Medrado, A. and Rega, I. 2023. Media Activism, Artivism, and the Fight Against Marginalisation in the Global South: South-to-South Communication . London Routledge.
| Title | Media Activism, Artivism, and the Fight Against Marginalisation in the Global South: South-to-South Communication |
|---|---|
| Authors | Medrado, A. and Rega, I. |
| Abstract | The proposed book aims to analyse a South-to-South connection between mediactivists and art-ivists – artists who are activists – in the Global South. We suggest that there is an urgent need to engage in south-to-south dialogues, creating more sustainable connections between Global South communities. This represents an essential step towards identifying and facing global problems, such as state repression, social inequality, climate and health crises We analyse the characteristics of such connection, identify its unique contributions to the study of media and social change and discuss its long-term sustainability. We do so by focusing on instances when media narratives in countries of different Global South(s) intertwine and transform each other. Our attention lies on the exchanges between Latin America (Brazil) and Africa (Kenya). However, although these are countries located in the geographic South, our understanding of Global Souths, in the plural, extends beyond geographic locations. Rather, these “South(s)” feature as metaphors for oppression and human suffering under capitalism (Sousa Santos, 2014; Mignolo, 2008). We answer two main questions of crucial importance for activists, social movements, civil society organisations and academics: How can mediactivist and art-ivist creative practices be used as tools for global movement building, challenging the colonial legacy of fragmented relationships between Global South peoples? How can we gather people with varied skill sets in different global South contexts in a cross-continental challenge to marginalisation, social inequality and state repression? There have been calls for intellectual and curriculum decolonisation in many parts of the world in the wake of anti-racism and Black Lives Matter protests. What this book does is to attentively listen and tell the stories of those who are in different Global South(s), searching for the conducting wires that connect them. These are stories about creativity, self-understanding, and mutual understanding through dialogue. By dialogue, we refer to an exploration of mutuality through conversation. Embracing a South-to-South dialogical approach (Freire, 1972), we go against recent trends in the Global North where decolonisation is characterised by Northerncentrism (Moosavi, 2020) due to the way in which decolonial scholarship paradoxically ignores decolonial perspectives and voices from the Global South. To achieve this, our approach combines intersectional (Gonzalez and Hasenbalg, 1982; Crenshaw, 1991; hooks, 2015; Ribeiro, 2017; Akotirene, 2019) and decolonial perspectives (Moraga and Anazaldúa, 1983; Spivak, 1988; Mignolo, 2008; Quijano, 2000; Santos, 2014). Echoing the voices of Brazilian mediactivists and Kenyan art-ivists, we unveil how the struggles of raced, gendered, sexual marginalities are not situated in opposition and, in fact, intersect with economic dispossession. By doing this, we demonstrate the ways in which establishing South-to-South relationships can offer a valuable contribution for activists’ media empowerment practices. Here, some of these relationships may not be easy to sustain or be completely even because of the ways in which power dynamics work. This applies to inequalities between Global South and Global North scholars, Global South scholars and the activists with whom they work, and even between Global South activists themselves, as they are affected by different forms and levels of marginalisation. Yet, we wish to emphasise the transformative elements of these relationships, placing mediactivist and art-ivist practices at the centre, and incorporating perspectives from mediactivism and emotions (Flam, 2005) as these practices can mediate a journey from fear into hope amongst oppressed groups. |
| Keywords | Media Activism; Artivism; Global South; Brazil; Kenya; favelas; ethnography |
| Year | 2023 |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 04 May 2023 |
| Place of publication | London |
| Series | Communication and Media Activism |
| ISBN | 9781032080833 |
| 9781003215103 | |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003215103 |
| Funder | AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council) |
| File | File Access Level Controlled (open metadata, closed files) |