula; the unwillingness of social work educational institutions to focus on social work without HR; the deteriorating quality of social work education in most institutions; the lack of practice-based research by the practitioners as well as the faculty; the absence of regulatory bodies of social work education and practice; and related issues are discussed by Prof. Nair in his article. He comes to the conclusion that social work is not a profession in India.

My joining the Madras School of Social Work for the postgraduate programme was with the confidence that the Postgraduate Diploma would enable me to get into the Personnel Department of an industry, which I secured on completion of the social work course. After working in industries for some years, I decided to accept an offer from the newly established corporate hospital (Apollo Hospital) at Chennai to head its Human Resource Department. Subsequently I was promoted as General Manager (Operations), which gave me a tremendously valuable experience in building and developing a hospital. I, then, shifted my base to Hyderabad, where I worked as Vice-President of a major hospital. At that time, I decided to start a hospital of my own. During one of my regular interactions with Prof. T. K. Nair at Chennai, he suggested to enter into the field of ageing. Prof. Nair was at that time active in promoting community based services for the elderly. He presented a grand design for me including President ship of the International Federation on Ageing. At that time, I was quite skeptical of the feasibility of his advice but as destiny would have it, I started the Heritage Hospital for the elderly. Incidentally, Prof .Nair was the one who suggested the title Heritage for my initiatives. I was invited to speak at the White House Conference on Ageing in 2005. I became President of the International Federation on Ageing before I turned 60. I travelled to many countries as IFA president. I was one of the members of a panel Open-ended Working Group on Ageing. I am invited as a resource person by UN ESCAP and WHO SEAR in many of their regional meeting of experts on ageing. The government of India invited me to be a member of the committee to redraft the National Policy on Senior Citizens. I was a Member of the National Council of Older Persons during 2006-2011. I was a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Advisory Council to implement the National Policy on Older Persons. Now I am active in health care, social welfare policy, and social work administration. A transformation from HR Management to Human Welfare and Social Work.

The present book edited by Prof. Nair looks at social work profession in India from an incisively critical perspective. Personally, I am happy that the book includes an article from my wife Nalini on the work she has been doing in the area of skill development. Professionally, I rate this volume as an excellent one for the future direction of social work.

*Dr. K.R.Gangadharan, PhD.

Creator, Heritage Hospital for the Elderly

Former President, IFA

DIVASWAPNA: Creativity in Education- Book Review by Ramesh D. Gongadi

Author: Gijubhai Badheka (1885-1939)

Publisher: Prakashan Samsthan, 1999

No. of pages book contains: 87

Price of the book: Rs.100.00

Divaswapna is a story, written by Gujarat’s famous educationist and teacher, Gijubhai Badheka (1885-1939). The same year, Kashinath Trivedi, the well-known educationist of Madhya Pradesh, took the initiative to publish Divaswapna in Hindi. Trivediji had learnt from Gandhi that right action requires untiring patience for its success. His dream of seeing Gijubhai’s writings on education widely disseminated has come a little closer to fulfillment today. But the dream of bringing about a change in education can materialize only after a prolonged struggle along the line in which Gandhi, Tagore, and Gijubhai had moved. The educational theory propounded by all three of them emphasizes the child’s need for an atmosphere of independence and self-reliance. Gijubhai gave ’this idea an institutional basis by establishing his Bal Mandir in 1920, and in his writings he identified the different facets of the idea.

Divaswapna is a story of a teacher Laxmiram who rejects the orthodox culture of education. He remains enthusiastic towards children and continues to experiment while consciously neglecting the traditions of teaching and prescribed textbooks. The theoretical background of his experiments lies in Montessori, but his preparation and implementation are thoroughly local.

The book was first published in Gujarathi way back in 1932.  Strange that the struggle for improvement of primary education was started long back and still there is so much to do. The book tells a fictional story of a teacher who seeks permission from the education officer to conduct experiments related to education on 4th std students.

Trying to swim against the current by purposefully shunning the orthodox methods of education he faces many difficulties. He is largely disappointed to see theoretically ideal things were not so easy to implement practically. He then devises various creative and intelligent ways to help teach children in a completely new way.

