Exploring Indigenous activism through the lens of media practices, this book examines the Indigenous media that has emerged in Argentina since the introduction of legislation in 2009 intended to promote diversity and access in radio and television media production.
Francesca Belotti provides insights into the political and cultural matrix, attitudes of resistance and empowerment, and the outward and inward direction of Indigenous activism by unpacking the media practices that unfold in Indigenous radio and television stations in Argentina. The theoretical framework combines studies on indigeneity, social/decolonial movements and media practices, and draws on interviews conducted with Indigenous media practitioners from different Indigenous populations around Argentina. The book examines how media practices can help support and sustain Indigenous political and cultural activism and the process of identity self-ascription. It also addresses the complex negotiation between indigenizing media and assimilating the mainstream, as well as coping with other practical constraints.
This book will be of interest both to students and scholars of Indigenous Studies, Decolonial and Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Studies, Latin American Studies, Media Studies, and Social Movements, as well as media activists and practitioners globally.
1. Approaching Indigenous media in Argentina 2. Territorial struggles and the media ‘weapon’ 3. Cultural contention and the media ‘enactment’ 4. Management challenges and the media 'battleground'
Biography
Francesca Belotti holds a PhD in Political Language and Communication from Sapienza University of Rome. Her research, carried out between Europe and Latin America, focuses on alternative media practices of grassroots organizations, ranging from Indigenous communities to feminist and climate movements. She also investigates everyday digital media usage practices by older and young people, with a focus on ICT-related sexism and ageism. Her work has been published in New Media & Society, Ageing & Society, Violence Against Women, Media, Culture & Society, Latin American Perspectives, Ethnicities, among others.
"Informed by a decolonial ethics, Indigenous Media Activism in Argentina is a pathbreaking study of the way Indigenous activists in Argentina use collaborative and community radio and television to resist intensifying forms of extractivism and dispossession. This is timely intervention and a novel and important contribution to Indigenous media studies which, until now, has rarely considered the Argentine context."
Freya Schiwy, Professor, Media & Cultural Studies, University of California, Riverside, USA
"The book Indigenous Media Activism in Argentina makes visible the political process by which media become tools for struggle and territories of political dispute for Indigenous peoples in Argentina. It provides an academic analysis from the valuable perspective of media activism."
Magdalena Doyle, Professor, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
