From Underground Press to Encrypted Networks: Popular Education Media as Resistance Infrastructure

In an era of escalating authoritarianism, Grassroots activist media has emerged as critical resistance infrastructure - functioning as independent communication channels band sites of counter-narrative making, knowledge production and working class organising. This presentation starts with tracing the political economy of resistance media across three historical case studies, examining how movements have built and defended autonomous communication systems under conditions of severe repression. We analyse three distinct contexts: South Africa's township-based underground publications, radio, culture and education materials during apartheid, the Soviet-era samizdat networks and their contemporary descendants – independent journalism resisting Putin's regime, and the Zapatista and indigenous radio movements in Chiapas and Oaxaca. Each case shows different strategies for sustaining independent media operations - from hand-to-hand distribution networks to community-controlled broadcasting infrastructure to coded language systems that evade censorship while remaining visible and accessible. Putting these histories within frameworks of critical communication studies and critical media theory, We examine how digital platforms have transformed both the possibilities and vulnerabilities of resistance media. While social media and encrypted messaging enable rapid mobilization and international solidarity, they also introduce new passages of state surveillance, corporate control, and algorithmic manipulation. The presentation analyses specific techniques movements employ to navigate this terrain: security culture practices, platform migration strategies, hybrid analog-digital workflows, and the development of movement-controlled technological infrastructure. We also discuss the need to establish structures of direct democracy as to not fall into the traps of hierarchy, bias and power-play, maintaining the integrity of output. We propose the framework of 'media solidarity networks' - decentralized, federated systems for producing and distributing media materials across borders and movements. Drawing on ILRIG's four decades of practice, I outline key organizational principles: prioritizing accessible formats (comics, pamphlets, audio content) over academic prose, centering worker and community voices over expert narration, building capacity for local voices rather than centralizing content creation, and developing shared security protocols that protect vulnerable participants while maintaining visibility. The presentation concludes with practical frameworks for resistance movements seeking to develop their own media capacities, with offered resources by ILRIG – pdf presentations, animated explainers, technical guides, and examples of successful collaborative projects between labor, community, and student movements across the global South. Presented by ILRIG (International Labour Research and Information Group), a South African organization with over 40 years' experience in worker education and popular media production.