Sharing 2.0

Groups and sharing among teens
in urban India

Arnab Sen
Consultant Anthropologist

Social life

• Humans hunt and forage in packs
• And live in kin groups, bands, villages, apartment blocks,
neighbourhoods, ghettos

Arnab Sen
2

Survival is social

• Survival depends on
• The dynamics of the group
• The means by which resource is shared
• Human cultures develop their own mechanisms to deal with
sharing
• This applies urban cultures as much as it does to forest
dwellers and peasants

Arnab Sen
3

Background – India

• Some of the largest cities in the world
• Highly mobile urban population
• Geographical mobility
• Migrations within the country
• Smaller households
• Cultural mobility
• Fast changing urban cultures
• Mode of information
• Formation of community

Poster, Mark. 1990. Mode of Information. Arnab Sen
Cambridge: Polity Press 4

Teens and very young adults in urban India

• Subject of technology and adoption
• Object of marketing gaze
• Consumer of media, brands, products, services, causes
• Increasingly, actor in social change, mobilization, even unrest

Arnab Sen
5

In this discussion

• We look at teens and early adults in urban India
• To understand how they share the resources they need to
survive
• Based on a study of peer groups and interviews, ages 16-20, in four cities in India –
Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Nagpur and Chennai and interviews only in
Lucknow, Kolkata and Bangalore
• The peer groups had one or more of three axes of affinity – same
school/college, same neighbourhood and/or same out-of-school tuition classes.
• The tools we used included participant observation, FGDs and key informant
interviews

Arnab Sen
6

Forest of symbols

• The post-industrial city a forest of symbols
• Spaces loaded with
• Symbolic meaning
• Possibility
• Contradiction
• Enticement
• Like the hunter-gatherer the youngster navigates this sense
suffused world of symbols

Arnab Sen
7

Hunting and gathering in the city

• Sharing and group dynamics drives
• Academics
• Career choices
• Sexual behaviour
• Consumption
• Participation
• Identity

Arnab Sen
8

Our starting point

• An anthropological analysis of how bands of hunter-gatherers
share food
• Five models of sharing food
• Kin selection
• Balanced reciprocity
• Cooperative acquisition
• Tolerated theft
• Generalized reciprocity
Kaplan, H and Hill, K. 1985. Food sharing among
Ache foragers - tests of explanatory hypotheses.
Current Anthropology 26(2) pp. 223-233

Arnab Sen
9

Model 1: Kin selection

• ‘You’re one of my people’
• Preference given to kin group
• Within kin group preference by
• Hierarchy
• Reproductive potential

Arnab Sen
10

Model 2: Balanced reciprocity

• ‘Remember what I gave you’
• Cost of giving in time t < Benefit of getting in time t+1
• Benefit of getting in t+1 > Cost of discriminating between those
who reciprocate and those who don’t

Arnab Sen
11

Model 3: Cooperative acquisition

• ‘We’re in it together’
• Resource that is acquired cooperatively is shared
• Resource shared with those who participate in acquiring it >
Resource shared with those who do not

Arnab Sen
12

Model 4: Tolerated theft

• ‘Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie’
• Cost of defending extra resource > benefit of keeping extra
resource
• Value of unit n+1 of resource < Value of unit n of resource
(diminishing returns)

Arnab Sen
13

Model 5: Generalized reciprocity

• ‘Who does it belong to anyway?’
• No conscious calculation of balance between giving and
getting
• Total resource is protected from depletion and for the benefit
of all
• Taking from the commons and giving it back
• Gives long term returns like karma

Arnab Sen
14

Group and sharing

Arnab Sen

What’s shared

• Projected self image
• Choice of fashion
• Choice of content – music, movies
• Study materials
• Clothing
• Transport
• Food
• Money
• Sexual information – gossip

Arnab Sen
16

Returns

• Within friends sharing is spontaneous but there are
preferences – closer friends, friends within closest group
• They do not think consciously about returns but there is an
inherent sense of expectation
• Not much conscious calculation of how much one is giving

Arnab Sen
17

Kin preference and tolerated theft

• We select who we share with on the basis of closeness
• This is kin preference reinvented in the urban tribe
• While we apply a principle of preference in sharing we can
share resources with others who are not so close if
• The resources offer diminishing returns – typically is
perishable
• This is tolerated theft

