Community Radio in South Asia: Reclaiming the Airwaves

Community Radio in South Asia: Reclaiming the Airwaves

Edited by Kanchan K. Malik and Vinod Pavarala

This volume outlines the socioeconomic and historical contexts for understanding the evolution and functioning of community radio in an increasingly globalised media environment. It provides a ring-side view of how various countries in South Asia have formulated policies that enabled the emergence of this third sector of broadcasting (public and private being the other two) through radio, rendering the media ecology in the region more pluralistic and diverse. The chapters in the volume, interspersed by practitioner perspectives, discuss a range of key issues related to community radio: radio policies, NGOisation of community radio, spectrum management and democratisation of technology, disasters/emergencies, gender issues, sustainability, and conflicts.

The book explores the state of community radio, a significant independent media movement that began about two decades ago, in different parts of South Asia.

One of the first of its kind, this volume will appeal to scholars and researchers of community media and independent media studies, cultural studies, as well as sociology and social anthropology, and South Asian studies.

Contents

1. Introduction: Community Radio in South Asia: A Roadmap for Media Democracy - Kanchan K. Malik and Vinod Pavarala

PART I: THE POLICY TERRAIN

2. Deliberating Community Radio in India: A Policy Ethnography - Preeti Raghunath
3. Community Radio in Bangladesh: Policy and Practice - Mohammad Sahid Ullah
4. Community Radios of Nepal: Trajectory of a Cultural Movement - Sudhamshu Dahal
5. Community Radio in Sri Lanka: Need for Legal Recognition and Community Ownership - M. C. Rasmin and W.A.D.P. Wanigasundera 

PART II: ISSUES IN PRACTICE 

6. Beyond the Development Trap: NGOization of Community Radio in India - Vinod Pavarala
7. Radio Spectrum Management: Implications for Community Radio in South Asia - Ram Bhat
8. The Paradoxes of Technology: Reflections about Community Radio in South Asia - Hemant Babu
9. Women and Community Radio in South Asia: The Participation and Empowerment Dilemmas - Kanchan K. Malik
10. Community Radio in the Times of Disaster: Contemplations for South Asia - Ashish Sen
11. Not Quite There Yet: Sustainability of Community Radio in South Asia - N. Ramakrishnan and Venu Arora

PART III: CASE STUDIES

12. Conflict and Community Radio in India: Solutions Possible and Impossible - Pradip Ninan Thomas
13. Evaluating Community Radio: An Analysis of a Toolkit for Self-Assessment - Vasuki Belavadi
14. Mapping Material Media Practices: The DDS Sangam Radio in India - Madhavi Manchi
15. Grassroots Democracy via Community Radio: A Case Study in Rural India - Bidu Bhusan Dash
16. Community Radio for Creating Communication Channels: Theoretical Musings Emanating from Himalayan Rural Locales - Priya Kapoor

Kanchan K. Malik is Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Hyderabad, India, and member of IAMCR.

Vinod Pavarala is Senior Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Hyderabad, India, and co-Chair of IAMCR's Community Communication and Alternative Media Section.

The above text is from the publisher’s description of the book:

Title: Community Radio in South Asia: Reclaiming the Airwaves
Editors: Kanchan K. Malik and Vinod Pavarala
Published: 2020
Pages: 310
Publisher: Routledge India

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