[ecrea] Citizens Media Against Armed Conflict.

Citizens Media Against Armed Conflict. Disrupting Violence in Colombia
by Clemencia Rodr=EDguez (University of Oklahoma), published by the University of Minnesota Press.

http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/citizensa-media-against-armed-conflict

Review

"Clemencia Rodr=EDguez has given us an astonishing ethnographic study of =
=91citizens=92 media=92 in Colombia. Remarkably, and with great insight int=
o what uses of such =91small media=92 can accomplish, she offers readers a =
glimmer of hope in a stark war-torn social landscape, as well as a welcome =
and original intervention into contemporary theorizations of media worlds i=
n circumstances of violence." =97Faye Ginsburg, New York University


Description

For two years, Clemencia Rodr=EDguez did fieldwork in regions of Colombia w=
here leftist guerillas, right-wing paramilitary groups, the army, and drug =
traffickers made their presence felt in the lives of unarmed civilians. Her=
e, Rodr=EDguez tells the story of the ways in which people living in the sh=
adow of these armed intruders use community radio, television, video, digit=
al photography, and the Internet to shield their communities from armed vio=
lence=92s negative impacts.

Citizens=92 media are most effective, Rodr=EDguez posits, when they underst=
and communication as performance rather than simply as persuasion or the tr=
ansmission of information. Grassroots media that are deeply embedded in the=
 communities they serve and responsive to local needs strengthen the abilit=
y of community members to productively react to violent incursions. Rodr=ED=
guez demonstrates how citizens=92 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 col=
onized by armed conflict and its effects.

Ultimately, Rodr=EDguez shows that unarmed civilian communities that have b=
een cornered by armed conflict can use community media to repair torn socia=
l fabrics, reconstruct eroded bonds, reclaim public spaces, resolve conflic=
t, and sow the seeds of peace and stability.
.[cid:3400590636_25975996]

Espa=F1ol

Acaba de salir el nuevo libro de Clemencia Rodr=EDguez, titulado =93Citizen=
s=92 Media Against Armed Conflict. Disrupting Violence in Colombia=94 publi=
cado por la University of Minnesota Press. El libro incluye tres estudios d=
e caso de medios ciudadanos colombianos: El Colectivo de Comunicaciones de =
Montes de Mar=EDa L=EDnea 21, la red de radios comunitarias AREDMAG, y dos =
iniciativas de comunicaci=F3n comunitaria en Bel=E9n de los Andaqu=EDes: Ra=
dio Andaqu=ED y la Escuela Audiovisual Infantil.

Rodr=EDguez argumenta que los medios ciudadanos tienen m=E1s impacto cuando=
 entienden la comunicaci=F3n comunitaria m=E1s como un performance y no com=
o una herramienta para la transmisi=F3n de informaci=F3n o la persuaci=F3n.=
 Cuando los medios comunitarios est=E1n fuertemente arraigados en sus comun=
idades, en los lenguajes, las est=E9ticas y las narrativas locales, y cuand=
o se entienden como medios abiertos a la participaci=F3n, estos medios se c=
onvierten en herramientas que fortalecen la capacidad de la comunidad para =
hacerle frente al impacto de tener que co-existir con los grupos armados en=
 un mismo territorio. El libro demuestra c=F3mo los medios ciudadanos inves=
tigados privilegian aquellos aspectos de la cotidianidad que no han sido co=
lonizados por la violencia, recordandole as=ED a la comunidad que la guerra=
 no lo agota todo.


Clemencia Rodriguez
Professor
Department of Communication
The University of Oklahoma
610 Elm Avenue Norman OK 73019
405 325 1570
(clemencia /at/ ou.edu)

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