Arnab Sen
18

We usually hang out at CP because it is central. Rajouri for …college is somewhat boring … we are more concerned about
shopping, more for movies, movies there are cheaper than CP – the minimum attendance – Group, M/F, 17-20, engineering
F, 20, History Honours, Miranda Hall, Delhi students, Chennai

We go to friends places … Sometimes. when their moms are not My friends are majorly into Harry Potter – like Pottermania type
at home…. around 2 hrs … We eat, we listen to music at full fans – F, mom watches daily Miranda Hall, Delhi
When my20, History Honours, soaps in TV and I need to sit with
volume, we dance ... we do whatever we want we do at that time her then I feel bored – F, 17, Chandigarh
– F, 16, Chandigarh
We watch Tamil and English movies. We listen mainly to rock
Basically what ever money we have in our pocket we will in that music. We mostly download from the net – Group, M/F, 17-
much petrol and just go bird watching for girls, if someone 20, engineering students, Chennai
responds well then we go after her – Group, M, 17-20, Nagpur

Pictures, videos, status updates … everyone knows what the
Dress, body image, hair, everything forms a part of the image of others are doing, mainly because of Facebook – Group M/F, 18-
how you look. Friends tend to ask each other – their opinion 20, Economics and Mathematics Honours, St Stephens College,
matters – F, 20, History Honours, Miranda Hall, Delhi Delhi

Suppose sometime we ask our friends to give something for a I have a group of 3 friends, we all purchased skirts even the
day and in case he denies that moment saying he has a need color is same ... we all went together to shop in the market
for that then it is ok. But in case after that I come to know that he wearing the same ... It was a great fun – Group, M/F, 16-20,
lied … then will I never ask again for anything from that friend… Chandigarh
– Group, M, 17-20, Chandigarh

You don’t consciously expect a return but among friends
Given a choice between TV and mobile we would choose mobile
there’s an inherent sense of expectation – F, 18, Math
– Group, M,17-20, Chandigarh
Honours, St Stephens College, Delhi
Arnab Sen
19

Respondents speak
Most students here have laptops and data cards, they download
music from Torrents – Group, M/F, 18-20, Economics and
… we share all the things only to the close friends – M, 19,
engineering student, Chennai
Mathematics, St Stephen’s, Delhi
we have contributed and bought a vehicle for ourselves Royal
We download latest Hindi, Punjabi, English songs from Enfield … whoever has time takes it … there is one boy who has
songs.pk. You get the lyrics too. We share with friends on pen a job, so he takes it when we are in the college … everyone has
drive or CD – Group, M/F, 16-20, Chandigarh a personal vehicle but this is a group car … whoever takes it fills
in petrol – Group, M, 18-20, Nagpur

We put up fun photographs, like party photographs …. basically
a way of updating others about yourself, what you’ve been up to
When the objective is finishing it off (food) we don’t really care
… posters if you’re an ardent fan of a band or something, but
who takes it. But if it is something precious we would obviously
more often personal photographs – Group M/F, 18-20,
keep it for someone close – Group M/F, 18-20, Economics and
Economics and Mathematics, St Stephens College, Delhi
Mathematics Honours, St Stephens College, Delhi

What music you’re listening to depends on who you’re hanging Money is the best example. I can give only if I’m sure of getting it
out with … and phase of life … you get to know of bands from back. If I have a little extra I might need it later. Also depends on
friends … 4 to 5 people out of 10 people have iPods or similar how much the other person’s need is. – F, 18, Economics, St
MP3 players, so you’re in touch – Group M/F, 18-20, Economics Stephens College, Delhi
and Mathematics, St Stephens College, Delhi

he is a very good friend of mine … he has worn my clothes …
My friends get very upset when I call just about everyone to my he tells me about studies and I tell him about girls – Group, M,
birthday – F, 20, History, Miranda Hall, Delhi 18-20, Nagpur

Arnab Sen
20

Sharing information about sex

• In mixed groups there is cooperation usually in the form of
support
• Introducing to members of opposite sex
• Information about potential dates
• In same sex groups there is cooperation in acquiring friends of
the opposite sex
• In male groups watching, following or even passing
remarks at girls in public spaces as a means of making
acquaintance

Arnab Sen
21

Typology of sexual encounters

• Sexual encounters can be relationships and casual sex
• Relationships are more top of mind when asked about sex
• Casual sex among peers is acknowledged but under-
valued
• It may be a subject of gossip if the people involved are
considered gossip-worthy
• Youth are more open to alternative sexualities

