Introduction

Participatory Action Research

Community radio is a participatory medium that lends itself well to the framework of Participatory Action Research (PAR) as articulated by Kindon, Pain, and Kesby as “a collaborative process of research, education and action explicitly oriented towards social transformation” that “represents a counterhegemonic approach to knowledge production” (2007, 9). PAR is cyclical and democratic; researchers and participants work together to identify needs and develop context-specific methods, then continue to reflect and rethink these needs and methods over time. It is a dynamic model, and its openness to interpretation means it must be approached and applied with extreme care. Kindon, Pain, and Kesby warn that “while participatory approaches seek socially and environmentally just processes and outcomes, they nevertheless constitute a form of power and can reproduce the very inequalities they seek to challenge” (2). My unique position as a WFHB participant and a researcher has given me crucial insights into the reasonings behind the projects I have worked on (beyond my normal volunteer responsibilities as a programmer and genre director) as part of my fieldwork. At the same time, the grassroots nature of WFHB has made it easy for me to let my research investments drive the projects in self-serving directions that, while not incompatible with the station’s needs, may not be what the station has needed the most.

In chapter four, I discuss archiving practices and projects at the station and frame my involvement in them as PAR. My work in these was driven by station personnel interests and requests and has also informed my research. I have aimed to prioritize the station’s needs throughout my involvement with the archive. As a longtime participant, it has been difficult to disentangle my interests as a WFHB participant from other WFHB personnel interests and from my interests as a scholar. By constantly collaborating and remaining in active dialogue with the other station participants invested and involved in the projects, though, I have tried to make my research of more use than detriment to the station’s overall operations.