Listening in to water routes: Soundscapes as cultural systems

Abstract

In this article I draw upon ethnographic research in Govindpuri slums in Delhi, capital city of India, to explore the everyday through the politics of sound. Here I highlight the negotiations across space, gender and communities through the listenings of the water routes to suggest that soundscapes can be considered as cultural systems. This, I argue, could open ways into the processes of listening(s), its politics and practices - to 'make sense' of a place, its culture, and its communities. And through these listenings I emphasize the complexity of experience and everyday life in the Govindpuri slums. © The Author(s) 2012.