Teacher has used creative methods of teaching. One thing that I liked very much is the way he goes into the details of his experiments and I am amazed at how nicely he devises ways to solve the problems that are confronted due to the syllabus that is mandated for him to teach.  The best part which I liked is the way he teaches grammar to students by helping them understand the core concepts and caring of pupils towards their personal hygiene.

Summary Points:

The Outline of the Divaswapna book highlights following points;

1.  Teacher Laxmiram was eager to put his new plan into practice, eager to bring about peace and order in the class, eager to make classroom teaching interesting and win over pupils.

2.  Beating does not make pupils to learn, everyone has been resorting to beating while teaching and the obvious results of this method are that the children have become uncouth, rude, restless and disturbed. His experiment is opposite to the beating method.

3.  Book stresses that the Teacher must establish rapport with pupils before begins his experiments

4.  Every Teacher need to prepare a plan of work (plan of action) for the next day for best results

5.  The author highlighted importance of ‘Use of Story Telling method’ in brining effective change in the learning’s of children.

6.  Before the Story telling Teacher drew a large circle on the floor and told his pupils to sit around this circle every day, this promotes equality among children and each children can see faces all children.

7.  In the beginning of experiment the teacher had no support from his colleague teachers, headmaster and the Education Officer, but slowly and steadily he was able to convince them. The education officer was saying-Story-telling is not the current programme, How would teacher be able to complete the prescribed course of studies. Teacher Laxmiram convinced him that ‘the story telling is itself is the new method of teaching’.

8.  Teacher made an attempt the pupils asked not to buy the text-books. Instead, collected an amount equal to the cost of these textbooks; and from the amount bought good interesting books. This helped to build up a library.

9.  Initially tried to care pupils on their hygiene, but it took log time for changing, because the parents had refused to let pupils go to school bareheaded, no nail cuttings, parents had no time for sewing buttons. They had various domestic problems to cite as reasons for not doing so.

10.  Author has shown the how the ‘Games are real education. Great powers are born on the playground. Games mean character building’

11.  Teacher called a meeting of parents to explain to them the importance of games, to seek their cooperation in respect of cleanliness and order; he had invited about forty parents. Only seven gentlemen attended it. Initially it disappointed further it has helped teacher to implement new methods to change parental attitude.

12.  Stories, games, library, model reading, attention to personal hygiene and orderliness of pupils -all this took up about two months of time, he reviewed the work done, he had not done anything about the prescribed syllabus in language, arithmetic, history, science, etc.

13.  The methods Storytelling, Games, Library building and Model readings made children don’t run away from him. They love him, respect and obey him, whereas the boys of other classes run away from their teachers. He has seen them mimicking their teachers behind their backs. Not a single boy approaches his teacher with a smile or with affection. They sit in their classes silent, sullen and immobile and they indulge in mischief and quarrels when they go out of their classes. It is important Teacher has to give reasonable freedom to boys in this respect.

14.  Teacher does not promote ranking system; he says ‘A person who can sing may sing out poems. He may try to recall the words when he forgets them. A person who doesn’t know a game may observe others’ and learn; and one who is good at a game may play for the pleasure of it. A child with a good handwriting may serve as a model to others who would like to improve their own. Those who are good at doing things can always teach others who are not so good. He used the sentence “Our class is something quite different, something new. We blaze a new trail. This is our class!” Teacher emphasized the words “our class’, repeating the words a couple of times. The boys picked it up. “Our class, children replied “It is something different, something new.” This developed “We feeling” among children’

15.  Teacher met the Education Officer said to issue an order that every child attending the school must have clean clothes on; their caps must be clean, if they wear caps. Hair must be well groomed. Nails must be clipped every week and they should have a regular haircut. Clothes should have proper buttons. Students must have a bath or at least a wash before they come to school. But Education Officer did not agree of his request due to social customs.

