Women’s empowerment through strategic disobedience: A study of community radio in rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how rural women in Bangladesh use community radio programs designed to combat gender inequality for empowerment. In doing so, it considers community power dynamics in Teknaf, a remote rural area of Bangladesh; the content of broadcasts by the local radio station, Radio Naf; and its listeners’ attitudes regarding the station. By using community radio programs as casual knowledge hubs, women adopt new and discursive methods of resistance by developing their persuasive and communication skills. They use such methods both to protect their rights and chip away at the inequalities they experience everyday. This kind of technique evokes effective and safe means of resistance—a form of strategic disobediences developed from satyagraha—the philosophy of non-violent resistance. The findings of this study are based on our ethno-methodological observations of community power dynamics and women’s participation in community radio activities, along with in-depth interviews of six female listeners of radio programs. These unpack the broader influence of the radio programs that talk about women’s empowerment.

ABSTRACT IN BANGLA

KEYWORDS:

• Women’s empowerment
• strategic disobedience
• community radio
• rural Bangladesh

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rawshon Akhter

Rawshon AKHTER is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her research interests include interpersonal communication, women’s empowerment, community media, journalism and science communication. She also works at the Department of Communication and Journalism at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. She has published in Journalism Studies, and Journal of Science Communication. Email: [email protected]

Md Azalanshah Md Syed

Md Azalanshah Md SYED is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His research interests range from audience ethnography to television and popular culture. He has written a number of journal articles including in the Asian Women, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. Email: [email protected]