About this project
The Partition of British India in 1947 led to the creation of two countries, India and Pakistan. In the 74 years of independence, the two neighbouring countries have been involved in multiple wars and conflicts. Skirmishes along the border are a regular occurrence. Alarmingly, both nations are armed with nuclear weapons. And yet, the two countries have much in common - from an almost fanatical obsession with cricket and hockey, to shared history and culture to the love of Bollywood music (yes, it's popular across the border too). While successive governments both sides of the border have failed to bring the two countries any closer, there is a growing number of people in both countries who crave peace.
The Peace-ing It Together forum on Facebook is a private group with close to a thousand members of Indian and Pakistani origin based in the two countries and elsewhere globally. Members joined this group either by association with others or because of their roots to the Partition or because it touched an emotional cord related to shared history or culture or music ..... or even, simply out of curiosity.
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I was introduced to this group by one of its 'founders', Nayanika, who I have known for over twenty years. I was one of those who joined out of curiosity but over the past three months I have found that just as in the case of others, this forum touched an emotional cord for me too.
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This website presents a digital ethnography of the Peace-ing It Together forum on Facebook, through my association on that forum first as a member and then as a researcher. This website has been created as part of my practical work for the Masters course at University College London (UCL) in Digital Anthropology. My topic of research is 'neighbourhood'
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and a great go to font for titles, paragraphs & more.
The commonly understood definition of a neighbourhood has a spatial connotation, in that, a neighbourhood typifies some degree of physical or geographical proximity. In that context, India and Pakistan are indeed geographical neighbours. Further, within a physical neighbourhood, it is not uncommon to have one or more communities, who are bound together through a commonality, for example shared social or cultural or linguistic norms and practices. However, for the purpose of this research, I have chosen to expand the definition of a neighbourhood to mean a 'digital neighbourhood' - which means that it is not restricted by the need to have a geographical or physical proximity and yet the digital neighbourhood represents and bears characteristics of a traditional neighbourhood and of the communities within. In a digital neighbourhood, the distinction between a physical / geographical neighbourhood on the one hand and the social or cultural communities on the other are blurred - so the community-like characteristics are what defines this neighbourhood even though members of this digital neighbourhood may be physically far apart. The Peace-ing It Together forum on Facebook is a digital neighbourhood - it is a digital 'avatar' of two neighbouring countries though its members are actually living all over the world.
Through the ethnography of Peace-ing It Together on Facebook, I have aimed to research the following questions -
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What characteristics of a neighbourhood community are best reflected in Peace-ing It Together on Facebook?
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Are the views of my informants influenced by their situation? For example, are the views of my informants based in India and Pakistan similar to or different from the informants of Indian and Pakistani origin who are based outside of those two countries?