16.  Teacher from his part strived to bring about whatever improvement he can do in the school, trained up children to form new habits. He bought two brooms and paid for them himself. He bought a small mirror, a comb, a piece of khaddar cloth and a small pair of scissors. Luckily there was a water tap in the school compound. He made all preparations in the class and made the boys stand in a line. They were quite willing, for they loved him. They had realized that he was doing something, which they liked and was beneficial to them. He asked them to look at their faces in the mirror and said, “Those who feel that their faces, eyes or noses are dirty may go to the water tap and wash them. They should wash their hands and feet also and wet their hair a little, went to class after every boy had finished having a wash. He gave them the comb and asked each of them to comb hair as best as they could. Everybody was clean and looked bright and fresh. This activity shows that ‘Teaching and maintaining Personal Hygiene is an integral part of education’.

17.  Author has opposed the religious preaching, the philosophical basis of a religion, which is very mystical and takes a lifelong effort to understand. Such religious information is a lifeless body, now is it because the parents have no time for religious discourses or is it because the elders have had their day, for whatever the reasons. Is that why the buck has been passed on to the schools?” Children like to play; they enjoy stories, they do not like religious preaching.

18.  Teacher Laxmiram used Story telling method to teach History, this method inspired Education Officer and he felt to introduce this method of teaching history in other classes also.”

19.  He presented plays from his class pupils during Commissioner’s visit to school, plays were very enthusiastic. Plays were selected immediately and were dramatizations of the stories they have read and heard. They were told that the plays would be presented without any preparation just as we perform them every week in our class. He says - the boys are not required to memorize their parts. They know the story. Every character knows his role and specks on the stage spontaneously bearing in mind the context. There is no memorization. Props and costumes are secondary things. We lay greater emphasis on expression and acting. When costumes and props are removed, the play depends for its effectiveness only on the acting and the ingenuity of the children, and these get full scope for development. You can judge from what you have seen here how far we have succeeded. Children enjoy this kind of activity. They need neither praise nor reward because the satisfaction and fulfillment and the activity are one.

  The Commissioner appreciated the work done by the Laxmiram.

20.  Laxmiram went through the syllabus in grammar; he felt he would not be able to proceed in the matter suggested. Definitions of nouns and verbs could be memorized but these definitions would mean nothing to the learners, he said good-bye to the current practice in teaching grammar. He used new for teaching grammar, prepared a plan. He devised an interesting game for them and within two months they had learnt to recognize and identify nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs and adverts in a sentence. They understood the distinction between the singular and the plural and between the masculine and the feminine genders. He was planning to           take up recognition of the subjects and the objects when the Education Officer paid a visit to his class, one day. He expressed satisfaction about the method used for teaching grammar.

21.  He developed in pupils the command over the language, of the ability to narrate, a test of memory and acting through the method of story telling

22.  Laxmiram brought box contained information as to how many books had been read by each pupil of his class during the past six months. Each page had the name of the pupil at the top and, blows it; the pupil had entered in his own handwriting, the names of books read by him. Towards the end of the notebook, he had worked out some figures namely the total number of books read by the pupils and the total number of pupils; the average number of books read by a pupil; names of pupils who had read the highest and the lowest number of books, etc. He had also noted which books were most popular and which were least popular. Books read by pupils had been classified subject wise indicating preferences of the boys for subjects. The Education Officer saw all this and he was surprised. He was happy for so many books have been read by the boys! And on so many subjects. Children read under the supervision of Laxmiram. The Education Officer asked the headmaster, “How many books have been read by the pupils of the seventh standard of your school during the past six months?” Headmaster replied “How can they read so many books of this kind? If they read such books, where would they find the time for regular study of history, geography, geometry, etc.?”

23.  He brought the manuscript magazine prepared by the pupils, all those articles were written by pupils, and he did not make any changes or corrections in what they write. They are published in the same form they were written in.

24.  The Education Officer was pleased of Laxmiram’s experiment, he opined “Quite a difficult, you are doing exceedingly well. What a fine achievement in six months I”

25.  He invited the drawing teacher of the high school. He told him, he doesn’t want to teach boys how to draw. The students picked up a thing about the technique, coloring a drawing.

