Clemencia Rodríguez
Community Media in Contexts of War
For two years, I did fieldwork in regions of Colombia where leftist guerillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, the army, and drug traffickers made their presence felt in the lives of unarmed civilians. In Citizens’ Media Against Armed Conflict I tell the story of the ways in which people living in the shadow of these armed intruders use community radio, television, video, digital photography, and the Internet, to shield their communities from armed violence's negative impacts. Citizens’ media are most effective when they understand communication as performance, rather than simply as persuasion or the transmission of information. Grassroots media that are deeply embedded in the communities they serve, truly open to collective participation, and responsive to immediate and long-term local needs, strengthen the ability of community members to productively respond to violent incursions. My research with Colombian communities demonstrates how citizens’ media privilege aspects of community life not hijacked by violence, providing people with the tools and the platform to forge lives for themselves and their families that are not entirely colonized by armed conflict and its effects. Ultimately, it shows that unarmed civilian communities that have been cornered by armed conflict can use community media to repair torn social fabrics, reconstruct eroded bonds, reclaim public spaces, resolve conflict, and sow the seeds of peace and stability.
Further readings:
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2011) Citizens’ Media against Armed Conflict: Disrupting Violence in Colombia. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2015) “Community Media as Performers of Peace.” In Hoffman, Julia and Hawkins, Virgil (eds.), Communication for Peace: Charting an Emerging Field, 289 - 302. New York: Routledge.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2010) “Knowledges in Dialogue: A Participatory Evaluation Study of Citizens’ Radio Stations in Magdalena Medio, Colombia.” In Rodríguez, Clemencia; Kidd, Dorothy; Stein, Laura (eds.), Making Our Media: Global Initiatives Toward a Democratic Public Sphere, pp 131-154. Volume I. Creating New Communication Spaces. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2008) “Comunicación para la Paz. Construyendo el Tejido Social.” In Amparo Cadavid and Mauricio Beltrán (eds.), Seminario Internacional de Comunicación y Paz, 148 – 154. Bogotá: Fundación Colombia Multicolor.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia and Cadavid, Amparo. (2006) “From Violence to Discourse. Conflict and Citizens’ Radio in Colombia.” In Raj Isar and Helmut K. Anheier (eds.), The Cultures and Globalization Series. Volume I. Conflicts and Tensions, 313-327. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Published by the UCLA Center for Civil Society).
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia and Quijano, Melba. (2014) “Cinco Experiencias de Comunicación Alternativa o para el Desarrollo.” Revista Mediaciones, 12: 77 – 87.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2010) “Unhinged Realities: Communication and the Power of Performance.” Media Development 4, 26-29.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia and Gonzáles, Alirio. (2007) “Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación para Construir Lugares de No Miedo. Aprendiendo de la Gente.” Dia-logos de la Comunicación, 75.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2010) “Peace Media.” In The Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media, pp, 393-396. Sage.
-
Rodríguez, Clemencia. (2020) “Alterando el Enfoque: Cómo se usan los medios ciudadanos en contextos de conflicto.” In John Sanchez Castiblando and Lorena Cantillo Turbay, Sentidos Locales. Reflexiones sobre Colectivos de Comunicación en Colombia. Bogotá: Ministerio de Cultura.