Alternative media hold the promise of building public awareness and action against the constraints and limitations of media conglomeration and cutbacks to public broadcasting. These media are becoming key venues for community expression and political debate, but what is it that makes them alternative?

The contributors to this path-breaking volume answer this question by examining the evolution of various kinds of alternative media – including indigenous, anarchist, ethnic, and feminist media – against the backdrop of political, economic, and cultural developments in Canada. They get at the heart of alternative media by focusing on the three interconnected dimensions that define them: structure, participation, and activism. Alternative Media in Canada not only reveals how alternative media are enabled and constrained within Canada’s complex media and policy environment; it also shows that, in the context of globalization, the Canadian experience parallels media and policy challenges in other nations.