26.  One day he invited a surveyor friend of his and requested him to prepare the plan of the school after taking the measurements of rooms, etc. He began to take measurements. The students moved along observing us. He demonstrated how a plan of a building could be drawn on paper. Laxmiram took the boys to the surveyor’s office for a few days to show them how draftsmen drew maps of streets, villages, forest areas, etc. The boys began to draw the school building, their houses, classrooms, a well or a lake, etc.

27.  One day he brought binoculars from the high school. He showed the boys how one could see through the binoculars the objects, which were far away. The boys were surprised. They spent the whole day taking turns to look through the binoculars. And he brought a telescope one night to observe planets and stars.

28.  He arranged for some trips to villages, to rivers, to hills, to the outskirts of the villages and let them inquire into past history of those places. This helped children to develop their knowledge.

29.  The author felt that in the teaching of arithmetic change is needed. But the change needed is fundamental. Proper methods should be followed right from the stage the child begins to learn counting. Arithmetic is such a subject that if the concepts are not clearly understood, the student remains weak throughout.

30.  The author has also named some pupils those have difficulties in some subjects, He says-It is not that they are unfit for the school. Rather, this school is unfit for them. The school is unable to teach them what they have the aptitude for.”. This shows need of concentrating upon ‘children having difficulties in readings and writings.

31.  In the end of the book author described about the prize distribution. Every year prizes worth Rs.l25 were given. The amount was to be distributed among the bright students. The Director of Education got up and said in his usual manner; “he consider today’s function to be different from the usual. This gentleman sitting by his side has given a new lesson in respect of prizes. He is not going to give away the amount of Rs. 125 to different individuals. He proposes to give that entire amount for opening a library in the school in the name of the gentleman who gave me this new lesson. He was glad to inform that the higher authorities have approved of such an arrangement and every year the amount of the prize money will be utilized to build up the library. Giving prizes individually gives rise to false pride and disappointments. The new arrangement for prizes is such that it benefits all concerned. He publicly thanked the gentleman who showed the futility of the prize system and showed him a better way of utilization of the amount.

“The primary purpose of a school is to guide the child’s discovery of his or herself and his/her world and to identify and mature the child’s talents. Just as each seed contains the future tree, each child is born with infinite potential. In the article he suggests that many teachers and parents try to be potters instead of Gardeners in moulding their children’s future.” Imagine a school in which sees children as seeds to be nurtured-here the teacher is a gardener who tries to bring out the potential already present in the child. The author Gijubhai Badheka in Divaswapna has made an attempt to explain possible areas for developing knowledge and learning skills of a pupil which intern helps all round development of the child.

            Ramesh Gongadi, Project Director, Kalike, An Initiative by
                Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

--

Scientific Writing and Publishing In Social Work

Scientific Writing and Publishing in Social Work

Edited By: Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham P. Francis, Nonie Harris

Published by: Niruta Publications, Bangalore.

ISBN :  978-81-923326-2-8

Copyright : Authors

Pages                           : XIV+226=240

First Impression          : 1000 copies

First Edition                : 2013

Paper                           : NS Maplitho 70 GSM

Price                            : Rs. 850/-

                                      ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preface

Ilango Ponnuswami1

Abraham Francis2

Nonie Harris3

The context

As a visiting scholar of The Cairns Institute, Professor Ilango Ponnuswami from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India had the opportunity in 2012 to work and collaborate with staff of Cairns Institute as well as social work academics of James Cook University(JCU) in North Queensland, Australia. These collaborations led to recognition that many of the challenges and dilemmas of scientific writing and publicationwere relevant to both the Indian and Australian contexts and that a meaningful cross-national collaboration would potentially enrich the learning experiences of students and staff in both locations. Subsequently the editors of this book, Professor Ponnuswami, and Dr Francis and Dr Harris from JCU, conducted a three day residential Scientific Writing and Publication Workshop (in January 2013), for social work faculty members and research scholars, at the Karl Kubel Institute of Development Education (KKID) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. This book is a tangible outcome of this international, academic collaboration and, most importantly, is the result of the KKID participants’ scientific writing endeavors begunat the 2013 workshop in Coimbatore.