Arnab Sen
22

Survival value of gossip

• Sex is one of the most commonly discussed subjects
• Gossip about relationships among common friends and
acquaintances
• News about relationships, rivals, mates and potential mates
has high value for survival

Arnab Sen
23

Sex is for enjoyment as well as part of life – Group, M, 17- We would gossip about two persons we know getting laid …
20, Chandigarh depends on who they are – Group M/F, 18-20, Economics and
Mathematics, St Stephens College, Delhi
We haven’t come across people using sexual favours … it’s
common to see people two-timing or three-timing, it’s very
common in Delhi University – Group M/F, 18-20, Economics and My group knows of two girls in class who are in a same sex
Mathematics, St Stephens College, Delhi relationship … someone actually saw them in the act … we did
talk about it when we got to know but we don’t gossip about it
any more –F, 20, History , Miranda Hall, Delhi
Basically whatever money we have in our pocket we will fill in
that much petrol and just go bird watching for girls, if someone
responds well then we go after her – Group, M, 17-20, Nagpur

Arnab Sen
24

Papa don’t preach – accessing data

• Young persons are less concerned with the legality of what
they’re doing (torrents, P2P sharing, copying books) as long
as
• It’s common practice
• One is not hurting friends, family or self

Arnab Sen
25

Your causes, my causes

• The urban youth today is vocally aware of issues
• Large mobilization both online and offline
• As seen in spontaneous outburst across the country on
sexual violence
• Scale and level of engagement took the state and the
media by surprise
• State brought repressive measures to
control, leading to a greater backlash

Arnab Sen
26

Your causes, my causes

• This is completely contrary to the belief that today’s youth is
apathetic
• It is just that they have lost patience with traditional
institutions, including traditional ways of rebellion

Arnab Sen
27

Issues are core

• Every generation reinvents the establishment versus rebellion
debate
• Some issues that this generation engages with
• Rape, sexual violence
• Rights of students and youth
• Corruption
• Environment

Arnab Sen
28

Expressions are different

• Some see these issues as ‘social’ and others as ‘political’
• It is typically in response to an immediate stimulus
• The awareness DOES express itself in ‘political’ action
• None show their concern by wearing khadi to college
• High visibility engagement – often with concerts, exhibitions
• Use of technology – Facebook, Twitter

Arnab Sen
29

Mobilization against sexual violence

Arnab Sen
30

Mobilization against sexual violence

Arnab Sen
31

Respondents speak
I am aware of what is going on in the adivasi areas … we have
to protest strongly – F, 18, Economics, St Stephens College,
I am conscious about the environment. All the environment
books here are mine – F, 20, History, Miranda Hall, Delhi
Delhi

I am against any company if it exploits labour or the environment A friend was saying, see the Diwali decorations and think of the
… I am against Coke because it funded the war in Iraq – F, 18, number of people who have to be displaced for dams to provide
Economics, St Stephens College, Delhi all this electricity – Group M/F, 18-20, Delhi University

It is very easy to download [from YouTube]. We copy the URL We know downloading is illegal but everyone does it, so it goes
and then paste it in one website which in turn downloads that – M, 19, part time student, Chandigarh
particular clip into your hard disk. Later you can play it in VLC
media player. Ya, we know [it is not legal] – M, 19, engineering
student, Chennai
Downloading is free. Only the internet time costs money. My
parents only get angry when the internet usage bills are too high
For me, Facebook and YouTube is the source of news, because – Group, M, 17-19, Chandigarh
it is unbiased. Ordinary people upload whatever is really
happening – M, 19, Engineering, Chennai

Arnab Sen
32

Consumption of media and public culture

• Media is consumed with a dose of scepticism
• Many use social media as a parallel if not main source of news
• A few actively share news on social media
• Most engage with a rich diversity of brands across categories

Arnab Sen
33

Media and public culture – laundry list

• Television
• Channels: MTV, Channel V, News channels, Discovery,
Sports channels
• Reality shows: Roadies, Big Boss, Kidnap, Splitsville
• Comedy shows
• Radio
• Music – western, Bollywood, regional

Arnab Sen
34


• Movies
• Regional movies – ex. Telugu, Tamil
• Bollywood
• Hollywood ex. chick flicks (Princess Diaries, A Cinderella
Story), adventure (Indiana Jones), serious (Shawshank
Redemption)
• International, alternative and offbeat Indian

