This Chapter: Contextualising Community Radio utilises the literature reviewed to provide foundational knowledge about community media. The key readings consulted for a deeper understanding were arranged into five main areas: (1) paradigmatic shifts in understanding communication; (2) participatory communication and development; (3) public sphere, counter public sphere, civil society; (4) community; and (5) alternative media, community media, citizens’ media. The first thematic area addresses the development of Communication Studies as a discipline from the diffusionist era to the participatory era in an attempt to provide a clear picture of where community media fit into the larger mediascape. The following four thematic areas in the chapter then problematise and operationalise multiple ideals to highlight the ever-evolving nature of communication—an intrinsic part of the positive social change of any community.