"What makes a piece of research decolonial? Do participatory or co-creative approaches make research participatory and co-creative? These reflections are raised in this article, which looks back at methodological choices made and adapted during a three-year study with riverside communities in the Am
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azon Forest, in Ecuador and Brazil. Originally designed as grounded research, the project was seriously impacted by restrictions imposed by the global Covid-19 pandemic and, in addition in the Brazilian case, by political issues arising during the 2022 national presidential elections. This article discusses how these unexpected limitations influenced the fieldwork approach and the resulting answers will be presented as a pedagogy of listening, inspired by the work of Paulo Freire. The recognition and experience of limitations triggered a reflection about disruptive theoretical frameworks and methods. Instead of advocating one precise method, this article advances the relevance of a trans-methodological approach that allows the emergence of new – and/or disruptive – knowledge." (Abstract)
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"The Wayusa is a community ritual that is part of the exercise of political imagination among the Kichwa Indigenous people of Sarayaku, in Ecuador. In this article it will be discussed as a case study arguing towards a circular theory of communication, emerging from the works of
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Paulo Freire and calling for an approximation with Indigenous cosmology, looking for epistemological diversity and interdisciplinarity. Based in comprehensive fieldwork, this article suggests that the Wayusa illustrates the role of communication in the knowledge-chain in the community of Sarayaku, while also describing the kind of communication that it is made of. Different from a dominant linear theory of communication, it points to a conceptual framework whose horizon is not universalist but based on each space–time context. Beyond explaining a localized practice, it is argued that such circular model can dialogue and challenge the linear one as an operative general framework." (Abstract)
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"Em 2023, o professor José Marques de Melo, se estivesse vivo, completaria 80 anos de idade. Com certeza, ainda estaria organizando algum evento científico ou escrevendo um novo livro. Em sua trajetória, marcada por um trabalho pioneiro de pesquisa e de ensino da Comunicação no Brasil, Marques
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de Melo foi jornalista, professor, autor de dezenas de livros, além de um grande líder, fundando a maior e mais longeva entidade de pesquisadoras e pesquisadores em Comunicação da América Latina, a Intercom. Para celebrar seu aniversário, a Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação - INTERCOM - reúne, nesta coletânea, histórias da vida de José Marques de Melo contadas por ex-orientandos, colegas de trabalho, pesquisadores e jornalistas que, de alguma forma, tiveram seus percursos cruzados com o do mestre JMM." (Resumo)
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"O artigo é um relato de experiência da rádio universitária brasileira Paulo Freire, que em 2023 completa 60 anos, analisando como ela se reconfigurou, reinventando suas rotinas profissionais,
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formatos e modos de circulação, para enfrentar a desinformação sobre a Covid-19. A emissora AM transbordou para as mídias sociais, convocou a audiência para compartilhar seus conteúdos, apostou em diferentes formatos e uniu forças com diversos grupos na luta contra a desinformação. O artigo também é um resgate histórico para que experiências como essa não se percam nas reflexões sobre o rádio, que se reconfigura, mantendo-se vivo e cada vez mais firme." (Resumo)
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"Em março de 2021, o Institute for Media and Creative Industries da Loughborough University London organizou, em parceria com a Ubiqua, um ciclo de debates hamado Paulo Freire Centennial: 7 Talks
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in Preparation for the Next 100 years. Foi um envolvimento precoce com as celebrações pelo centenário do nascimento de Freire, que seria comemorado em setembro do mesmo ano. O evento teve mais de seis mil inscrições para participação em seus sete diálogos – 2.113 inscrições individuais de 48 países, sendo as primeiras mil nas primeiras seis horas após a abertura das inscrições. Por causa de tantas campanhas de ódio contra Freire, essas demandas foram duplamente verificadas e, para garantir um lugar nos debates, as pessoas inscritas foram convidadas a preencher um formulário e, entre outras perguntas, responder o que buscavam nesse seminário. Muitas resumiram que, naquele momento, “Freire era mais necessário do que nunca”. Filtrando os números, 856 participantes individuais de 42 países se participaram dos sete diálogos, muitos em mais de um deles. A coletânea de textos organizada neste livro tem origem nesses sete debates. Doze palestrantes, de dez países, representando experiências de pesquisa e prática em Comunicação e Mudança Social, discutiram os cinco princípios do chamado ontológico de Freire: diálogo, amor, empatia, esperança e humildade.