This international collaboration directly aligns with James Cook University’s Faculty of Arts Education and Social Sciences’ (FAESS) Faculty Plan. The Plan specifically commits the Faculty to activities and endeavors that “increase links with other Universities in the tropics and encourage staff and student collaboration and exchange” (PC2.3). The international collaborative activity and publication outcome also align with the JCU’s commitment to creating a brighter future for life in the tropics through a project that contributes to “the experience of new cultures, particularly … a new educational culture, [and] is also an opportunity for some creative thinking about how new knowledges are formed and generated” (McGinty, Koo and Saedi, 2010, p. 518).

Research and Writing in Social Work

As social work educators we, the editors, shared a common belief that the activities of research, writing and publication are fundamental to who we are as social work practitioners and that it is an incredible privilege to be involved in the process of creating knowledge – which is what the research and writing processes allow us to do. We recognize that social work practice is changing and that research is now an integral part of practice. The need for practitioners to be able to engage in researchis becoming more important both for clients, organizations and communities. We should assume that research and practice are not mutually exclusive and that as practitioners committed to social justice and human rights, we are also researchers (and writers and publishers) who embrace these same commitments.The Australian Association of Social Workers states that: ‘Research is key to the continued development of the theory and knowledge base of social work practice’ (2008, p. 6). This professional practice standard emphasises the importance of the creation of an evidence base to inform our practice; that as social work practitioners we continue to monitor and evaluate what we do in a structured way; and that through these processes we are accountable for the quality and effectiveness of our practice. Practitioners also need to undertake research to determine the needs of clients, to test new ideas and to confirm practice wisdom. Research underlies the accomplishment of all of these expectations. However, as McMahon (2008) reminds us, undertaking research although important, is not sufficient- “doing research is a process of self-empowerment for the individual researcher but empowerment can begin and end with the individual unless the message gets published and broadcast to the wider context” (McMahon, 2008, p. 49). Giving written voice to our knowledge should be our priority.

     

References

1.   Australian Association of Social Workers.(2008). AASW practice standards for social workers.
            Canberra: AASW.

2.   Faculty of Arts Education and Social Sciences.(2012). Faculty triennium plan 2013 – 2015.
            Townsville, Australia: James Cook University.

3.   McGinty, S., Koo, Y. and Saeidi, M. (2010).A Cross-country Study on Research Students’
            Perceptions of the Role of Supervision and Cultural Knowledge in Thesis
            Development. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14: 5, 517-531.

4.   McMahon, A. (2008). From Consumers to Creators: The Importance of Getting Your Work
            Published. Ngoonjook: A Journal of Australian IndigenousIssues.32, 37-50.

1.   Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli,
            Tamil Nadu, India.

2.   Lecturer, Department of Social Work and Human Services, James Cook University,
            Queensland, Australia.

3.   Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work and Human Services, James Cook University, 

            Queensland, Australia. 

Contents

         

Acknowledgement                                                                                   - VII

Foreword                                                                                                   - IX

          Prof. Vimla Nadkarni

Preface                                                                                                      - X

          Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham Francis and Nonie Harris

Section 1    Introduction to Writing and Publishing in Social Work   

1.  Scientific Writing and Publication in Social Work –

     Issues and Concerns                                                                            - 3

          Ilango Ponnuswami, Abraham Francis and Nonie Harris     

2.  Mentoring Research Scholars for Publication                                          - 13

          Anthony McMahon, Sue McGinty and Felecia Watkin Lui

3.  The Time is Now: Aboriginalising Social Work Practice                    - 23

          Karen Woodley

Section 2    Health Research

4.  The Need of the Social Worker in Primary Health Care Centres             - 33

          A.K. Praveenbabu

5.  Mental Health of Suicide Attempters                                                  - 38

          Esther Kala and J. O. Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo

6.  Older Persons Wellbeing and The Spiritual Imperative                           - 54

          P. Udhayakumar, Ilango Ponnuswami and Abraham Francis

Section 3    Child and Adolescent Research

7.  Life Skills Education for Adolescents Living in Save Our

     Soul (SOS) Village - An Intervention Study                                         - 73

