Abstract

This thesis explores a youth cultural movement in Male', the Capital Island and urban center of the Republic of the Maldives. I will focus on the dialectic between the strict social control over society enforced by penal tactics and the censorship of expression in a social context whereby the imagining potential of youths has broadened, as well as the social frameworks in which young people negotiate identity. I argue that increased education and exposure to alternate ideologies and lifestyles have led to a greater consciousness of human rights discourses and an increased desire to participate with the changes underway among many youths in Male'. The youthful innovations discussed reflect ideological struggles that challenge the government's monopoly over information and dominant social representations. I will show the central role of exposure in these challenges to official 'truth' and the possibilities opened up by wireless communication, digital cameras and the Internet for disseminating information anonymously and with fewer boundaries. The examples of resistance discussed draw attention to the ambivalence of certain forms of agency. They demonstrate that resistance can be self-destructive or intentionally ambiguous by using parody and innuendos. These examples support the argument for broader considerations of resistance independent of assumptions of efficacy or success in altering existing structures, intentionality for emancipation and affirmative action.