This publication outlines four communication approaches used by United Nations organizations: (i) behaviour change communication; (ii) communication for social change; (iii) communication for advocacy; and (iv) strengthening an enabling media and communications environment. The second part provides
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an in-depth exploration of Communication for Development efforts within seven United Nations agencies, programmes and funds: FAO, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO, followed by case studies that demonstrate C4D in practice either as part of a larger project or as a ‘stand alone’ project contributing to the strategic objectives of the organization.
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"By assessing edutainment as a space of cultural translation, Drama for Development advances an often neglected perspective in this topics' research. It focuses on what happens when various goals, worldviews and needs from donors, producers and the audiences come together in the production and meani
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ng construction of soap operas. The perspective is illustrated by examples from the largely South Asian experiences of the BBC World Service Trust, itself seen as a cross-cultural contact zone. Tensions between western scientific paradigm and local researcher in the audience research process (chapter 3), the cosmopolitan competencies of the production team in harmonizing the urge for authenticity, cultural sensitivity and development objectives (chapter 6) and the construction of social realism as an interplay of the observed realities of the audiences and the neo-liberal themes of donors (e.g., opium in ch.6 and forced marriage in chapter 11) exemplify some of the processes taking place in that zone. The epistemological position of the book is complementary to the more technical perspective of the existing body of literature, which sometimes fails to capture the complex processes of meaning construction and link it to the wider social context." (commbox)
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"El autor presenta una síntesis del pensamiento del comunicador boliviano Alfonso Gumucio y su propuesta acerca de la comunicación para el cambio social, partiendo de la historia del pensamiento comunicacional latinoamericano y ubicando al autor en la línea de tiempo de influencia y de evolución
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académica e investigativa en América Latina." (Resumen)
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"This new issue of Westminster Papers of Communication and Culture is dedicated for the first time to Latin America, and by re-visiting the cultural and communication standpoints undertaken in the region, it will help to address the ongoing questions on globalisation, and cultural hybridisation from
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the local and regional cultures. The papers explore a range of important issues including media democracy, hybrid identity, media and migration, structure and agency, social change, technology, and resistance." (Editorial)
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"Communicating Social Change: Structure, Culture, and Agency explores the use of communication to transform global, national, and local structures of power that create and sustain oppressive conditions. Author Mohan J. Dutta describes the social challenges that exist in current globalization politic
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s, and examines the communicative processes, strategies, and tactics through which social change interventions are constituted in response to the challenges. Using empirical evidence and case studies, he documents the ways through which those in power create conditions at the margins, and he provides a theoretical base for discussing the ways in which these positions of power are resisted through communication processes, strategies, and tactics. The interplay of power and control with resistance is woven through each of the chapters in the book. This exceptional volume highlights the points of intersection between the theory and praxis of social change communication, creating theoretical entry points for the praxis of social change." (Publisher description)
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"We can draw several conclusions from this review about both theory and practice in the context of this decade of the Millennium Development Goals. First, the field of C4D remains alive and thriving on the ground, but it has not gained or maintained the center of attention in the larger communicatio
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n field for some years in its mainstream journals. Much of the work to collect data and even to summarize those data has shifted to those organizations that promote practice or who collect information online. Websites of these organization may serve as better sources for data and writing about C4D than academic books or journals. It is not that there are not a number of academic institutions pursuing theory and policy studies concerning C4D (the Communication Initiative lists a large number globally), but other specialties like health, education, agronomy, policy studies, etc. have sometimes absorbed these pursuits; on the other hand communication studies have renamed their fields even though they pursue some of the same issues as before. Also, we should encourage a renewal of a more direct pursuit of C4D studies within the communication field, especially as this derives from universities close to a set of local issues (the University of the Philippines at Los Baños has provided an example of application and theory in the rural context for many decades). Second, I placed this review in the context of the Millennium Development Goals because these goals manifest the global expression of conscience for all countries. If C4D will again play a practical role in the process of solving the urgent problems of poverty, health, children, women, and the inequities that underlie these issues, then academics need to help create the theories and policies that can help eradicate the problems in both the short and long term (2015 for the MDGs). I premise this belief on the fact that people in every society live in an increasingly connected world where communication is an important reality and the study of communication is critical. This study of communication needs to look at the most urgent problems facing societies and ask how communication can help in their solution. The MDGs have defined the problems and C4D has an important role in these global challenges." (Conclusion, pages 14-15)
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"Our review of relevant literature identified the following eight issues related to communication for participatory development:
1. The concept of development needs to be reformulated in a manner that applies to human development in local communities, as well as the traditional focus on national dev
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elopment.
2. Participatory development requires dialogue—a symmetrical, two-way process of communication, but many prevailing approaches to development communication use an asymmetrical, one-way process of communication.
3. No model of the development process reconciles the demand for social change at the community level and the need for requisite changes at the individual level.
4. Scholars and practitioners agree that community members should determine the goals of development themselves, but the problem-specific nature of funding often means that external change agents impose development goals on communities. External change agents can play the valuable role of catalyst and facilitate the process, but motivation and leadership needs to come from within a community itself.
5. The role of confl ict in communication generally is ignored in participatory development, even though it is common feature of most communities. Therefore, a model of the process needs to recognize conflict and suggest methods to manage it.
6. Ownership, self-determination, and social change are considered necessary to build community capacity and to sustain the process of development without further outside stimuli.
7. Communities should have access to local media, such as community radio, posters/billboards, traveling theater groups, and even cell phones, to produce content for their development objectives rather than rely on content originating from external sources that primarily serve the purposes of those sources.
8. Self-assessment needs to guide the process and motivate sustained, collective action.
A model of participatory development, thus, needs to be theoretically sound and useful to communication scholars but also useful to community leaders and communication practitioners. The model of communication for participatory development that we use to organize and synthesize the literature addresses these eight key issues, and it provides a tool useful for both research and practice. Specifically, because development is assumed to be “people oriented,” communication for participatory development needs to be based on dialogue, conflict management, and mutual understanding and agreement." Pages 507-508)
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"Communication and its role in development and social change is still poorly understood and supported by large development players, despite decades of innovative practice and positive outcomes. Gaps between discourse and action, outdated evaluation methods, short timeframes, red tape, and power rela
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tions, combined with vertical and externally-driven communication models, and confusion between information and communication, all prevent development donors from giving support to participatory and community owned and managed communication initiatives. On the basis of decades of experience and observation, four key recommendations are made for transforming the communication profession both in higher education and in donor and development agencies." (Abstract)
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"This publication focuses on unique communication-centered approaches to social change and introduces basic concepts, strategies and theories supporting edutainment strategies to foster social change and social movement building. It provides examples of how the organizations have used edutainment st
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rategies, describing challenges, lessons learned and insights for the future, especially related to strategic planning and evaluation. It also provides references for where to find more information or who to seek for further advice on the design and implementation of these approaches." (Foreword)
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"This discussion has critically appraised the two training models that universities have employed in their communication for development programmes. These are the development communication and social change approaches. While the former is rooted in sustainable livelihood approaches, the latter is fo
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rmulated on the springboard of public philosophy and social change theories. The discussion has observed that the DevCom approach was specifically designed to deal with developing world problems of underdevelopment, poverty and inequality resulting largely from colonial experiences. On the other hand, the social change model has adapted the DevCom model so as to engineer communication processes that deal with developed societies as well as embrace new media and new social challenges like governance, conflict and human rights." (Page 59)
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