A seção 1 deste livro contém as transcrições integrais dessas palestras – a maior parte delas são traduções diretas para o português, pois os palestrantes se dirigiram ao público em seus idiomas originais. A seção 2 é composta por outro grupo de transcrições dos diálogos. Nesse caso, os debates ao vivo entre palestrantes e público, que aconteceram após cada palestra, foram transcritos e organizados em tópicos agregados. Estes estão organizados em torno dos três principais temas que emergiram nos debates: Sociedade em Rede; Mudança social; e Educação. Estes temas, por sua vez, foram organizados internamente em subtópicos. Por fim, a Seção 3 é composta por uma coletânea de textos escritos por jovens acadêmicos e profissionais da comunicação que participaram do ciclo de debates em março de 2021. Eles escrevem desde suas perspectivas locais sobre como aquelas discussões inspiraram ou desafiaram seu trabalho e visões do futuro. No epílogo, oferecemos nossa perspectiva sobre o ano de comemorações pelo centenário de nascimento de Freire – essa reflexão está baseada em nossas participações em vários eventos e na observação de muitos outros. Entre um sentimento de nostalgia e a busca de inspiração para enfrentar os desafios presentes e futuros, observamos exercícios de memória e reinvenção. A partir de nosso envolvimento com essas comemorações, podemos afirmar que a razão que torna a leitura de Freire relevante hoje é que sua obra ainda é capaz de acender o fogo da busca e da luta pelo humano em todos os processos de comunicação." (Introdução, páginas 12-13)
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"The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (1921-1997) is one of the most important thinkers of the 21st century, figuring among the most quoted authors in the fields of education and social sciences al
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l over the world. He is also a core reference to an infinite number of grassroots and activist initiatives globally. This book celebrates his birth centennial with a collection of 19 contributions from both experienced and young media and communication scholars and activists working in 11 countries. They reflect and debate Freire’s principles and ideas, revisiting their origins and interrogating their relevance to current challenges and struggles. The result can be summarized as a claim for affect as the core feature of social change and a tool for yielding resistance." (Publisher description)
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"Ler – no sentido pleno da etimologia latina, de 'colher com os olhos' – as páginas deste Comunicação e sociedade: métodos freirianos, é um alento em tempos em que a educação se instrumentalizou a serviço do capital e a comunicação reduziu-se à esfera da midiatização. Sobre o conjun
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to dos textos – variados em seus espectros temáticos; rigorosos na síntese que fazem da obra freiriana, tão extensa e complexa; percucientes nos argumentos e proposições habilmente apresentados –, pode-se dizer que paira a efígie de Jano. Cada um deles, a seu modo, ao mesmo tempo em que inventaria o pensamento de Paulo Freire, percorrendo seu trabalho por meio de viva interlocução, paráfrases e citações, também compulsa essa extraordinária herança em perspectiva prospectiva, isto é, projetando (atente-se para o étimo pro-jectu, “lançado para diante”) o desejo de uma sociedade mais justa, mais feliz, mais humana." (Prefácio, página 9-10)
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"David Nemer draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork to provide a rich account of how favela residents engage with technology in community technology centers and in their everyday lives. Their stories reveal the structural violence of the information age. But they also show how those oppressed by
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technology don't just reject it, but consciously resist and appropriate it, and how their experiences with digital technologies enable them to navigate both digital and nondigital sources of oppression—and even, at times, to flourish. Nemer uses a decolonial and intersectional framework called Mundane Technology as an analytical tool to understand how digital technologies can simultaneously be sites of oppression and tools in the fight for freedom. Building on the work of the Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, he shows how the favela residents appropriate everyday technologies—technological artifacts (cell phones, Facebook), operations (repair), and spaces (Telecenters and Lan Houses)—and use them to alleviate the oppression in their everyday lives. He also addresses the relationship of misinformation to radicalization and the rise of the new far right. Contrary to the simplistic techno-optimistic belief that technology will save the poor, even with access to technology these marginalized people face numerous sources of oppression, including technological biases, racism, classism, sexism, and censorship. Yet the spirit, love, community, resilience, and resistance of favela residents make possible their pursuit of freedom." (Publisher description)
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"This volume focuses on indigenous knowledge in analyzing the traditions and communication processes within various communities of Northeast India. It deals with the historical and theoretical trajectory of communication for social change as a discipline, bringing together a series of interesting ca
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se studies from the sphere of meaningful learning where individuals and communities engage in a cooperative and dialogic environment to promote change at multiple levels. The case studies cover a range of media - radio, video, ‘forum theatre’ - and considers both practitioners and audiences." (Publisher description)
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"Con el número 150 que presentamos en esta ocasión celebramos sus 50 años, con un monográfico especial sobre la veta del pensamiento crítico latinoamericano, que lleva el título de "Diálogos críticos y perspectivas actuales de investigación y pensamiento sobre comunicación en Latinoaméric
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a". Este monográfico hace honor a la trayectoria histórica y se convierte en testigo de la evolución de la investigación en el campo de la comunicación." (Editorial)
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"Moving beyond the U.S.-Eurocentric paradigm of communication theory, this handbook broadens the intellectual horizons of the discipline by highlighting underrepresented, especially non-Western, theorists and theories, and identifies key issues and challenges for future scholarship. Showcasing diver
