"This paper provides an ethnograpic analysis of the relationship between theatre groups and donors/theatre groups and audiences that moves away from the national planning / social engineering vs domination/resistance frameworks to highlight what happens at the interface of the development encounter.
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It also considers the impact of foreign funding on Nepali theatre at large. The issues that I raise refer to urban professional / semi-professional actor's representations and experiences of doing social theatre." (Abstract)
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"The crucial interaction between humanitarian agencies and the media has been researched in the past but today it continues to evolve and change—and not for the better. This article, drawing on accounts from communications managers working inside the world's major aid agencies (Red Cross, Oxfam, S
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ave the Children, World Vision, CARE and Médecins sans Frontières), examines how communication strategies designed to raise awareness, funds and support have assimilated to today's pervasive “media logic”. In the increasingly crowded and competitive field of humanitarian agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) now seek to “brand” themselves in the media; they purposefully use celebrities and produce regionalized and personalized “media packages” to court media attention; and they reflexively expend time and resources warding off increased risks of mediated scandals. In such ways, aid agencies have become increasingly embroiled in the practices and predilections of the global media and can find their organizational integrity impugned and communication aims compromised. These developments imperil the very ethics and project of global humanitarianism that aid agencies historically have done so much to promote." (Abstract)
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"This essay explores the nature and political consequences of representing HIV/AIDS in Africa, where the disease has taken its greatest toll. We examine how different methods of photography embody different ideologies through which we give meaning to political phenomena. We distinguish three photogr
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aphic methods of representing HIV/AIDS: naturalist, humanist, and pluralist. Naturalist approaches portray photographs as neutral and value free. Humanist photography, by contrast, hinges on the assumption that images of suffering can invoke compassion in viewers, and that this compassion can become a catalyst for positive change. By examining a widely circulated iconic photograph of a Ugandan woman and her child affected by AIDS-related illnesses, we show that such representations can nevertheless feed into stereotypical portrayals of African people as nameless and passive victims, removed from the everyday realities of the western world. We contrast these practices with pluralist photography. To do so we examine a project in Addis Ababa, which used a methodology that placed cameras into the hands of children affected by HIV/AIDS, giving them the opportunity to actively represent what it means to live with the disease. The result is a form of dialog that opens up spaces for individuals and communities to work more effectively in overcoming problematic stigmas and finding ways of stemming the spread of the disease." (Abstract)
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"Learning resources are often considered key intellectual property in a competitive higher education world. However, more and more institutions and individuals are sharing their digital learning resources over the Internet, openly and for free, as Open Educational Resources (OER). This study, buildi
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ng on previous OECD work on e-learning, asks why this is happening, who is involved and what the most important implications of this development are. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the rapidly changing phenomenon of Open Educational Resources and the challenges it poses for higher education. It examines reasons for individuals and institutions to share resources for free, and looks at copyright issues, sustainability and business models as well as policy implications. It will be of particular interest to those involved in e-learning or strategic decision making within higher education, to researchers and to students of new technologies." (Publisher description)
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"[This book] gives you ideas for building an emergency radio network (ERN) for your community. An ERN uses small Family Radio Service (FRS) radios or combined FRS/General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) radios for members of the community. The community relay station can be (1) a basic or "fancy" ham st
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ation, (2) a GMRS station, (3) a basic amplitude modulation (AM) or "fancy" single sideband (SSB) Citizens Band (CB) station, or (4) a ham station using near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS). 'Community Eergency Radio Networks' makes planning your community ERN easy. It has easy-to-use tables (known as coverage planning tables) for your suburban or rural community depending on wether you're located on a smooth plain, in a hilly area, or in a mountainous area. The book also has guidelines to help you set up an effective ERN in a city." (Back cover)
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"The 'Inclusion Through Media' partnership has involved many imaginative and productive collaborations between creative media professionals and young and excluded people in cities and regions of the UK and Europe. Using media as a means of working with, and empowering marginalised people in their co
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mmunities is a practice that has emerged strongly in recent years, nurtured by the extraordinary growth of digital media and the Web. These developments have enabled a participatory culture -particularly online- one in which young people are now more able to represent themselves and their concerns through digital media. This book offers first hand accounts of work across and beyond Inclusion Through Media, alongside critical analysis of many of the processes involved, and the policy issues it raises. It suggests ways in which working with media with disenfranchised groups can contribute to social cohesion and inclusion, and so points the way towards new media, youth and social policy." (Publisher description)
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"Drawing on an expanding array of intelligent web services and applications, a growing number of people are creating, distributing and exploiting user-created content (UCC) and being part of the wider participative web. This study describes the rapid growth of UCC and its increasing role in worldwid
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e communication, and draws out implications for policy. Questions addressed include: What is user-created content? What are its key drivers, its scope and different forms? What are the new value chains and business models? What are the extent and form of social, cultural and economic opportunities and impacts? What are the associated challenges? Is there a government role, and what form could it take?" (Back cover)
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"This paper presents preliminary findings from a multi-sited qualitative study of poverty and information and communication technologies (ICTs) in India, Indonesia Sri Lanka and Nepal. It draws upon data gathered by 12 ethnographic action researchers working across 15 community ICT initiatives. Thes
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e local, 'embedded researchers' are part of a larger international project called Finding a Voice: Making Technological Change Socially Effective and Culturally Empowering, which includes UNESCO (South Asia) and UNDP (Indonesia), in partnership with Queensland University of Technology, the University of Adelaide and Australian Research Council, along with numerous local and regional organisations." (Introduction)
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