"This chapter seeks to complicate our understanding of voice in development. It proposes that while it is important to consider not just voice, and the processes of valuing voice, it is also important to understand what voice and agency mean in the complexities of everyday life for populations who a
...
re marginalized or disadvantaged. The chapter draws on research in an Indian slum cluster to illustrate how an ethnographic approach can help us to appreciate these complexities and problematize notions of voice. It explores examples of the ways in which people seek to remain unheard and invisible in official and formal terms, and suggests ways that we can rethink what voice might mean in development. While communication for development and social change cannot simplify complexity, it does provide a way of facilitating participation in the design of development. It can highlight the contestations and different perspectives involved, and can draw attention to the relationships of developers and people in development contexts." (Abstract)
more
"The first two parts of the handbook outline methods and concepts, showing how communication can be planned according to the context and integrated into the project cycle. The third part recounts the SDC's experiences in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The documentary video catalysing reform
...
s in Georgia's sheep-farming sector, the puppet festival promoting girls' right to enrol in school in Benin, the thematic week advocating for human rights in Afghanistan, and the interactive web game raising awareness of responsible water use in Colombia are just four of the 24 examples provided in the handbook with a view to inspiring emulation. The wide variety of tools range from ad-hoc discussion forums in the marketplace to elaborate multimedia campaigns covering an entire country. Diverse as they are, they share one characteristic: the idea that communication for development is first and foremost about a process, rather than a product. It seeks to elicit constructive responses and open up inclusive debates. To ensure that no-one is left behind, these debates must break the mould of specialist discussions on laws and standards. They must be clear and appeal to the senses and emotions." (Editorial, page 7)
more
"The first International SBCC Summit 2016 brought together the global community of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) organizations, practitioners and researchers from February 8 - 10, 2016, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The three-day event offered talks from SBCC field practitioners, a mar
...
ket fair of tools, skills-building workshops, and panels on methodologies, programs and research. Blue Sky sessions allowed participants to consider the way forward in elevating the science and art of SBCC. Twenty-four technical panels and 10 preformed panels were created from the more than 600 abstracts received. Topics ranged from HIV and Ebola to nutrition and sanitation." (Introduction)
more
"This article renders an account of the rapid institutionalization of the academic field of Communication for Development and Social Change in Spain in recent years following a period of neglect and marginalization. The ongoing expansion of the field of Communication for Development and Social Chang
...
e in the Spanish context is understood as a process of implosion, i.e., a collapse inwards, which results from the inconsistencies and weaknesses of fast and late institutionalization. The methodological approach for this inquiry is a documental review of both academic literature and research and institutional reports produced in Spain between 1980 and 2010. Based on this review, the article contrasts the trajectory of the field in Spain with the debates at the international level, establishing relevant continuities and differences." (Abstract)
more
"It is a paradox of communication and media studies that while media are widely seen as key institutions in the “project of time, space and life management” (Silverstone, 2005), not enough attention is given to the ways in which mediation is socially produced and becomes politically effective. A
...
lthough rarely taken into account as an analytical variable in studies of international development communication, mediation is implicit in donor-driven practice. In the act of framing a problem and favouring a solution, and of communicating about a problem and solution in particular ways, donors seek to mediate their complex relationships with recipient countries and with citizens at both ends of the donor-recipient equation. But which forms of media engagement do they propose to these ends? How is mediated communication aimed at doing good for the citizens of recipient countries? How is it used to communicate do-gooding to the citizens of donor countries? Which media technologies are foregrounded and which media-driven practices are favoured to promote one and the other? Which perceptions of media engagement influence donors’ strategic choices, and how are citizens understood in those choices? Based on a qualitative study of a large-scale mediated communication intervention mandated by the British Foreign Commonwealth Office and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote reconciliation and democratize media systems in the successor states to the former Yugoslavia in 2005 (Enghel, 2014), this paper examines forms of media engagement at work in donor-driven international development communication and considers their uses as components of a politics of mediation." (Abstract)
more
"As part of their academic requirements, graduate and undergraduate development communication (DevCom) students of the Visayas State University (VSU) in the Philippines are required to write a thesis. This study aimed to identify patterns and trends in DevCom research by VSU students. It examined th
...
e development context, focus, theoretical bases, methods used and the major findings of their research. A total of 203 studies were content analyzed. Results showed that between 1979 to 1989, most of the students' research were on agriculture, mass media and health. In the recent years, there has been an accommodation of other development issues including health, environment and information communication technology. Most of the studies, however, focused mainly on two areas of communication research – audience and effects. Although communication books list more than 200 communication theories, only 18 were used in the students' research. Most of the studies used quantitative methods, but an increase in the number of qualitative studies or a combination of the two was noticed in recent years. A good number of the studies tested relationships among variables. The major findings of most of these studies were: (1) information exposure significantly influenced knowledge, attitude and practice; and (2) the socio-demographic variables that most often emerged to have significant relationship with knowledge, attitude and practice were age, sex, educational attainment and income." (Abstract)
more
"This article argues that a focus on sustainability will allow us to engage the complexity that communication research for development and social change routinely encounters. We start with a brief historical overview, move to the need for sustainability as an organizing principle, then to a consider
...
