"This work is an attempt to use theatre in a political context to create a truer form of democracy - a method to engage the populace. At the heart of Boal's method of Forum Theatre - which is already used in diverse contexts - is the dual meaning of the verb "to act": to perform and take action. In
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'Legislative Theatre' he takes one stage further his concept of the "spect-actor" - the spectator who intervenes in an unresolved scenario on stage and attempts to break a depicted cycle of oppression. As a politician in his native Rio de Janeiro, Boal demonstrated that his ideas of mixing theatre and politics could generate needed legislation and social change. This amazing work includes full explanation of the development and principles of legislative theatre and a description of the process in operation in Rio. Also included are essays, speeches, and lectures on Popular Theatre, Paulo Freire, cultural activism, and the point of playwriting that Boal has written since his involvement with Brazilian Parliament." (Intermediate Technology Bookshop 2000 catalogue)
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"Three volumes designed to assist workers in the field who are encouraging the development of self-reliant creative communities. The book has as its basic philosophy the belief that we should all participate in making this world a more just place to live in. It integrates the approach of
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Paulo Freire and how to put this method into practice, Manfred Max Neef's understanding of fundamental human needs, group methods which are essential for participatory education, organizational development, which stresses how to build structures which enable people to become self reliant, and social analysis to help groups find their central problems." (Catalogue Intermediate Technology Publications 2000)
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"Ethnocommunication because of its holistic approach does not stick to one communication medium only but tries to see the interrelation between the different communication media, traditional as well as modern. Many development communication projects are designed for one medium only, like e.g. Radio
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or Television and the same holds for respective research projects. They do not sufficiently consider the need for a multimedia as well as a culturally bound approach. It is part of human nature not only to see but also to use other senses, i . e. to hear, to see, to smell and at the same time taste. Any isolation of one medium or one sense will immediately limit not only the success of such a medium but also promote a onesided development, finally not serving total human development. The multimedia approach or rather the interlink between the different means of communication – traditional and modern – in a culture also must be extended beyond the means themselves. The communications means are embedded in the culture, her social and value structure and therefore have to be seen in their use and effect within the framework of a given culture and society. Fernando Poyatos in his very revealing book on new perspectives on non-verbal communication has underlined the need not only for linguistic fluency but also a cultural fluency in intercultural communication. It is this cultural fluency as well which is part of the Ethnocommunications approach. The service of Ethnocommunication for development lies especially in this taking seriously the cultural data and situations, to relate them with the communication means and structures of the given culture and analyze and design communication processes which will be embedded and thus becoming a genuine part of the society and culture they are to serve. Development in this sense is not in the first instance concerned with technical developments but rather is first and foremost a step towards conscientization and liberation of the people in the sense of Paulo Freire and his followers. Thus Ethnocommunication should be a contribution to the liberation and redemption of man." (Page 17)
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"Der Einsatz von Massenmedien für die Verbreitung von Neuerungen hat sich in den Entwicklungsländern vor allem wegen des Auftretens von verfremdenden Nebenwirkungen als sehr problematisch erwiesen. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wird dagegen ein alternatives Kommunikationsmodell vorgestellt. Dieses
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folgt zum Teil den Methoden der «Pädagogik der Unterdrückten» von Paulo Freire, wobei kleine Gruppen durch Hörspiele zu eigener Kreativität angeregt werden, um ihre Probleme zu bewältigen. Der zweite Teil der Arbeit berichtet darüber, wie eine nach diesem neuen Modell verfasste Programmserie, die in Lateinamerika bereits großen Erfolg gehabt hat, in Indonesien neu inszeniert und eingesetzt wird." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"O primeiro capítulo comenta a política de comunicação da Igreja latino-americana desde Puebla (pp.11-22), complementada por uma bibliografia "Igreja e comunicação" (pp.18-22). O segundo capítulo (pp.23-51) esboça conceitos de comunicação de acordo com as idéias pedagógicas de
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Paulo Freire. O terceiro capítulo (pp.52-67) trata da "imprenta comunitaria" brasileira (pp.52-67) e da educação para a leitura crítica de jornais na sala de aula da escola (pp.68-80)." (commbox)
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"The title of this book raises expectations that are hardly fulfilled. One wonders again and again which target group the author had in mind when writing his work: it seems too impractical for practitioners and too unsound for theorists. For example, many of the names and authors cited lack bibliogr
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aphical information, which is also missing from the summarised bibliography (e.g. Levin, Hruschka). Important works that would appeal to practitioners in particular, such as Ralph Milton's Broadcasting Handbook (cf. CS 2:1969,182), are completely absent, not to mention books on fundamental considerations such as the works of Paulo Freire. The use of the so-called mass media in the development process is not as simple and unproblematic as the author suggests in his introduction. Broadcasting is hardly the miracle cure that people would like to make it out to be, and especially in the case of the frequently cited German projects of this kind, some questions must be asked about the consideration of existing indigenous, cultural, social and communicative values, which must also be taken into account when introducing modern means of communication. For example, is the role of the "change agent" really so important or is two-way communication not much more decisive for the development process (page 39 ff)? Some questions need to be asked. One has the impression that the whole book is too "German", which is probably also due to the fact that some passages have obviously been translated from German into English. Perhaps some of the unevenness is also due to the fact that various radio stations were asked to contribute to the book (e.g. Deutsche Welle, Südfunk, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Some aid organisations would be happy if the ACPO (- Sutatenza) radio school in Colombia could finance itself "mostly from advertising" (Page 56). But why are there no bibliographical references here either, such as to Musto's work (Berlin 1968) or to publications on such experiments in other continents (e.g. Neurath for India)? Bibliographical references to the Indonesian model by Salmon Padmanagara (page 87) would be welcome, as they are to many others. Maletzke's clear contribution (from page 105) on the evaluation of projects is a pleasant surprise. Some would have liked this section to be more detailed and the entire book to have some of its clarity." (translation from a review by Franz Josef Eilers in: Communicatio Socialis, vol. 12, 1979, nr. 1, pages 83-84)
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"El autor pretende, con este estudio, intentar un análisis global del trabajo del agrónomo, llamado erróneamente "extensionista", como educador; pretende resaltar su indiscutible e importante tarea, junto a los campesinos (y con ellos), la cual no está correctamente comprendida en el concepto de
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"extensión". El trabajo constará de tres capítulos. Partiendo del análisis semántico del término extensión, pasando por la crítica a su equívoco gnoseológico, deteniéndose en consideraciones a propósito de la invasión cultural, discutiendo la reforma agraria y el cambio, oponiendo la comunicación a la extensión, el autor considera, finalmente, la educación como una situación gnoseológica, en cuya práctica, la "asistencia técnica" tendría otras dimensiones." (Introducción, página 13)
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