Negotiating Modernity: Youth, Technology, Culture and Identity in Leh District.

Abstract

The study was undertaken to capture the dynamic of cultural change among the Buddhist youth of Leh due to ever growing influence of mass media. The form and nature of change, no doubt, become very complex in our times due many external factors and forces. Modernity, as theoretical framework and conceptual tool to understand and explain the phenomena of social and structural change visualizing for a progressive society, becomes central theme of the study. It is well known fact that, despite material transformation, certain core cherished values are widely been acknowledged in the project of modernity, particularly the questions of culture in modern society. During the course of this study, concepts like modernity, culture, mass media has been tested in the field area of Leh to explain how these factors shaped the mind and imagination as a new phenomenon for Ladakhi youth.