Kashmir Journal of Social Sciences

Dean School of Social Sciences

University of Kashmir

ISSN: 0975-6220

This paper examines the technological and regulatory trajectory of digital transformation in India from the pre-independence era to the present, focusing on state policies, civic engagement, and market forces through Harold Lasswell's model of "who gets what, when, how" (1936). This study employs historical institutional analysis and highlights the challenges of digital rights, addressing the divide, security, and emergence of "digital elites". The analysis is divided into four phases: Foundational Communications Infrastructure (pre-independence to 1980s), Liberalisation and Digital Revolution (1980s to early 2000s), Data Governance and Digital Economy (mid-2000s to 2018), and Data Rights and Data Protection (2018 onwards). The analysis reveals a three-stage evolution from monopoly to liberalisation and the rise of private entities, leading to the dominance of tech giants or DigiLords. The study identifies interventions enabling this concentration and demonstrates how illiteracy creates DigiSerf dependency. The paper concludes digitalisation requires protection of rights, ethical security measures, balanced government-market influences, and citizen-centric advancement.

This article presents an in-depth sociological analysis of gender discrimination against women in the Kashmir Valley. Kashmir is a region where the intersection of history, politics, and culture has definitely contributed towards shaping the lived experiences of women. Situated within a context shaped established patriarchal traditions, the study interrogates how gender inequality becomes embedded in everyday social practices and institutional frameworks. Based on a qualitative research methodology integrating detailed case studies conducted between 2022 and 2023, this study reveals how discrimination manifests in both subtle, normalized ways and overt, institutionalized mechanisms. By examining the interconnections among historico-political spans, religio-cultural norms, and socio-economic hierarchies, the paper emphasizes the multiple and overlapping forces that sustain women’s marginalization. Furthermore, it illuminates how patriarchal authority constrains women’s autonomy and access to education, healthcare, and employment while perpetuating cycles of exclusion and disempowerment that transcend generations. The article critically evaluates the effectiveness of existing legal and policy frameworks addressing gender inequality in Kashmir, underlining persistent gaps between legislative intent and practical implementation that limit women’s access to justice. The research also examines the roles of civil society organizations, grassroots movements, and individual agency in both challenging and, at times, inadvertently reinforcing discriminatory practices. The findings highlight the need for a holistic, culturally sensitive, and multi-stakeholder approach to dismantle ingrained gender discrimination. The article concludes with targeted recommendations, including policy interventions, community engagement, and public awareness campaigns. The overarching objective is to empower women, challenge traditional gender norms, and promote an inclusive environment that upholds women’s rights and dignity. This research, based on empirical data from the Valley, significantly frames a sociological discourse on gender and rights, and calls for transformative action by stakeholders at all levels.

The paper begins by providing an overview of Kashmir Shaivism, tracing its origins. Lal Ded is a distinguished female Shaiva saint of Kashmir, whose poetic expressions or 'vaakhs' are foundational to the Kashmiri language. This article highlights how Lal Ded's spiritual journey was influenced by Hindu Shaivism and Sufism, leading to a unique synthesis of these traditions in her teachings. The research article also examines the philosophical and cultural syncretism between Shaivism and Sufism in Kashmir, focusing on the lives and teachings of two influential figures: Lal Ded and Nanda Rishi. The present paper highlights the significance of Nanda Rishi, a Kashmiri Rishi who was wrongly portrayed as a proselytiser, but was a true humanist dedicated to meditation and pursuing higher spiritual ascension. The paper emphasises the importance of the Rishi movement in shaping the cultural and religious landscape of Kashmir, as well as its role in the spread of Islam through a Sufi tradition that was distinct from the orthodox approach. The unique insights uncovered in this research are the deep-rooted syncretic nature of Kashmiri culture, where the traditions of Shaivism and Sufism coexisted and influenced each other, giving rise to spiritual figures like Lal Ded and Nanda Rishi who embodied this synthesis. The present paper highlights the importance of historical and cultural context, while incorporating additional disciplinary perspectives from religious studies, sociology, anthropology, literary analysis, and material culture studies, can yield a richer, multifaceted analysis of the complex interactions between Kashmir Shaivism and Sufism during this transformative period.

The present study explores the complex issue of information excess, a growing challenge in today’s data-driven society where the vast volumes of information often hinders users from finding reliable and relevant sources. The research tries to examine the causes of this data and information excess, including cognitive limitations and rapid digital content growth, which leads to decreased productivity and increased stress. By investigating the ways to address these issues through information literacy, this study aims to highlight strategies that improve users’ skills in evaluating and managing the information. Emphasizing libraries evolving role, it explores structured programs and AI tools that help users access and utilize information more effectively amidst abundant data. It uses the appraisal of the existing stock of literature through academic databases such as EmeraldInsight, ScienceDirect, J-Gate, etc. to find the relevant content. It included the analysis of the studies focusing on information overload, information literacy, and the role of libraries in promoting information literacy. It examined the effects and consequences of information overload on users and highlights the relevant strategies and tools used to mitigate these challenges. The study finds that both personal cognitive limitations and the exponential increase in available information significantly contribute to information overload. This issue in turn leads to reduced productivity, poor decision-making, and increased stress. Programs offered by libraries, along with advanced technological tools like AI chat bots, plays vital role in enhancing information literacy. These resources help users develop skills in evaluation, critical analysis, and effective retrieval strategies, thus enabling them to manage and utilize information more efficiently. This study highlights the importance of library led information literacy programs in addressing information overload, offering a unique perspective on integrating AI tools, such as Google Bard, within library services to enhance user support through real-time, and interactive guidance. By presenting a list of tools and programs, this paper provides valuable insights into current practices that empower users to identify and access reliable information in an age of data abundance and misinformation.

