Our Diary

“there are movements in black ‘n white
just as moments in life in black ‘n white
there are struggles for rights
just as breaths of life
there are shadows in black ‘n white
just as reflections of life……”

Our Diary is a flagship initiative of the Kriti team, wherein we document people's movements and struggles from India and parts of the world in recognition, protection and promotion of human rights. The first edition of Our Diary was produced in the year 2000, marking the beginning of the movement journey.

Each year, the diary documents and recounts the voices of different people’s movements for the protection of, and against the denial of, social, cultural, economic and political rights from all over India and some parts of the world. Each edition of Our Diary reflects the diversity of movements in our country as also the challenges faced in claiming our rights as citizens of the Indian nation.

‘Our Diary’ is a ‘movement diary’ that, not only takes shape as a daily planner for 365 days, but also brings together glimpses of the history and herstory of social movements that have and continue to be written each year. The ‘Movement Features’ include protests, campaigns, struggles, movements of tribals and farmers, students and women, minorities and dalits, workers and landless, displaced and the marginalised, around issues of social and gender based inequalities/ injustice, ideology, political representation and freedom, the environment, communalism, nuclearisation, skewed development policies, cultural imperialism, etc...through individual and collective mobilisation, with short-term and long-term impacts, at local, regional, national and international levels. The features also tell stories of intellectuals and activists, artists and filmmakers - spanning the 19th and 20th century, and continuing into the 21st century. The documentation is not necessarily thematic, and tries to capture different ideologies, strategies and issues around which struggles have, and continue to be waged, across the length and breadth of India. In some editions, the documentation also goes beyond the boundaries of the sub-continent to feature movements from across the globe. As part of the continuum of movements, the documentation focuses on the need for different levels of analysis across contexts and intersectionalities.

These movement features are useful for research, activism, advocacy and networking with movements around social, economic, political, environment and development rights.

With annual updates of experiences and issues raised by different movements covered in the diary; listings of books, resistance music and documentary films; a movement map that locates the physical and human geography of people’s movements in India; contact addresses of movement support groups and resource centers; and references on movements’ information, Our Diary is an informative resource for all its users.

The diary is produced in a small (4.5x6.25) size, but also available in customised versions for bulk orders. It is usually bilingual with content in English and Hindi, and design elements that are innovative, interactive and capture images of social movements across time and space.

Our Diary has a solidarity contribution to recover its production costs as it’s a self-supporting and self-sustaining publication.

As its title goes, 'Our' Diary belongs to everyone who creates it, inputs into its production and uses it.

https://www.gestures.in/collections/our-diary/products/our-diary-2023

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