'What do women activists sound like?' An exploration of women's environmental activism in Europe through the lens of community radios

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Neoliberal and capitalist economies, colonialisation and discrimination based on gender, class, ethnicity, ability, and religion, have enhanced inequalities and ecological degradation and increased the vulnerability of marginal communities to climate, biodiversity loss and pollution. Communicative and epistemic remoteness keep decision-makers separate from the people and places they impact adding to social and environmental disparities (Gaard, 2017, p18). These factors are particularly evident from studies in developing countries, yet intersectional inequities and vulnerabilities are not excluded from the 'richer West' where capitalism is strongest and depends on racism and sexism to develop and stands in the way of any genuine social transformation (Federici, 2018); ecological decline is rife, women's voices remain marginal. Here, the appropriation and homogenisation of narratives by media, governments, and NGOs gloss over widespread communicative injustice and the reality of the absence of voices from the marginalised in different aspects of political and economic life (Kothari, 2023). This study looks at how homogenisation and remoteness might be challenged, by highlighting the voices of women environmental activists in community radios (CR). It explores ways in which they represent nuanced and diverse views using hyperlocal media and considers their potential for re-storying narratives within a framework of communicative injustice that does not favour their participation, and how they navigate it. A second framing of intersectional feminism is used for a critical exploration of their context informed by questions of race, ethnicity and class and the investigation of diversity.The research will collate and map information on specialised environmental shows in selected European countries and conduct a participative enquiry with an intersectional group to explore identities and environmental discourses both locally and in relation to the wider context. Discourse and narrative analysis bring them together to draw conclusions and recommendations.