Book Project Title: Community and Transnational Media Trajectories

Community radio in South Asia can be described as a social movement sparked by the proliferation of information technologies, the debates on the digital divide, and lobbying by civil society sectors, calling on nations for not having policies on community media.  The confluence of not-for-profit stakeholdership, the availability of technologies, local youth ingenuity, cautious political will, has spurred the emergence of community radio in several parts of the world especially South Asia. The question pertinent here is why now and why radio? The phenomena of community radio in the South Asian region requires that there be a greater reflection on movements (political, social, cultural) across the world  and not just within S. Asia, where there is a similar coming together of new media technology, local and national political ferment, youth mobilization and resultant efforts at institution building.

This is a request for abstracts of papers from those who are studying emerging socio-cultural-political movements that have resulted in building media systems locally, in opposition to existing hegemonic conglomerate media, thereby creating a cultural shift in how a particular local or global issue is understood.  The submitted papers need to be studies conducted in local contexts and communities using critical and qualitative methodologies and theory, not simply reflective writing. The edited volume for which there is an interested publisher, purports to be a collection of essays that shows communication scholars how to enquire about and understand contemporary situated social movement and media using critical perspectives and theories, especially transnational, post-colonial, feminist studies . Please send an abstract of 500 words, of the desired contribution by December 5 and send the completed paper, pending approval, by January 15. Contact Priya Kapoor, Associate Professor, PortlandState University at [log in to unmask]