"Mit „Soziale Bewegungen und Social Media“ liegt das erste Handbuch zum Einsatz von Social Media vor, das sich nicht dem wirtschaftlichen Nutzen und der kommerziellen Verwertung widmet, sondern das für Arbeitnehmer_innen und Betriebsrät_innen, Bürgerinitiativen,
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NGO und Gewerkschaften geschrieben ist. Im Fokus stehen kooperatives gesellschaftliches Engagement, Informations- und Kampagnenarbeit im Sinne autonomer Gegenöffentlichkeit sowie (transnationale) Vernetzung und Zusammenarbeit. Das Buch vereint die Anregungen einiger aufsehenerregender Fallbeispiele mit nützlichen Anleitungen. Es bietet einen umfassenden Überblick und stellt ein praktisches Nachschlagewerk für politischen Aktivismus dar." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"For decades, Georgia has been one of the largest per capita recipients of U.S. assistance. In 2012-2023, the years in which the Georgian Dream has been in power, total U.S. overseas development assistance (ODA) stands at USD 1 billion 920 mil lion, according to official data. Of course, the lion’
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s share of that assistance went to the government and public administration. In 2023, the U.S. government disbursed USD 143.8 million in aid to Georgia, with USD 84.5 million flowing through USAID as the primary administra tive channel. USD 77 million of that was allocated to governance-related programs, but where did all that money go? Once again, most of the assistance went to the government and public administration. To give a representative example in 2023, the last fiscal year when complete data is available, the largest share, at USD 42 million, was spent under “conflict, peace, and security” umbrella, while USD 34 million fell under “government and civil society.” Of this amount, USD 15 million support ed democratic participation and civil society, USD 6.5 million went toward legal and judicial develop ment, and USD 3.5 million was directed at media and freedom of information. Human rights programs received USD 2.1 million, while decentralization efforts got USD 600,000. Meanwhile, USD 470,000 was allocated to domestic revenue mo bilization and USD 450,000 was used to combat transnational organized crime [...] Our considered estimate is that over 2,000 Georgians are likely to lose jobs due to culling USAID, given the average number of programs, grants, and sub-grants, and the average number of people required to implement them. Most of them are qualified (first and medium-level) project and program managers with foreign language skills as well as administrative personnel (e.g., financial officers), and other support professions (e.g., media managers)." (Pages 1-3)
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"This study examines the external influences that shape NGO-produced news content concerning humanitarian crises in East, West and Central Africa. Employing a thematic analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews with humanitarian communicators
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and a content analysis of the humanitarian press releases of four major NGOs, it seeks to establish the types of content NGO communications staff consider most effective for achieving mainstream media coverage, how they access such content, and any forces influencing their eventual production of news. In line with notions of media logic (Altheide and Snow 1979; Cottle and Nolan 2007) and news cloning (Fenton 2010), it uncovers a reliance on hard-hitting humanitarian statistics and powerful first-person testimonies, which are considered essential for achieving news coverage. Statistics are found to be most often sourced from publicly available humanitarian datasets, often managed by the United Nations, and are considered susceptible to politicisation by authorities implicated in certain crises. First-person testimonies are usually gathered in-person by NGO staff and are affected by issues of physical access to crisis zones including monitoring by local authorities and demands for media sign-off. Additionally, a humanitarian NGO’s decision on whether to speak out publicly about a crisis is found to be often weighed up against threats to staff and programme safety. Examining these issues through a lens of agenda building theory (Cobb and Elder 1971), this study introduces the concept of agenda erosion, describing the phenomenon by which powerful actors, including host authorities and western governmental and intergovernmental donors, exert influence to undermine agenda building activities by NGOs in the context of humanitarian crises. Methods of agenda erosion might include demanding sign-off of media content, the control of physical access to crisis zones for communications staff, and the politicisation of humanitarian data. Unlike the traditional view of NGOs being producers of information subsidies (Gandy 1982), this concept recognises that, as news producers, NGOs also accept information subsidies, including humanitarian data, from other actors. These subsidies are used by NGOs to increase their own agenda building effectiveness but can also allow other, potentially conflicting, priorities to influence the media agenda too.