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se perspectives, the handbook facilitates active engagement in different cultural traditions and theoretical orientations that are global in scope but local in effect. It begins by exploring past efforts to diversify the field, continuing on to examine theoretical concepts, models, and principles rooted in local cumulative wisdom. It does not limit itself to the mass-interpersonal communication divide, but rather seeks to frame theory as global and inclusive in scope. The book is intended for communication researchers and advanced students, with relevance to scholars with an interest in theory within information science, library science, social and cross-cultural psychology, multicultural education, social justice and social ethics, international relations, development studies, and political science." (Publisher description)
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"Este livro apresenta as discussões promovidas no âmbito do 44º Ciclo de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação, evento integrante do 44º Congresso Brasileiro de Ciências da Comunicação, realizado de 4 a 9 de outubro de 2021, em modo virtual, pela Universidade Católica de Pernambuco. Em
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2021, o tema do Congresso da INTERCOM foi Comunicação e resistência: práticas de liberdade para a cidadania. O Ciclo de Estudos foi aberto com uma conferência sobre o tema do Congresso e seguiu-se a realização de quatro mesas. O livro traz as reflexões propostas pela conferencista principal, a professora Nita Freire e os quatro convidados de cada uma das quatro mesas, totalizando 17 textos, ao final." (INTERCOM)
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"Only one of Freire’s (1969/1983) books directly and more broadly addresses the scope of communication; it is 'Extension or Communication?' published in 1969, originally in Spanish, during Freire’s exile in Chile. This book became an important reference for the studies and practices of participa
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tory communication worldwide and was decisive for the review of diffusion models, which took communication as a tool to guide the reproduction of models considered modern and developed, without paying attention to local experiences and knowledge. Approached more broadly, the transversality of communication in Freire’s pedagogical perspective can be discussed from at least three perspectives. The first combines language, education and communication. The second links education and communication with popular mobilization and, more openly, with processes of political engagement. The third stems from Freire’s own critical positioning in relation to the media. These three inflections will be discussed in more detail throughout the material compiled in this edition of MATRIZes." (Introduction, page 5)
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"[...] En este número leemos relatos de personas de varios países de América Latina que encontraron en Freire y sus obras inspiración para su trabajo en las áreas de educación, derechos humanos, investigación y comunicación. Descubrimos en
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Freire un referente intelectual, pero también personal, por una postura que combina crítica, posicionamiento político y una acogida generosa y confiada a todas las personas. Para Freire, cada ser humano tiene un conocimiento único que complementa el conocimiento de todos sus pares; por tanto, sólo el horizonte de la colectividad, fundada en el respeto a la igualdad en la diversidad, lleva a la verdadera liberación. Hablando sobre el papel de la Iglesia católica en este proceso, valorando su perspectiva profética, dijo: “Sabe igualmente que no existe ‘yo soy’, ‘yo sé’, ‘yo me libero’, yo ‘me salvo’; como no existe “yo te doy conocimientos”, “yo te libero”, “yo te salvo”; al contrario, “somos”, “sabemos”, “nos liberamos”, “nos salvamos.” (Nota editorial, page 3)
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"Brazil has a strong legacy in the field of participatory communication and articulation of bottom-up development processes. Many innovative experiences and key conceptual foundations that have enriched and informed this field in Latin America and beyond have strong Brazilian roots. A reference of
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seminal importance to the field has been Paulo Freire, whose liberating pedagogy and principles of dialogic communication have influenced generations of educators, activists, movements and governments across the world. In a controversial move, the current government in Brazil has explicitly declared its intention to erase any trace of Freire’s pedagogy from any policy and practice in the country. It sparks the question: what is so dangerous about Freire’s ideas? This special issue explores this question in articulation with another one that seeks to examine how relevant –beyond the borders of pedagogical fields– are his ideas for Brazil as well as other settings where social and political perspectives clash. This issue is an outcome of a seminar held at Loughborough University London, in June 2019, where around 30 participants concluded that the ideas of Paulo Freire are still alive and kicking but confronted with new and transformed challenges. The collection of articles here suggests that the danger of Freire’s ideas emerge from their perspective upon society, their inherent vision of change, and, in particular, from the methods Freire developed in order to build a just society of emancipated and equal members. The special issue consists of six articles. They place the debate about Freire’s ideas in the context of development and social change, populism, polarization, but also of resistance. In this sense, the debate around the Brazilian case is illustrative of a larger historical framework. How Freire’s ideas can be expanded, re-written –as he might have proposed– under the experience of current times of such asymmetrical power?" (Page 408)
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"This article explores the “mindprint” of Paulo Freire upon processes of social change in Brazil, with a particular focus on how his liberating pedagogy has influenced practices of participato
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ry communication and civil society development. In exploring the legacy of Freire, his work is approached from the perspective of communication. This constitutes an original contribution as it positions Freire’s work within a communication epistemology and his vision as one of communication. A brief rigorous review is conducted of the history and development of citizen engagement in Brazil from the 1950s until 2020, identifying key phases of democratic development, and the legacy of Freire herein assessed. It is found that rather than representing specific policies or formal educational projects, Paulo Freire has become a key symbol and inspiration that has influenced a broad gamut of civil society, and continues, in a variety of forms and contexts, to inspire social change processes in Brazil."
