Media Lecturer appointed as secretary for local Fabian Society
Lecturer for the Institute for Media and Creative Industries, Dr Rohit K Dasgupta has been elected as secretary for Newham Fabians Society.
Dr Dasgupta succeeds former secretary, Tahmina Rahman, following a ballot vote made by 49 eligible members of the society. Founded in 1884, the Fabian Society is Britain’s oldest political think tank, and is committed to developing left-wing political ideas and public policy.
Speaking of the society, Dr Dasgupta stated "Over the coming months, the new officers will be seeking to raise the level of political discussion in Newham on local, national and international issues. The Fabian society was formed on the principles of active democracy and international cooperation. We will be carrying these values forward with events and speakers that will be decided in consultation with our members and also the wider public".
One of Dr Dasgupta’s first objectives alongside the newly appointed Chair, Anita Pollack, a retired MEP (Member of the European Parliament) and executive members, Cllr Rokhsana Fiaz and Cllr James Beckles will be to plan a series of events related to local democracy, Labour politics and internationalism leading to the production of a pamphlet with policy impact in the Newham borough of East London before the next local elections in 2018.
The Fabian Society website outlines their aims as the following:
- Ensuring a greater equality of power, wealth and opportunity
- Promiting the value of collective action and public service
- Developing an accountable, tolerant and active democracy
- Promoting citizenship, liberty and human rights
- Focusing on a sustainable development
- Ensuring multilateral international cooperation
Alongside his role as lecturer, Dr Dasgupta is an ethnographer with particular interests in digital media, Indian cinema, protest culture, queer politics and South Asia. He is also currently the principal investigator on a Welcome Trust Small Grant Award for the project 'Mobile-ising for Sexual Health: Digital Technologies and Sexual Health Advocacy in India'. A report based on this study is forthcoming from Bloomsbury Press.
Dr Dasgupta is also the editor of Friendship as Social Justice Activism published by the University of Chicago Press, and author of Digital Queer Cultures in India, published by Routledge.