This dissertation research project supports an anthropology student from City University of New York. The student will investigate how the emergence of community radio stations in El Salvador, after the fighting has ended, facilitates the consolidation of democratic culture. By providing access for social groups previously excluded form public life to represent their interests in this public forum, the stations can support the development of `civil society`, meaning the values, norms and social institutions that undergird democracy. In a region where newspapers and local television are non-existent, local radio serves as a vehicle for community self-expression. Methods include intensive interviews and participant observation in four radio stations, in urban and rural El Salvador. The data to be gathered will include the organization of the stations, and the identity of local actors involved (and not involved) in the stations, the nature of the programming offered, the involvement of listeners both passively and as participants. This research is important because it will provide information in a little-studied aspect of democratization in the developing world, how local radio stations shape and are influenced by local society and culture. This case study will be a basis for generalizations to promote the construction of civil society in similar less-developed areas.
