UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

From "animation' to encounter: Community radio, sociability and urban life in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

Cante, F; (2018) From "animation' to encounter: Community radio, sociability and urban life in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. International Journal of Cultural Studies , 21 (1) pp. 12-26. 10.1177/1367877917704489. Green open access

[thumbnail of Cante_From animation to encounter. Community radio, sociability and urban life in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire_AAM.pdf]
Preview
Text
Cante_From animation to encounter. Community radio, sociability and urban life in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire_AAM.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (534kB) | Preview

Abstract

Drawing upon ethnographic research on community radio in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, this article argues that tracking production practices outside of the studio allows researchers to better capture radio’s entanglements with everyday urban life. This spatial reconsideration mirrors a conceptual move beyond community media labels and normative criteria, towards a privileging of context. To illustrate both points, the article centres around ‘animation,’ the practice of enlivening social situations. Animation is central to community radio in Abidjan, but ‘animateurs’ also practise their trade in a multitude of venues and events around the city. Following animation’s movements between on- and off-air provides an understanding of how community radio is assembled as a porous ‘micro-public’, and insight into the particular kind of sociability that it produces. The article shows that while this sociability is tinged with the quest for status and social capital, it is mostly characterized by indeterminacy, and valued for the unforeseen encounters it can foster.

Type: Article
Title: From "animation' to encounter: Community radio, sociability and urban life in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/1367877917704489
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1367877917704489
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Abidjan, African urbanism, animation, communicative assemblage, community media, Côte d’Ivoire, sociability, urban encounter
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090562
Downloads since deposit
164Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item