Making Our Media: Global Initiatives Toward a Democratic Public Sphere

This volume of Making Our Media focuses on the praxis of alternative media, including radio, video, film, and Internet initiatives in South and North America, southern Africa, India, Australia, and Europe. Chapter authors consider the relationship between these media and the people they serve, reevaluate established theoretical frameworks, and present new ones for understanding alternative and citizens' media in light of contemporary local and global realities. While some of the authors critically explore the internal operations of citizen's media, including their gender, race and power dynamics, others shed light on how alternative media interact with different political formations, such as the (nation) state and social movements. Grounded in empirical evidence and theoretical insight, the book takes a critical approach to the roles alternative and citizens' media can play in building inclusive, participatory democracies.