Arnab Sen
35


• Music
• Rock from across the world including Indian rock –
Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Tamil
• Rap and Hip-Hop
• Growing fan base of ‘fusion’ as seen in the popularity of
Coke Studio
• Bollywood and regional movies
• Indian classical and folk

Arnab Sen
36

The flipside of news
Here’s how the Indian TV news channel ND,TV 24x7 would report the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme.
All names (except those of Jack and Jill), are fictitious.
Prashant - TV Anchor -Two persons have been injured in a freak climbing accident. Jack and his companion Jill had gone up a hill to fetch a
pail of water when Jack fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after. Live from the hill, our reporter, Amrita Shah, takes up the story.
Amrita Shah - Thank you Prashant. Well, as you say, two persons - Jack and Jill - had gone up a hill to fetch a pail of water. Suddenly, Jack fell
down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Prashant.
Prashant - Thank you Amrita. What do we know about the hill?
Amrita - Not too much. Jack was going up the hill to fetch a pail of water when he fell down and broke his crown. Jill came tumbling after.
[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “hill breaks crown of pail-boy Jack”]
Prashant - What news of Jack and Jill?
Amrita - Prashant, it seems that Jack had gone up the hill to fetch a pail of water. We know nothing about the pail, or how heavy it was but it
seems that Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. I have here with me, an eyewitness to the accident, Mr Shahid
Trivedi. Mr Shahid, tell us what you saw.
Shahid Trivedi - Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.
[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “Boy and girl tumble down hill. Water spilled”]
Amrita - Jack and Jill. What do we know about them? Are they brother and sister? Are they married? Just what were they doing on the hill
together?
Shahid Trivedi - Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail a water.
Amrita - And what happened next?
Shahid Trivedi - Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail a water.
Amrita - And what happened next?
Shahid Trivedi - Jack fell down and broke his crown

Arnab Sen
39

The flipside of news
Amrita - Go on.
Shahid Trivedi - And Jill came tumbling after.
Amrita - Prashant, there you have it. Two people innocently going about their business to fetch a pail of water when one of them falls down,
breaks his crown, and the other comes tumbling after. Back to you in the studio Prashant.
[Headline appears at the foot of the TV screen: “Water errand ends in tragedy”]
Prashant - I have with me in the studio now, Professor Chandrashekar Belagare from the Indian Institute of Applied Hill Sciences. Professor:
a hill; Jack; Jill; a pail of water. A tragedy waiting to happen?
Professor - Well that depends on the hill, the two persons, the object they were carrying and the conditions underfoot. Let us look at the
evidence so far.
Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Clearly, one would suspect that if Jack’s fall was severe enough to break his crown then the surface of the hill must have been slippery or
unstable. But I think we’re overlooking something quite fundamental here. Who was carrying the pail? Jack fell down and broke his crown
and – this is the key – Jill came tumbling after. If Jack and Jill had been carrying the pail together, would they not have fallen at the same
time? The fact that Jill came tumbling after suggests that Jack lost his footing first and perhaps knocked Jill over as he slipped.
Prashant - Professor thank you very much. So there we have it, two persons – Jack and Jill – went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell
down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after. Later in the programme, Osama bin Laden captured in Afghanistan, President Bush
says rent-boy menage-a-trois was "just a brief lapse of judgement", and Pakistan launches nuclear warheads against key Indian cities. But
next up, join us after the break for a studio discussion about hills, boys and girls and whether water-fetching trips should be supervised.
We’ll be right back.....

Arnab Sen
40

The flipside of marriage

SHORT LOVE STORY
A man and a woman who had never met before,
But who were both married to other people,
Found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on
a Trans-continental train.
Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a
room,
They were both very tired and fell asleep quickly, he in the
upper berth and she in the lower.
At 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the
woman saying,........... 'Ma'am,
I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach
into the closet to get me a second blanket?
I'm awfully cold.'
'I have a better idea,' she replied 'Just for tonight,....... let's
pretend that we're married.'
'Wow!..................... That's a great idea!', he exclaimed.
'Good,' she replied. .............'Get your own f***ing blanket.'
After a moment of silence, .......................he farted.
The End

Arnab Sen
41

Leadership

Arnab Sen

What’s in sharing

• Sharing builds an image
• For the giver it confirms leadership in access, pride of
ownership
• For the receiver it confirms belonging in group

