Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Publication Date

7-2013

Publisher

Development Media Consulting

Source Publication

Journal of Development and Communication Studies

Source ISSN

2305-7432

Abstract

While to political theorists in the United States ‘community radio’ may seem a quaint holdover of the democratization movements of the 1960s, community radio has been an important tool in development contexts for decades. In this paper I investigate how community radio is conceptualized within and outside of the development frame, as a solution to development problems, as part of development projects communication strategy, and as a tool for increasing democratic political participation in development projects. I want to show that community radio is an essential tool of democratization and democracy outside of the development frame. To do so, I will bring out the conceptual and structural dimensions of community radio through examples of existing community radios, both those which are independently created and those which have been created as development projects. These structural and conceptual elements provide community radio the potential to realize the goals of development practice while avoiding characteristic pitfalls. These ‘pitfalls’ of development are also pitfalls of democratization and democracy in existing democratic states, and include: depoliticization, limited participation, particularly of marginalized groups.

Comments

Published version. Journal of Development and Communication Studies, Vol. 2, Nos. 2/3 (July-December 2013): 392-420. Permalink. © 2013 Development Media Consulting. Used with permission.

Ericka Tucker was affiliated with California Polytechnic University at the time of publication.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Download

Included in

Philosophy Commons

Share

COinS