| Popis: |
This thesis is about the political ascent of Bolivia's coca leaf producers in the Chapare province and their use of community owned radio. At the heart of the thesis is the story of how community leaders and media producers in the Chapare operate radio with the aim to enhance the unity, solidarity, and organization of the coca union. The second line of enquiry that runs throughout this thesis deals with the coca union’s mutation into a governing party and the impact that this has had on the management and broadcast content of Radio Soberanía. The thesis reveals that rather than being ‘the sovereign voice of the Bolivian Cocalero’; today Radio Soberanía is operated as a propaganda tool by the MAS government. The radio has shifted from its original status as a radical pirate station to be considered by members of the coca union as official government radio. This creates problems for Radio Soberanía because members of the coca union remain cynical about state backed media and the state itself, even when they vote for the government and can see it as aligned with their interests. |
