WOMEN, RADIO AND PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY WITH WOMEN OF PIRAPAMA

The article examines the participation of women in local development of their community from the study of reception of the messages from the Radio Women program, the Women's Center of Cabo de Santo Agostinho (CMC), for the women from Pirapama's Community in Pernambuco. The analysis was based on theories of reception, in studies on women and participation, on community radio and local development. It was considered as categories for analysis of text themes related to local development how gender relations, citizenship, participation/organization, economic and productive activities and ecology. Ethnographic techniques were applied to collect data, such as systematic observation and semi-structured interview. It was found that the women interviewed had varying levels of participation in their community, but they all were involved with the Association of Residents of the site. The appropriation of some themes conveyed by Radio Woman as participation, citizenship of women and their relationships with society, are more easily perceived in the answers of the respondents than other specific topics such as environmental ecology and economic productive activities.