          L. Vini, V.  Indiramma and M. Vranda

8.  A Study on Adolescents Emotional Adjustment in

     Perambalur District                                                                              - 83

          T. Thangadurai and A. Praveenbabu

9.  Social Work Practice in the Correction of Children in

     Conflict with Law                                                                                     - 100

          M. Xavier and R. Arjunan

10.  Academic Motivation of Secondary School Students-                         - 115

       An Empirical Study

            T. Amirtha Mary  and J. Florence Shalini

11.  Does Resilience Originate From Life Dilemmas?

       With Special Reference to Institutionalized Adolescents                    - 122

            Jasmine George and Ilango Ponnuswami

12.  Behaviour Deviance Among Adolescent School Students in Slums        - 130

               K. Shanthi and J.O. Jeryda Gnanajane Eljo     

Section 4    Research on Women’s Issues, Education and Social Policy    

13.  The Living Conditions of Women Domestic Workers in

       Tiruchirappalli District                                                                         - 141

            S. Srinivasan and Ilango Ponnuswami   

14.  Young Motherhood: The Lived Experiences of Mothers

       Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Five – An Australian Context                    - 152

            Zalia Powell and Nonie Harris

15.  Emotional Intelligence of a School Teacher -

       A Case Study Analysis                                                                         - 168

            R.Mercinah and D.Nirmala

16.  Issues and Challenges of Education in India                                        - 177

            Mohana and Ilango Ponnuswami

17.  Prisons And Rehabilitation                                                                       - 198

            Juliet

18.  Domestic Violence, Human Rights and Mental Health of

     Women - An Agenda for Social Work in India                                   - 213

          Bhavna Mehta

Contact for the book

Niruta Publications,

#244, 3rd Main, Poornachandra Road,

MPM Layout, Mallathahalli, Bangalore-560056.

Ph: 080-23212309, Mob: 9980066890

Email: ramesha.mh@gmail.com,  nirutapublications@gmail.com

http://nirutapublications.blogspot.in/

The Charkha and the Internet -Sudheendra Kulkarni, ‘Music of the Spinning Wheel:

The Charkha and the Internet

Sudheendra Kulkarni, ‘Music of the Spinning Wheel:

Mahatma Gandhi’s Manifesto for the Internet Age’,

Amaryllis Publications, New Delhi, 2012, pp. 725.

Of all the great figures of the 20^th century, Gandhi has perhaps best stood the test of time.  In the aftermath of a century of unprecedented mass violence, many see in him the prophet of the only possible future for mankind, a future without hatred, greed and lust for power.  Interest in Gandhi’s thought and actions is on the increase, and his message to the world appears uniquely relevant.  He remains however, in many ways, an enigma.

            The one aspect of Gandhian thought that is most enigmatic is his outlook towards science, technology and industrialization. Gandhi’s views on industrialization did not commend themselves to the Indian intelligentsia. To many of his eminent contemporaries, Gandhian economics seemed a throwback to primitiveness; to a utopian pre-industrial position which was untenable in the modern world.

            But was Gandhi really opposed to industrialization and to modern science and technology?  Did he, with his unusual ideas on development, seek to take India back in time, to the ‘dark medieval age’, as some of his critics claim?  Or was he a visionary who not only foretold moral degradation and the looming crisis in development, but also showed an alternative path of development that is both pro-people and protective of the environment?  Was he utopian in his insistence that science, economics and ethics must go together, or was his insistence a warning that the world has ignored at its peril?  Would he have shunned the Internet, arguably the greatest technological invention of mankind, or embraced it?  What would he have said about nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and other breathtaking promises of science and technology in the twenty-first century?

            States the author of the book under review: “The more I dug into this subject, the more convinced I became that Gandhi was far from being an opponent of modern science and technology.  On the contrary, by redefining development, the Gandhian vision seeks to relocate that place of science and its practical uses in the overall terrain of human affairs where it can promote mankind’s holistic progress, and not be used for exploitation and violence.”

