Introduction: Democracy and Authoritarianism in Nicaragua BT - Shifting Nicaraguan Mediascapes: Authoritarianism and the Struggle for Social Justice

Abstract

This chapter outlines contemporary threats to democracy in Nicaragua and introduces our analysis of the nation’s growing authoritarianism, plans for the construction of a highly controversial interoceanic canal and aspects of the government’s discursive and communications strategies. It draws on recent work produced under the banner of agnotology and considers attempts to produce public ignorance as dimensions of the Nicaraguan government’s strategy for the evasion of criticism and the consolidation of power. We argue that such strategies must be understood in racialized and colonial terms that highlight historical relationships between Nicaragua’s mestizo elites and its indigenous and Afro-descendant populations. In this context of expanding authoritarianism, many Nicaraguans are engaging in diverse forms of media activism that challenge and disrupt the government’s struggles for hegemony.