"Global Sceptical Publics is the first major study of the significance of different media for the (re)production of non-religious publics and publicity. While much work has documented how religious subjectivities are shaped by media, until now the crucial role of diverse media for producing and part
...
icipating in religion-sceptical publics and debates has remained under-researched. With some chapters focusing on locations hitherto barely considered by scholarship on non-religion, the book places in comparative perspective how atheists, secularists and humanists engage with media – as means of communication and forming non-religious publics, but also on occasion as something to be resisted. Its conceptually rich interdisciplinary chapters thereby contribute important new insights to the growing field of non-religion studies and to scholarship on media and materiality more generally." (uclpress.co.uk)
more
"Performance Activism: Precursors and Contemporary Pioneers provides a global overview of the growing interface of performance with education, therapy, conflict resolution, civic engagement, community development and social justice activism. It combines an historical study of the processes by which,
...
over the course of the 20th Century, performance has been loosened from the institutional constraints of the theatre with a mosaic-like overview of the diverse work/play of contemporary performance activists around the world." (Publisher description)
more
"Making People's Theatre is a practical and accessible guide to the theatre process from forming a group through choosing a script, directing, lighting and set design to performance and touring. As a fascintaing supplement to the general guide, Kavanagh uses the text of an existing play to offer spe
...
cific examples of the steps in the play-making process. Robert Kavangah (McLaren), who lectures in the drama department of the University of Zimbabwe, has a long history of practical involvement in popular theatre in South Africa, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. In addition to the general guide, McLaren uses the text of an existing play to offer more specific examples of the techniques and skills required in the making of popular theatre." (Publisher description)
more
"Mass media campaigns can be effective at communicating health information to a mass audience rather inexpensively. Critics of mass media health campaigns often contend, however, that interpersonal communication is more effective at changing behavior. Conversely, interpersonal communication activiti
...
es to promote health can be effective at changing behavior, but critics have argued that they have certain limitations such as being expensive and personal (perhaps intrusive), and that they provide nonstandardized information. The present study is an evaluation of a street theater format in Peru that combined the advantages of mass and interpersonal communication to improve family planning knowledge and attitudes. The street theater was effective in decreasing misinformation concerning modern contraceptive methods." (Abstract)
more
"In December 1991, upon the initiative of the London-based World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) in collaboration with Isis International in Manila and the International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) based in New York, the concept of the Women Empowering Communication global conferenc
...
e was crystallized. Now, over two years later, and after several planning meetings and preparatory work, the global conference. Women Empowering Communication in Thailand is a reality. Isis International, in addition to its principal role as a co-organizer, wanted to make a tangible contribution to the conference. Thus we bring to you this issue of Women in Action, a collection of articles on women's experiences in community media from the regions of Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. The conference participants constitute representatives of women's networks, alternative media, grassroots groups, the academe and other disciplines. It seems only fitting that we share with them how individual women and women's groups have creatively expressed themselves in various media forms in the community setting. In fact, we have featured some of the participating groups in the conference such as Video SEWA, Sistren Theatre Collective, and Cine Mujer. These women have set inspiring examples of how we can utilize varying media expressions not only to attain, self-empowerment but also to improve the portrayal of women in media. They have shown us the similarities in the lives and struggles of women all over the globe, despite cultural and geographical boundaries. What is even more encouraging is that these women's voices come from the community. They have successfully explored in very creative ways the use of low cost media such as song, dance, street theater, drawings, posters, puppetry and flipcharts. There are many other women's groups who have done some very good work in community media such ; as FIRE (Feminist International Radio Endeavour), a feminist radio program in Costa Rica and the East Sepik Documentation Project in the Pacific. We also acknowledge the value of traditional forms of expression such as arpilleras and tapestries, woven stories on cloth by women in Chile, Peru and the Philippines and the khanga, a piece of cloth used as a communication tool by women in Africa.. What we have presented here is but a microviewing of women's experiences in community -media. In bringing this to the Women Empowering Communication conference, we join in the gathering of women i communicators who will enrich us with the breadth and depth of their experiences in media." (Editorial)
more
"Although rural development, especially in the Third World, is a major concern of UNESCO, emphasis here is upon those uses of media which support community initiatives in urban settings or were introduced to help resolve tensions and problems. Media are not limited to newspapers and broadcasting; th
...
ey also include such other forms as wall posters, mimeographed newsletters, audio cassettes and portable video equipment. Emphasis, however, is not upon the medium or its mode of delivery, but rather upon its function within a community program to focus upon the urban problem. Scope is international and arrangement is by country: Africa, the Arab world, Australia, the Caribbean (a case study), Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, North America and the Philippines. An appendix includes extracts from the Final Report of the Urban Community Media Consultation, UNESCO: "Proposals for related activities," and "Proposals for future activities and research programmes.'' A 1977 study edited by Frances J. Berrigan, 'Access: Some Western Modern Models of Community Media' (UNESCO), is a discussion accompanied by case studies of different ways in which communities in the U. S., Canada and some European countries have provided access for audience participation in broadcasting programming for both television and radio." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 251)
more