NGOs are now widely regarded as important players in the production of international news (Cottle and Nolan, 2007; Cooper, 2011; Powers 2018) and these findings suggest agenda erosion is in-part responsible for the continuing adherence of aid organisations to established patterns of news construction (Cottle & Nolan 2007; Fenton 2010; Waisbord 2011; Powers 2018). Only crises with hard-hitting data or emotive personal stories are likely to achieve mainstream media coverage but exposure to such sources is often closely guarded by the most powerful actors in certain crises. As a result, some crises continue to go underreported and NGOs risk being silenced or, worse, used as proxy mouthpieces by powers implicated in the humanitarian context to which they are attempting to respond." (Abstract)
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"Two oversimplified narratives have long dominated news reports and academic studies of China's Internet: one lauding its potentials to boost commerce, the other bemoaning state control and measures against the forces of political transformations. This bifurcation obscures the complexity of the dyna
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mic forces operating on the Chinese Internet and the diversity of Internet-related phenomena. China and the Internet analyzes how Chinese activists, NGOs, and government offices have used the Internet to fight rural malnutrition, the digital divide, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other urgent problems affecting millions of people. It presents five theoretically-informed case studies of how new media have been used in interventions for development and social change, including how activists battled against COVID-19. In addition, this book applies a Communication for Development approach to examine the use and impact of China's Internet. Although it is widely used internationally in Internet studies, Communication for Development has not been rigorously applied in studies of China's Internet."
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"Radio B92 was an iconic independent media institution in Serbia. Founded in 1989, B92 provided Belgrade listeners with subversive rock music, high-quality journalism, and independent perspectives on politics in the former Yugoslavia. An early adapter to the internet, B92 has been credited with spar
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king the many demonstrations that took place in Belgrade during the 1990s. While the role of Radio B92 during the turbulent days of the Yugoslav Wars is well known, less known is the role of its first CEO and news director in the creation of what would become the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with journalists, scholars, funders, diplomats, and media observers conducted in Belgrade in 2022, this study argues that much can be learned from the case of Radio B92 and the short history of independent media in Serbia. Although B92 ultimately met a tragic death at the hands of privatization and “market censorship,” the “impact investment” model of media development it sparked lives on. Combining affordable loan and equity financing with technical assistance and advisory services, MDIF’s model helps struggling news organizations avoid dependency on grants. Although the 2022 reelection of President Aleksandar Vucic demonstrates his party’s successful state capture of Serbian news media, a look back at the case of Radio B92 has implications for the broader question of what works in international media assistance and why." (Abstract)
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"Every year, the NGO »Initiative Nachrichtenaufklärung« (INA) partners with the Deutschlandfunk editorial office to present a list of ten topics that have been neglected by the media. The objective is to make journalists aware of gaps in media c
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overage. For journalists, picking up such topics might even be an opportunity to land an exclusive scoop. Since major issues, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have been dominating news coverage for some time now, it is more important than ever to seek out »forgotten news«." (Abstract)
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"This handbook brings together multidisciplinary and internationally diverse contributors to provide an overview of theory, research, and practice in the nonprofit and NGO communication field. It is structured in four main parts: the first introduc
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es metatheoretical and multidisciplinary approaches to the nonprofit sector; the second offers distinctive structural approaches to communication and their models of reputation, marketing, and communication management; the third focuses on nonprofit organizations' strategic communications, strategies, and discourses; and the fourth assembles campaigns and case studies of different areas of practice, causes, and geographies." (Publisher description)
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"Theatre for Development is one of the most dynamic and controversial theatre movements on the global South. Emerging in Southern Africa in the 1970s to address social and economic problems using theatrical techniques, today it is taught in theatre departments across sub-Saharan Africa and employed
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in numerous contexts from health care to agriculture. This book investigates the emergence of TfD from its beginnings to its transformation into a coherent organizational field capable of attracting significant governmental and NGO funding. Drawing on leading African scholars and practitioners the volume examines the complex transnational processes that led to the institutionalization of Theatre for Develoment." (Publisher description)
