Articulating participation and agonism. A case study on the agonistic re-articulations of the Cyprus Problem in the broadcasts of the community broadcaster MYCYradio
Abstract
The article starts with a discussion on the material and discursive components of conflict transformation, arguing for the need to complement the dominance of material and psychological approaches with a more discursive-cultural approach. This plea contextualises the analysis of a series of broadcasts of the Cypriot web community radio station, MYCYradio.
Supported by the Mouffe's (discourse-) theoretical conceptualisations of antagonism and agonism, the analysis focuses on the broadcasts of three MYCYradio shows. For each show, 10 episodes, broadcast between September and November 2013 are analysed, using discourse-theoretical analysis.
Through this analysis, four main re-articulations are identified in the MYCYradio shows: the overcoming/decentralising of the divide, the deconstruction of the self (and the enemy), the reconfiguration of time, and the elaboration of the cost of the conflict. The analysis shows that community media, despite the many different problems they face, have particular abilities to support agonistic discourses.