            The purpose of this book is not merely to dynamite the mountain of misconception on this score that survives even six decades after Gandhi’s death.  It is not merely to demonstrate that the moral symbolism of khadi and charkha has an abiding relevance for the twenty-first century.  Rather, it is also to postulate that the Internet – and all other digital-era technologies supported by it – have the potential to realize the kernel of what Gandhi had been envisioning to achieve through the spinning wheel: a new, nonviolent, inter-dependent, cooperative, sustainable and morally guided world order.

            The future world shaped by digital technologies could well validate and actualize the fundamental philosophy of the spinning wheel.  This possibility has arisen because the socio-economic and political conditions that gave rise to the use of science and technology in the pre-Internet era for the domination and disempowerment of large masses of people, are speedily changing in the age of the Internet.  A new networked global community is emerging in which the Internet and digital technologies are providing intellectual and practical tools to the common people to change social, political and economic structures.

            Indeed, as far as the transformative power of the digital-age technologies is concerned, mankind has so far seen only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.  The twenty-first century will bring a tsunami of changes that will transform the material aspects of our world beyond recognition at all levels – global, national and local. 

            These technology-driven changes, the book argues, will prove Gandhi right.  “For they will mean transition from globalization to glocalisation; from centralization to decentralization; from power and prosperity in the hands of a few to many; from prosperity defined purely in material terms to that which gives primacy to the richness of culture and ethical values; from unhealthy competition to healthy cooperation; from an exploitative attitude towards nature and its resources to an attitude of harmonious co-living.  The disconnect between economics and ethics, which the world has experienced for the past several centuries with the onset of colonialism and the mad race to conquer distant  markets, will be substantially reduced.  Old technologies gave birth to this exploitative order.  New technologies, if used wisely, will dig its grave.  Several forms of large-scale violence, such as wars between nation-states, will become a thing of the past.  Isn’t this what khadi and the spinning wheel of Gandhi’s conception stood for?”

            The principal learning from Gandhi’s charkha movement is that technology must empower the common man and that it should be a binding force for society to pursue a lofty goal.  Both of these are true for the Internet.  Anyone can connect to it freely.

            Anyone can benefit from, and contribute to, the ocean of information and knowledge contained in it.  In the process, the Internet has also become a new uniting power on a planetary scale by bringing individuals, groups, countries and cultures together in virtual as well as real spaces.  Indeed, it is mid-wifing the birth of altogether new communities cutting across physical, racial, religious, economic and cultural barriers.  Thus, it has become more than a technology of empowerment; it has become an ally and a catalyst in human evolution.

            As Jean-Francois Noubel, says, ‘We are currently witnessing the evolution from localized collective intelligence to global collective intelligence’.

            This can have a profound impact on the nature of economic, social, political and governance organizations in the future.  Today’s large organizations, which are the products of the industrial revolution, colonialism, capitalism, communism and variants of these, work mostly on the predatory instincts of self-survival, control, conquest or elimination of the adversary, disrespect for the environment and lip service to human dignity.  Violence in some form or the other is hard-wired into the functioning of many of these organizations.  In contrast, the Internet has been slowly spawning new kinds of collectivities which promote Gandhian values such as cooperation, mutual trust and caring, sharing of resources and collective growth.

            The author introduces a caveat here by affirming that the Internet has the potential to realize the ideals that Gandhi associated with the charkha.  However, whether its potential is substantially realized in the coming decades or not depends on the wisdom content of a number of other socio-political factors.

            Actualization of the enormous potential of the Internet to promote nonviolent and sustainable development depends on the morally self-restrained conduct of individuals and institutions.  Hence this book also contains philosophical speculation about the future of information technology, based on some prescient thoughts of Gandhi himself on Satyagraha and Swaraj.  In the Gandhian conception, Satya (Truth) also defines the moral and ontological dimension of life, and is not merely the true-false matrix that drives scientific research in the material world. 

