Social Uses and Radio Practices

Published in 1995, this 300-page hardcover book draws on concepts and methods from critical cultural studies, along with the Freirean approach to development. It examines the social value of participatory radio, and the possibilities and constraints that impact the work of those stations that aim to improve the living conditions and the sense of self-esteem of the poor in Mexico.

Specifically, it provides an ethnographic account of the social uses of the radio broadcasts that have been created by several Mexican ethnic minorities and sponsored by the government. Vargas emphasises how and why the politics of race, ethnicity, class, and gender shape the extent and quality of people's participation in development efforts such as this one. She also considers the larger issue of the way in which subaltern ethnic groups appropriate and refunctionalise modern mass technology. Vargas then elucidates a method for analysing the cultural subtleties and social intricacies of the practices that emerge from participatory radio. Through an investigation of two Tojolabal Maya communities in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, she explores the conflicts and challenges that impede the work of participatory radio stations. She finds that, despite rampant racism against indigenous peoples prevalent at these radio stations, groups like the Tojolabal Maya have found creative ways to make the best of the communication resources that this participatory project has made available to them.

The book includes sections on the social value of participatory radio, indigenous participation in production processes, and audience participation and social uses, as well as two appendices.

This book appears to be out of print.

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