(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Conference on Media & Mass Communication Osaka, Japan
Dr. Fazal Malik
Coming in from the Margins: Migrant Voices,
Community Broadcasting and Social Inclusion
Lead faculty, Applied Comminications
Higher colleges of Technology, Dubai, UAE
Abstract:
The paper describes an investigation into worldviews of the people whose cultural identity
and socio-economic status mark them as minorities, and who live in deprived inner city areas
in the UK. This study provides fresh insights into the process of social exclusion by
comparing it with the discourse of developmentalism to offer a wider theoretical
understanding of the issues related to marginalisation and powerlessness.
The study argues that people experiencing exclusion from the social and economic processes
are further left out in a media environment largely biased against minorities, driven by
commercial considerations and protected by tight regulatory regimes. As an alternative to this
media situation, the thesis explores the role of small-scale and community-based media in
developing a contextual approach to communication that can help to validate marginalised
points of view, and develop a dynamic link between people‘s experiences and expression.
These arguments are illustrated through a participatory action research project using an
interdisciplinary framework informed by a variety of emancipatory, spiritual and critical
perspectives.
Looking specifically at the pertinent issue of inequalities in health faced by the members of
the Mirpuri community in the UK, the thesis examined the role of Radio Ramzan, a faithbased
community broadcasting initiative, in facilitating a communicative interaction during a
multi-agency health education campaign.
Introduction:
This paper is the result of the coming together of many perspectives and practices,
including my own experiences and politics, to challenge the presumed universality of
Western knowledge and to explore the possibilities of validating alternative ways of
knowing and doing things.
The paper based on a study to explores the role of various forms of cultural
expression in foregrounding marginalised worldviews, benefits from the case study of
Radio Ramzan, a faith-based radio station in Nottingham. This locally owned and
managed community initiative, run during the month of Ramadan of the Islamic
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