The Network for Studies and Research in Folk Communication (Rede Folkcom) is a non-profit institution with the objective of bringing together researchers who focus on aspects of this legitimately Brazilian communication theory founded by Luiz Beltrão in 1965.

 

This theory is driven by popular cultures and folklore as communication strategies for those who find themselves excluded from traditional processes of producing and circulating information, as well as their media influences.

 

The idea of creating a network of Folk Communication researchers arose during discussions held at the International Seminar on Latin American Cultural Identities, promoted by the Methodist University of São Paulo (UMESP) in 1995, as a preparatory event for the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Communication at that university.

 

Under the coordination of Professor José Marques de Melo, the researchers met and organized the 1st Brazilian Folk Communication Conference, held at UMESP in August 1998. However, it was only at the 5th conference, in 2003, that the Network was effectively founded. Since then, the Network's researchers have been playing a decisive role in rescuing and updating the communicational thought of Luiz Beltrão, the pioneer of communication sciences in Brazil.

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Since then, the Network has been holding its Brazilian Folk Communication Conference biennially, which is now in its 21st edition. Three editions of the International Folk Communication Meeting have also been held, following the Ibercom program and strengthening the theory worldwide. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Café Folkcom label was created to organize live streams on the Network's YouTube channel.

 

International Journal of Folk Communication

Created in 2003, RIF is the only journal in the world dedicated exclusively to the field of folk communication. The publication of the Folkcom Network emerged under the editorial coordination of Professor Antônio Barros, from the University Center of Brasília (CEUB), who edited the journal until the first semester of 2004 and was responsible for the first three editions. In 2004, at the suggestion of Professor José Marques de Melo, it began to be published by UEPG, where it remains active to this day, with almost 50 issues published.