Arnab Sen
43

What’s in gifting

• Gifting enhances status of giver and of receiver
• What the gift is does not matter so much as the act of
gifting
• It carries a clearer expectation of reciprocal relations than
does sharing

Arnab Sen
44

Generosity, big men and the potlatch

• Generosity within a community is directly related to status. Ex.
• The Polynesian ‘big men’ – persons in stateless
communities who gain authority from being generous
• The ‘potlatch’ of the northern Pacific – where surpluses
were widely distributed or even destroyed in a show of
largesse

Arnab Sen
45

Thought leaders

• Usually a group has one (sometimes more than one) thought
leader who shares skill and access in return of leadership
status
• More tech savvy
• Better at studies
• Has a liberal atmosphere at home
• Cool parents who allow parties at home
• Unsupervised net access at home

Arnab Sen
46

Some thought leader profiles
Male, 19, Chandigarh. Stays at home, part time student, trainee cameraman in a Punjabi language news
channel. Self made, takes pride in contributing money to family, helps friends to find footing. Lets others use
his net access and downloads for friends. Uses smartphone and datacard to download for friends.

Male, 19, Chennai. Stays at home, first year engineering student. Liberal atmosphere at home, friends drop by
at his home to chat, watch matches on television. Source of net access for his friends.

Female, 20, Delhi. Stays at home, final year student of history at Miranda Hall. Mother a well known social
worker. Liberal atmosphere at home, friends drop by to drink, party. Has access to internet at home. Uses
family car for late night drives.

Female, 18, Delhi. Daughter of academicians. Stays at home, first year student of economics at St Stephens.
Liberal atmosphere at home, friends drop by to eat, party, spend the night. Socially and politically conscious.

Male, 19, Delhi. Stays in dorm, second year student of mathematics at St Stephens. Religious, avowedly
apolitical. Choice leader in western music – goes for alternative, punk rock. Attends lectures, takes notes,
widely distributes. Helps peers with coursework.

Arnab Sen
47

Some people in class write the notes. They themselves don’t know I first take the scan of the notes and then put it all in a file and
how many people are using their notes, it depends on how much their then send the file through mail – Group, M/F, 17-20, Chandigarh
notes are in demand – Group M/F, 18-20, Economics and
Mathematics Honours, St Stephens College, Delhi

I am a great fan of Sachin, I saw many videos of him on youtube
Sujith downloads music and movies on Torrent and we all share but I did not know how to download those. I search and
on pen drives – Group, M/F, 17-20, engineering students, searched and then I got it … I download it and then keep it. It is
Chennai my collection – Group M/F, 17-20, Engineering students,
Chennai
… Sujith’s mom and father are more friendly so we go to his
house – Group M/F, 18-20, engineering students, Chennai
I am a day scholar and lots of my friends who are in residence
come and spend the night … almost every weekend … they
… they think I am cool and progressive … they can come to my place come on their own … I enjoy it obviously – F, 18, Economics
and do anything, all the drinking parties have to happen here … take Honours, St Stephens College, Delhi
the car out at night to In and Out to buy chips and Coke … even in
terms of relationships people know I can do anything – F, 20, History,
Miranda Hall, Delhi You also wouldn’t like your friends not to have what you have …
you want your friends to share what you are enjoying – F, 20,
History Honours, Miranda House, Delhi
… I bought him a computer because he wasn’t getting an
opportunity to study. Now he surfs net on his own and has
learned a lot of things – M, 19, Chandigarh

Arnab Sen
48

Conclusions

Arnab Sen

• Group behaviour is a social support system
• Sharing is an integral part of group behaviour – you give and
you get back when you need it
• Sharing is used to enhance status in group
• The group is a vital source of information, particularly with
regard to academics and sex
• The group is the source of new ideas, choices in music and
movies, consumption of media, public culture and brands,
engagement with issues

Arnab Sen
50

• Sharing enhances status
• Leadership is contextual as in foraging communities
• ‘Thought leaders’ have domains of expertise – expertise in
study, expertise in mating
• The pattern of sharing of ideas and information reinforces
the leadership structure and the cohesion of the group

Arnab Sen
51

Thanks for reading through
Now that I’ve shared this in the public domain, pass it
around and use it, if you can, to fight dragons who still
maintain that urban Indian youngsters are isolated,
selfish and apathetic

Arnab Sen

Sharing 2.0

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (9)

Sharing 2.0