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"This textbook explores ethical issues for not-for-profit and non-governmental organizations, providing discussion-oriented cases for NFP and NGP practitioners. The book begins with an introduction to professional ethics as practiced in industry, not-for-profits and NGO's. Attention is paid both to
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classical ethical theories and contemporary variants. Then, combining that theory with an introduction to the morally unique facets of the NFP and NGO landscape, it offers a series of cases which pertain to the underlying theoretical substrate. The reader will find a blend of theory and application within the text as well as guided assignment prompts. Themes covered include board relationships, staff management, work with vulnerable populations, financial transparency, Human Resources ethics and ethical dilemmas unique to international operations." (Publisher description)
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"This edited collection investigates the linguistics of globalisation, geopolitics and gender in workplace cultures in a range of different contemporary international settings. The chapters examine how issues of globalisation, gender and geopolitics affect professionals in different workplace contex
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ts, including domestic workers; IT professionals; teachers, university staff; engineers; entrepreneurs; CEOs of different corporates including locally based businesses as well as multinationals; farmers; co-operative leaders; NGO leaders; bloggers; healthcare assistants and caregivers. Taking different sociolinguistic approaches to exploring language and the geopolitics of gender at work in Dubai, Kuwait, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Nigeria, Malaysia, Turkey, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Uganda, the UK and the USA, each focuses on a range of salient geopolitical issues which often have global applicability, but which may also be subject to more localised socio-cultural variation. The chapters critically discuss issues of gendered language, perceptions and representations of workplace cultures, discrimination, the role of gendered stereotyping and deeply ingrained socio-cultural myths about gender and the importance of examining the intersections of identity - all of which continue to persist as barriers to equality and inclusion in workplaces worldwide. Despite the variation and diversity in professions and geopolitical contexts captured across the chapters, remarkably similar issues of gender discrimination and persisting inequalities are identified and critically discussed, thus pointing to the global nature of these issues." (Publisher description)
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"Development communications for the past seventy years have followed two paradigms grounded in mass communication and marketing theories. The aim of development communication is changing behaviour, which is much closer to the definition of learning. Therefore, this article proposes a new learning pa
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radigm and conceptual model for development communications that are more audience-centric than the current dominant paradigm and more operational and sustainable than the current participatory paradigm. Twelve in-depth interviews with four categories of development communication professionals were conducted to substantiate the model. The advertising experts, public relations professionals, campaign funders, and NGO executive managers concurred with the suggested conceptual model envisioning the potential for applying the learning paradigm's seven principles to support sustainable and inclusive development. The article briefly reviewed the literature to introduce the two current paradigms, their underlying theories, and their critiques before proposing the new Learning Paradigm and the Sustainable Learning Conceptual Model associated with it. The findings and discussion open a new potential stream of future research in development communication and beyond." (Abstract)
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"Global land and resource grabbing has become an increasingly prominent topic in academic circles, among development practitioners, human rights advocates, and in policy arenas. The Routledge Handbook of Global Land and Resource Grabbing sustains this intellectual momentum by advancing methodologica
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l, theoretical and empirical insights. It presents and discusses resource grabbing research in a holistic manner by addressing how the rush for land and other natural resources, including water, forests and minerals, is intertwined with agriculture, mining, tourism, energy, biodiversity conservation, climate change, carbon markets, and conflict. The handbook is truly global and interdisciplinary, with case studies from the Global South and Global North, and chapter contributions from practitioners, activists and academics, with emerging and Indigenous authors featuring strongly across the chapters." (Publisher description)
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"[...] Die Einbeziehung von vulnerablen Gruppen in die Technologieentwicklung ermöglicht es, ihre spezifischen Herausforderungen, Bedenken und Bedürfnisse besser zu verstehen und zu berücksichtigen. Dies sollte bereits bei der Formulierung des zu lösenden Problems geschehen, bevor überhaupt ein
