Short-Term Research Positions: Asian Cultural Studies The Cultural and Material life of media piracy is a three-year project carried out by the Sarai programme of the CSDS, Delhi, India in collaboration with the Alternative Law Forum Bangalore, India. The project seeks open a different debates on piracy other than simply that of enforcement and criminality in Asia. We hope to generate discussions of cultural needs, community practices of sharing and circulation in societies of high inequality. We will also look at media industry approaches to piracy and enforcement strategies. In addition, there will be ethnographic and quantitative work on media use in neighborhoods. The main research node spans South Asia, with comparative work in China and South East Asia. The Sarai-ALF teams of researchers work in tandem with an international project on media piracy with fellow researchers in Brazil, South Africa and Russia coordinated by the SSRC (New York). The project is supported by the IDRC (Canada) We are looking for bright, energetic and qualified researchers who can work in collaboration with a regional and international team. Applicants must demonstrate abilities to research and write on the subject. A familiarity with the debate on piracy, intellectual Property and the creative commons is preferable. Social science and humanities applicants should have completed postgraduate degrees, law students a four-year programme. The position is ideal for researchers working on their Ph.d/M.Phil, wanting to combine it with ongoing research and interest in media, law and cultural studies. Independent researchers with a clear, demonstrable research capacity and experience may also apply. Researcher One: Beijing The researcher will be media and copy culture circuits in China post video/VCD and the relationship to the international legal regime. Research will be fieldwork based. Researchers must be bi-lingual in Mandarin and English. Researcher Two: Hong Kong The researcher will be looking at Hong Kong Media industries after video and the worlds of piracy in South China. Researchers should be fluent and bi-lingual in Cantonese and English. Remuneration will be approximately USD 5000 for a six-month period. A publication quality research paper is expected at the conclusion of the research period. Interested applicants may send their CV and a written research sample to [log in to unmask] by April 20th, 2009. Applications without a written research sample will not be entertained. Links Sarai, CSDS: www.sarai.net Alternative Law Forum: www.altlawforum.org ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]