ation of some theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainability, and finally to conclusions concerning the state of the field." (Abstract)
more
"Even though the cliché ‘theory is practice’ registers in most communication for development debates, available evidence seems to suggest there is a growing chasm between the theory and practice of communication for development. This discussion argues that, with the increasing demand by governm
...
ents and organisations for communication for development specialists, universities and training providers should rethink their graduate curricula. As course content, teaching methodologies and theoretical paradigms are revisited, trainers need to grill students on how the contestation of power is central to the application of communication in development. This paper advances two arguments. The first is that communication for development training has to begin listening to the innovative thinking that is shaping practice on the ground if the curriculum is to stay relevant. The second is that such programmes have forge strong linkages with development studies departments to ensure that students are well-grounded in development theory and practice." (Abstract)
more
"Social sector communication helps address issues by influencing policy and can be used to bring about desired behavioral change among the targeted public. This book not only highlights the theoretical underpinnings, practice, and skill of social sector communications in India, but also provides an
...
understanding of various tools and strategies required in development communication encompassing social marketing, media advocacy, social mobilization, grassroots communication, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). With the aid of case studies, it offers tips on how to plan campaigns; write a concept note, field report, and press release, and effectively use social media to achieve developmental program goals. The book discusses the different perspectives of NGOs and program implementers, and helps in understanding the corporate–NGO interface vis-à-vis CSR projects." (Publisher description)
more
"In the development communication equation, whether more theoretical, empirical and analytical attention is given to ‘development’ or to ‘communication’ makes a difference: where the emphasis is on development, it is at the expense of communication. Since communication and media arguably pla
...
y an increasingly pervasive role in the everyday life of citizens and in the politics, economies and governance of most societies, the characteristics and role of specific forms of applied communication strategies in the context of the neoliberal project merit critical scrutiny. Given a complex global scenario, what can a political economy approach bring into an agenda for the future of development communication as a field of study, a practice and an institutional project? This article outlines ways in which a focus on political economy dimensions may contribute to understanding the obstacles and limits to a transformative practice of international development communication." (Abstract)
more
"This article aims to assess the activities of Kingfisher FM, a faith-based community radio station, and its contribution to development in Port Elizabeth and its environs. A qualitative data collection method, in the form of group interviews, was used to collect data. The analysis of data indicates
...
that a number of opportunities for audience participation are provided by the station. Thus, it was found to operate as a Christian radio station according to its licence and for its defined target audience. Within the framework of audience participation, however, Kingfisher FM also functions as a medium for development in that it involves its audience in a variety of operational, planning and programme design activities, which provide audience-specific input and thus help to ensure that the programme content remains closely informed by audience realities." (Abstract)
more
"In many—if not most—countries of the modern world, radio is thought of as a provider of music, news, weather reports and traffic situations, but very little else. Yet in parts of the developing world, radio is still extremely important and valuable as a medium for encouraging and teaching life
...
improvement. This book demonstrates and teaches how radio drama—be it stand alone or serial drama—can be very influential in helping people to improve their lives." (Prologue)
more
"La idea fundamental que gira esta obra es la de justicia social dentro de la libertad y la solidaridad. Alarmados por los sintomas del caminar acelerado de la sociedad humana hacia el “admirable mundo nuevo“, de Aldous Huxley, en virtud de los efectos racionalizadores, disciplinadores y uniform
...
izadores de la tecnología, los autores creen necesario alertar sobre el peligro de que una sociedad de colmena y hormiguero, dotada de solidaridad impuesta, pero carente de libertad y de justicia, pueda constituir la única alternativa para el futuro. En una sociedad así, la comunicación es, al mismo tiempo, el alfa y el omega. Constituye el plasma vinculador que permite la participación y la solidaridad, interpretada como comunión, representa el camino natural hacia el ideal de ia unidad universal." (Contratapa)
more
"In June 2015 a group of academic researchers from Australian universities and practitioners from Australian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) came together to discuss the use of communication for development (C4D) in their present and future work. The seminar was organised as a pre-conference t
...
o the ACFID (Australian Council for International Development) University Network Conference, held in Melbourne on 4th-5th June. The aim was to provide a platform for international development actors involved or interested in communication for development to share experiences, lessons learned and recommendations that could contribute to an improved practice. With the additional aim of strengthening the value of the practice, the event wanted to facilitate connections between practitioners and researchers on C4D-related research projects." (Introduction)
more
"This paper makes a critical appraisal of the impact of folksongs in entertainment education. The paper adopts historical methodology and is anchored on the social learning theory." (Abstract)