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e technische Lösung erdacht wird. Denn: Gemeinwohlorientierung beginnt vor dem ersten Buchstaben Code. Nutzer:innenzentrierte Technologieentwicklung ist möglich und bildet eine wichtige Stellschraube, um den Begriff der „gemeinwohlorientierten KI“ mit Leben zu füllen. Diese Publikation soll als eine Hilfestellung sowohl für Wohlfahrtsverbände als auch für zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen aller Art verstanden werden, um diese nutzer:innenzentrierte und gemeinwohlorientierte Technologieentwicklung in die Tat umzusetzen. Dabei kann KI im Fokus stehen, es sind aber auch andere digitale Produkte denkbar. Wir haben die Publikation so gestaltet, dass Sie sie immer wieder heranziehen können, wenn Herausforderungen bei der Implementierung und Steuerung digitaler Vorhaben entstehen. Die Ordner stehen dabei für sich und müssen nicht in einem Schwung durchgelesen werden." (Vorwort, Seite 4)
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"At a time when uneven power dynamics are high on development actors' agenda, this book will be an important contribution to researchers and practitioners working on innovation in development and civil society. While there is much discussion of localization, decolonization and 'shifting power' in ci
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vil society collaborations in development, the debate thus far centers on the aid system. This book directs attention to CSOs as drivers of development in various contexts that we refer to as the Global South. This book take a transformative stance, reimagining roles, relations and processes. It does so from five complementary angles: (1) Southern CSOs reclaiming the lead, 2) displacement of the North-South dyad, (3) Southern-centred questions, (4) new roles for Northern actors, and (5) new starting points for collaboration. The book relativizes international collaboration, asking INGOs, Northern CSOs, and their donors to follow Southern CSOs' leads, recognizing their contextually geared perspectives, agendas, resources, capacities, and ways of working. Based in 19 empirically grounded chapters, the book also offers an agenda for further research, design, and experimentation. Emphasizing the need to 'Start from the South' this book thus re-imagines and re-centers Civil Society collaborations in development, offering Southern-centred ways of understanding and developing relations, roles, and processes, in theory and practice." (Publisher description)
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"This open access book provides practical guidance for non-profits and community sector organisations about how to get started with data analytics projects using their own organisations' datasets and open public data. The book shares best practices on collaborative social data projects and methodolo
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gy. For researchers, the work offers a playbook for partnering with community organisations in data projects for public good and gives worked examples of projects of various sizes and complexity." (Publisher description)
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"Governments in the Asia-Pacific region have responded to human rights defenders' (HRD’s) new online advocacy strategies, affecting their online advocacy through the use of legal and non-legal measures to harass them and impede their work. Against this backdrop, National Human Rights Institutions
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(NHRIs) have a mandate to protect human rights, including those of HRDs. The Marrakech Declaration of 2018, outlined a framework for NHRIs to support HRDs, emphasising both offline and online civic space. However, there is a need for NHRIs to adapt these plans to address digital security threats to HRDs.
This report contributes to this goal by outlining four specific ways through which HDRs are threatened online. First, it shows that, in the Asia-Pacific region, HRDs often face legal threats through laws related to defamation, insult, and "fake news”, as well as broader online regulations granting government authorities extensive powers to limit online freedoms. Second, governments have disrupted online communications by limiting or suspending internet connectivity. Some countries control internet gateways to regulate information flow, and during political instability, internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile carriers are ordered to restrict internet speed or access. Third, governments in the region use technology for legal and covert mass data collection and surveillance. They create national internet gateways for centralized control, consolidating information and data storage. Lastly, HRDs encounter digital threats from “cybertroops”, combining human operatives and bots on social media to influence public opinion in favour of the government. Governments are complicit by showing minimal commitment to addressing the problem. Identifying these threats is the basis for this report to recognise the efforts and limitations of NHRIs in ensuring HRDs’ rights online in three areas - monitoring and reporting; advocacy and awareness-rising; and capacity and network building - and provide a set of recommendations aimed at increasing NHRI’s institutional capacity." (Executive summary)
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"An international line-up of authors first discuss communication practices, strategies, and media uses by NGOs, providing insights into the specifics of NGO programs for social change goals and reveal particular sets of tactics NGOs commonly employ
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. The book then presents a set of case studies of NGO organizing from all over the world—ranging from Sudan via Brazil to China – to illustrate the particular contexts that make NGO advocacy necessary, while also highlighting successful initiatives to illuminate the important spaces NGOs occupy in civil society." (Publisher description)
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"Oppression of women, financial meltdown, censorship: Research findings by Afghan NGO Nai SOMA and DW Akademie highlight the extent of the Afghan media sector’s breakdown after the Taliban took power in Kabul." (Page 1)