Abstract

The article draws firstly on theories that question the exclusionary nature of mass communication in terms of the emancipatory potential of ‘new media’; of the democratization of communication; or even in terms of advancing alternative forms of communication. By probing specifically into various small-scale, decentralised media projects, issues concerning the social as well as the cultural context of their implementation; their creation, production and dissemination; the employment of new technologies; and, instances of the very mediation process itself, across both the production and reception process, are addressed. From the perspective of a non-essentialist account of such media projects, the paper draws finally on approaches that evaluate these projects on the grounds of their ‘lived experience’, in terms of their social actors, agents; acknowledging thus an overall framework of understanding the practice of such projects, as instances of the constitution of citizenship.

Keywords: citizenship, ‘lived experience’, civil society, democratic communication, radical/community/participatory/alternative/citizens’ media

How to Cite:

Vatikiotis, P., (2005) “Communication Theory and Alternative Media”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 2(1), 4-26. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.5