"Certain researchers call to reconsider Communication for development and social change as a problem of “Techniques and Society” (McArthur, Jouët, Bardini, Lohento, Kiyindou, Missé). Thus, the models of social integration of innovations are used here to study how the new development assistance
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modules are accepted and appropriated by their final users in developing countries. There is no need to prove anymore that users’ reception and appropriation of the proposed service is critical to the development programs’ effectiveness, be it in public health, environmental issues, small and medium enterprise (SME) development, or other. We synthesize the Anglo-Saxon and French models and distinguish the common determinant axes for the innovations or novelties reception: before their actual use (acceptance models) and after it (appropriation models). The common base appears to be the mental construction of the sense of use: the user mobilizes his representations “already there” (anchoring in existing representations, Moscovici, Jodelet, LeBlanc) and his imaginary (Flichy, Musso) to assess the associated use benefits–costs, the anticipated-perceived use experience. In the literature, this mental construction process is theorized as the formation of the Perceived Value of Use (PVU) (Jouet, Mallein and Toussaint, Mallein et coll., Toussaint, Boenisch, Assude et al, Nelson, Kim et al.). However, it is necessary to further explore this process. Eager to explore the PVU concept in detail, we conducted a two-phase field qualitative study within the SME support sector (UN Sustainable Development Goals 8.3 and 9.3), in Turkmenistan, Central Asia. Our results suggest that we can model the PVU formation mechanism, and its role in the cognitive appropriation and acceptance of the new support services by the final users. We propose to test the results of our research, within the context of other developing countries and of other sectors." (Abstract)
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"By unearthing the connections between the literatures on participatory communica-tion and civic engagement with the reality of postconflict peace, this article demonstrates how a communication for development (C4D) approach to engaging citizens in peacebuilding contributes to strengthening the reco
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nstruction process at the end of the violence, while engendering a bottom up process based on dialogue and inclusivity. After offering a brief overview of the peacebuilding contexts, this article presents a theoretical discussion that brings to the surface not only the role of C4D in facilitating citizens participation in government decision making, but also its significance in creating an inclusive peacebuilding process that starts from the community. At the same time, this discussion begins to shed light on the relationship between communication for development and participatory governance." (Abstract)
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"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
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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)
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"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
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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)
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"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
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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)
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"This article examines the role of participation in development through community radio. Ordinary people participate in community radio through programme production, financing, management and the daily operations of the station. This enables them to define the development problems faced by their com
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munities, and to find solutions to those problems – they therefore participate in development through community radio. As such, the term ‘participation’ is presented as an empowering factor for ordinary people and as a potential solution to the many development problems faced by the community. Using Nkhotakota community radio station in Malawi as a case study, the article employs Sherry Arnstein’s ladder of participation to evaluate various forms of participation in the media and in development. The article finds that ordinary people’s participation in the media is low or reduced. The argument is made that while some development goals require the full involvement of the people (e.g., access to media technology, participation in programme production, management and daily operations of the station), others do not require full-blown engagement for development to be realised. Therefore, community radio can encourage development even when members of the community do not participate fully in the activities of the radio through other means such as promoting development initiatives started by non-governmental organisations (NGOs)." (Abstract)
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"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
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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)
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"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
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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)
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"This book approaches the memory sharing of groups, communities and societies as inevitable struggles over the interpretation of, and authority over, particular stories. Coming to terms with the past in memory work, alone or with others, is always unsteady ground and the activation of memory will al
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ways relay imaginations of futures we want to shape and inhabit. The contributors all explore in different ways how citizens can actualize a public and how citizens and groups struggle with their pasts and presents - and other group's understandings - in their work for futures they dream of, or envision. This implies an engagement with the notion of social justice, which in turn entails trial and revision of ideas and procedures of how to share the world. But to share also requires some kind of common ground and distributed power. The anthology thus engages with a range of cases that bring views and voices back in public, demanding justice, recognition, sometimes literally triggering new trials. Some of the memory work is done strategically, in the context of communication for development and social change interventions where NGOs, community-based organizations, governments or UN agencies pursue not just voice and views, but also very material demands for social justice and social change." (Publisher description)
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"The thesis investigates community radio as a tool for development drawing on case studies of Nkhotakota and Mzimba community radio stations in Malawi. The thesis employs communication for development and ‘another’ development theories to help understand the role of community radio in developmen
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t. The research aims are firstly, to investigate the extent and ways in which community radio is used as a tool for development through audience participation; and secondly to examine the extent to which communication for development in community radio in Malawi takes the form of participatory communication. Using the case study approach (Yin, 2009), the thesis specifically examines the functions of participation in development through community radio; whether community radio can encourage development through enhancing capabilities and participation even when people do not own and manage the stations; how radio listening Clubs (RLCs) help to expand people’s capabilities; and how the programming of community radio in Malawi is influenced by the agendas of development agencies. Arnstein’s (1969) ladder of participation and Carpentier’s (2011) minimalist and maximalist versions of participation are adopted as criteria for evaluating the different levels of participation in and through community radio." (Abstract)
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"This book critically examines directed social change theory and practice while presenting a conceptual framework of development communication to address inequality and injustice in contemporary contexts. This third edition features significantly revised and updated chapters to include the latest sc
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holarship on, and practices of, media and communication for development. It explores empowerment and social justice to individuals and communities around the world in the context of increasing globalization. Tracing the history of development communication, it looks objectively at diverse approaches and their supporters, and goes on to provide models for the future. It also offers a new chapter presenting the authors' framework foregrounding empowerment and social justice as goals for development communication in the 21st century." (Publisher description)
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"El inicio del siglo XXI ha venido marcado por los debates que, en el plano internacional, están sometiendo a revisión la comunicación para el desarrollo con el fin de proponer otras alternativas como comunicación para el cambio social o comunicación para el empoderamiento ciudadano y ecosocial
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. El debate conceptual que tiene lugar está lejos de resolverse con una respuesta fácil e inmediata, en la medida en que todos los términos que entran en escena requieren de un trabajo genealógico que permita identificar las tensiones, los actores sociales y las perspectivas de investigación en conflicto." (Editorial)
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"This study is an attempt to see how religion plays a part in development in a country where Christianity is seen as a major force behind social change. Government and business houses have done their part in enhancing people’s livelihood. However, it is claimed that Christianity has played a major
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role in enhancing people’s well-being. How people’s well-being is enhanced is vague, and might be understood through the concept of development communication. Development communication has been defined as “the art and science of human communication linked to a society’s planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equality and the larger unfolding of individual potentials.” Research participants were interviewed and their narratives were analyzed using thematic analysis." (Abstract)
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