Alternative journalism and the relationship between guerrillas and indigenous peoples in Latin America
Journal article, Peer reviewed

Åpne
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/10642/1122Utgivelsesdato
2011-11Metadata
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Originalversjon
Krøvel, R. G. (2011). Alternative journalism and the relationship between guerrillas and indigenous peoples in Latin America. Interface: a journal for and about social movements, 3 (2), 400-424 http://www.interfacejournal.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Interface-3-2-Krovel.pdfSammendrag
Academic study of alternative journalism is dominated by an approach that
celebrates alternative media for its capacity to “empower” citizens. Existing
literature on alternative media and alternative journalism often highlight its
potential for creating “spaces” where alternative voices can be heard and its
value is seen in its contribution towards the construction of alternative
“narratives”. While it is important to celebrate the role of alternative media, it
is equally important to remain self-critical in order to learn from past
experiences, especially when they raise important ethical questions on the type
of alternative narratives or alternative truths produced and the solidarity
actions these truths and narratives helped bring about. This is the case with
much of the reporting in the alternative media on indigenous issues and rights
during the civil wars in Nicaragua, Guatemala and, to a lesser extent, in
Chiapas, Mexico.
This article will try to engage critically with the history of European and
North American alternative media reporting on indigenous issues in these
countries during the 80s and 90s. The purpose is not to discuss empirical
findings, but to reflect on theories that can guide future studies on alternative
media and alternative journalism on the wars in Nicaragua, Guatemala and
Chiapas, Mexico. This article will discuss the usefulness of theories and
understandings of alternative media and journalism that builds on
postmodern and post structural versions of social constructionism. The article
offers a critique of postmodern and post structural versions of social
constructionism in studies of alternative media and alternative journalism.
The critique builds on previous critiques of social movement theory and
research made by scholars writing from a critical realist perspective.