Modern states are underpinned by a Hobbesian rationality which conceptualizes states as predominantly security actors. Feminists have long critiqued this as a masculine construct which is detrimental to the concerns of women as well as society in general. In this context, this paper explores the nature of the South African state through an examination of the experiences of South African women in the country’s gendered labour market. The apartheid state normalized gender norms about women’s work and these persist even though the subsequent liberal democratic South African regime has undertaken efforts to increase gender equality in all spheres of the society. Through an extensive data analysis, the article argues that there is gender pay gap, gender disparity in labour participation rates, among several other issues. Women’s care work is not even counted as work. The article calls for a reinvention of the idea of state using principles from feminist care ethics and ‘ubuntu’ to make the state ‘caring’ and argues for seeing care as a political and public good, at both national and global level.

This paper explores how the pace and economic effects of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption differ from previous general-purpose technologies (GPTs) such as steam power, electricity, and computers. While historical GPTs transformed economies through gradual diffusion and physical reinvention, AI’s digital, cloud-based nature enables an unprecedented speed of adoption and iteration. By analyzing historical productivity data and current AI diffusion metrics, the study reveals that AI compresses the traditional “Productivity J-Curve,” producing earlier and sharper impacts. It amplifies productivity through rapid task automation and predictive efficiency but simultaneously heightens inequality and market concentration due to its cognitive displacement effects and data-driven scalability. Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from economics, sociology, and policy studies, the paper concludes that AI’s acceleration demands proactive governance—balancing innovation incentives with safeguards for labor, equity, and competition—to harness its transformative potential without repeating the social dislocations of prior technological revolutions.

As a social and political doctrine, environmentalism has three components: criticism of contemporary social systems, the expectation of an ideal society, and the search for a path to social transformation. German zoologist Ernst Haeckel first coined the term “ecology” in 1870 to describe the relationship of animal and plant management to the environment. Today the term ecology is not only associated with zoology or biology; apart from this, it is closely associated with various branches of pure science (physics and chemistry) and social sciences, reflecting its interdisciplinary expansion across knowledge systems and policy debates worldwide. Environmental research in all these disciplines has shown that the ideas of conventional economic development and the ideas of modern science and technology are pushing the harmony between nature and society towards destruction, and this is having a negative impact on all living things. Based on such conclusions, environmentalism called for a new attitude to replace the old political and economic development path and alongside the conventional nature-society relationship. The main purpose of my essay is to discuss the various environmental movements that have taken place over the years and the leading role of marginalized rural women in all these movements, their relationship with the environment, their significant steps in environmental development, how their empowerment is linked to this, and what vital role they should play in shaping a sustainable and just future.

This study analyzes motherhood, class, and alienation in Leïla Slimani's Chanson Douce, with a particular emphasis on how class dynamics affect the psychological and social aspects of modern motherhood. It looks at the limitations that surround Slimani's construction of maternal identity, especially as it relates to caretakers and the children they look after. The study examines the ways in which social structures and uneven economic circumstances depict vulnerability via the use of theme analysis. Additionally, it uses the commodification discourse to illustrate how class systems affect emotional wellness, caregiving relationships, and identity. The study contends that in addition to posing moral and affective queries on caring, Slimani's story demonstrates how stereotypes and social pressures influence mothers' experiences. Finally, the research adds to the current discourse on the redefining of motherhood in the modern, economically complicated, and socially stratified world.

This study examines the varied impacts of departmental stores on local shopkeepers in the urban areas of Kashmir. The proliferation of departmental stores in these regions has raised concerns about their social and economic implications for traditional local retailers who predominantly sell kiryana (groceries) and general merchandise. Through in-depth interviews conducted with 40 shopkeepers, this study investigates the challenges and opportunities faced by local businesses in the wake of the growing presence of departmental stores. The findings reveal a complex interplay of factors influencing the dynamics between departmental stores and local shops. Economic factors such as pricing strategies, inventory management, and consumer preferences emerge as significant determinants of competition. Additionally, social factors, including community ties, customer relationships, and cultural preferences, play a crucial role in shaping the survival strategies adopted by local shopkeepers amid changing market dynamics. This study also explores the adaptation strategies employed by local shopkeepers to remain competitive, encompassing diversification of products, personalized customer service, and leveraging local knowledge and networks. The study further examines the role of government policies and regulatory frameworks in mediating the impact of departmental stores on local businesses. By elucidating the challenges and opportunities arising from the coexistence of departmental stores and local shops, this report underscores the importance of fostering inclusive and sustainable growth in the retail sector to support the livelihoods of local communities in Kashmir.