Similarly, swaraj means a lot more than political ‘freedom’ for a nation.  It essentially means enlightened and ethically guided self-governance, in which the ‘self’ stands as much for the individual as for the other concentric social institutions in what Gandhi describes as the ‘Oceanic Circle’.  This Oceanic Circle is circumscribed by the infinite Cosmic Self – God Himself, who, according to Gandhi, is a synonym for Truth.  In Vedantic terms, it represents a non-hierarchical order starting from identifying the self with the individual being at the lowest end to the Universal Being at the highest.  In other words, an individual or a nation can be said to have attained swaraj only if their conduct is in alignment with the canons of truth.  Similarly, satyagraha (insistence for truth or truth force) of the Mahatma’s conception was not merely a tactic or a method of protest, as it has unfortunately been reduced to today.  Clinging to truth had to be a way of life in every human activity in every era of history.

A clarification on the title of the book would be in order. Gandhi’s quest for truth and nonviolence was also a quest for harmony.  And the most universal language of harmony is music.  He frequently uses the term ‘music of the spinning wheel’ in his writings on the charkha and khadi.

            All of us netizens around the world have to ask ourselves: How can we experience the music of harmony within ourselves when we work on the Internet?  And how can we spread, and actualize, the message of harmony through our work.

This book is not the work of idle academic curiosity about an iconic figure of yesteryears.  It is a call to action and service, based on the author’s reflections on what Gandhi means to India and the world, today and tomorrow.  Our country, in particular, needs to rediscover the relevance of his teachings, if it is not to commit the follies of its own past and, also, if it is not to repeat the follies of the West.  In Gandhi’s teachings, we find the right guidance to reunite our divided society and also our fractured subcontinent.  In his teachings, we find the right principles to reform our economic and political systems, both of which are today mired in deepening corruption.  In his teachings, we find that a new and harmonious Man-Nature relationship, which is now badly ruptured to the detriment of both, can indeed be created with the right use of modern technologies.  Finally, his teachings are also a call, as described in this book, for human beings to become ‘more than human’ by ascending the God-ward evolutionary path.

‘Music of the Spinning Wheel’ presents Mahatma Gandhi’s life and mission in an altogether new and integral light, through the prism of the perils and possibilities of the Internet Age.  Perhaps for the first time in Gandhian literature, this book discovers a correlation between the amazing potential of the Internet and the moral message of the spinning wheel.  It also highlights the abiding relevance of Gandhian thought and ideas – from economics to education, from nature cure to environment protection, from sex to women’s empowerment, and from politics to peacemaking and peace-building.

Supported by an original and incisive exploration, the book argues that the Internet, and the many digital technologies spawned by it, has the potential to actualize the Mahatma’s ideals.  In the process, the book also dynamites the widespread misconception that Gandhi was against modern science and technology.  After surveying modern science’s journey, the book makes an optimistic prediction: “The marriage of modern technologies with swarajya and satyagraha, understood in the Gandhian sense, will shape tomorrow’s just and non-violent world.”

However, the author also places a cautionary caveat: “The Internet’s potential to inaugurate a new phase in human evolution can be realized only if the world’s affairs, and also our individual lives, are radically re-ordered along a strong ethical axis. Hence the book’s inspiring call to denizens of the digital world to become ‘Internet Satyagrahis’.

‘Music of the Spinning Wheel’ is indeed a meticulously researched re-projection of Mahatma Gandhi as a techno-savvy seer for India and the world. The author deserves to be complimented for undertaking a voluminous exercise that runs into as many as 725 pages – without, at any point, appearing to bore the reader. The possible monotony that could arise when going through the volume is relieved by cartoons, caricatures, sketches and photographs.  The book should be made compulsory reading in courses of Gandhian Studies, both in India and across the world.  The book should also stimulate a meaningful discussion, through seminars and workshops, on the major ideas expressed in it.  

Book Review

Dr. D. Jeevan Kumar

Professor of Political Science, and

Director, Centre for Gandhian Studies

Bangalore University, Bangalore-560056

jeeves0607@yahoo.com