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"The book contains 85 chapters written by persons who have been on those frontlines of communication and development [...] A variety of case studies appear in the book. For example, Kriss Barker and Fatou Jah – in a chapter titled “Entertainment-Education in Radio: Three Case Studies from Africa
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” – explore in detail projects in Nigeria, Burundi and Burkina Faso that used a communication intervention approach advanced by the Population Media Center. Other chapters in the Handbook take the reader to Spain, Kenya, South Africa, Kazakhstan, and beyond. Song Shi examines “ICTs and Modernization in China,” revealing that assumptions and theories of the modernization paradigm have significantly influenced the policies and projects on ICT4D in contemporary China. And, Song Shi writes, discussion on the potential of other approaches in ICT4D in China has also emerged among scholars. Hina Ayaz discusses the “Multiplicity Approach in Participatory Communication” in Pakistan – wherein the country adopted the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – only to run into negative perceptions and banning of polio vaccinations. However, a shift to a more successful approach, grounded in UNICEF’s social mobilization and communityinvolvement communication strategy, brought significant success. While many of the Handbook case studies incorporate participation as a significant development factor, they also address a wide range of social and political issues including, for example, civic engagement, sexual harassment, empowerment, and community voices. In addition to an abundance of case studies from around the world, the Handbook delves into various research methods that are being used to understand and design communication for development and social change interventions [...] Handbook editor Jan Servaes' own chapter (with Rico Lie), “Key Concepts, Disciplines, and Fields in Communication for Development and Social Change ” identifies five clusters of concepts and practices that are evident in the field today and which determine the activities and approaches in communication for sustainable development and social change interventions: The clusters are (1) a normative cluster of concepts; (2) a cluster of concepts that sets an important context for communication activities for development; (3) a cluster of strategic and methodological concepts; (4) a cluster of concepts that relate to methods, techniques, and tools; and (5) a cluster of concepts that addresses the practices of advocacy, (participatory) monitoring and evaluation, and impact assessment. The authors extend their discussion into three subdivisions: (1) health communication, (2) agricultural extension and rural communication, and (3) environmental communication (including climate change communication). This leads the reader into issues related to (1) right to communicate; (2) education and learning; (3) innovation, science, and technology; (4) natural resource management; (5) food security; (6) poverty reduction; (7) peace and conflict; (8) children and youth, women, and senior citizens; and (9) tourism. Some of the forerunners of development communication have not been forgotten. In “Daniel Lerner and the Origins of Development Communication”, Hemant Shah links Lerner’s 1958 book Passing of Traditional Society to today’s modernization and faith in technology to solve social problems. Also contributing to the foundation of this field is Paulo Freire who contributed much to idea that participation should be a vital part of the development dialogue. Ana Fernández-Aballí Altamirano’s chapter on "The Importance of Paulo Freire to Communication for Development and Social Change" highlights his main work Pedagogy of the Oppressed as a "before-and-after" in the fields of education, research, and communication, initially in Latin America and later in both North and South. Particularly in the case of development communication and communication for social change, the author stresses, Freire’s work had a definitive impact ..." (Review by Royal Donald Colle, Journal of Development Communication, vol. 30 (2), page 92-94)
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"Paulo Freire (1921–1997) was the father of critical pedagogy, popular education, and participatory action research (PAR), as well as a basic reference of liberation theology and of Latin Americ
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an critical theory and a precursor of the epistemologies of the south. His main work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, marked a before and after in the fields of education, research, and communication, initially in Latin America and later on spreading to other regions both North and South. Particularly in the case of development communication and communication for social change, Freire’s work had a definitive impact. As these disciplines were configuring into fields of thought and practice during the second half of the twentieth century, these currents were both fed and challenged by Freire’s understanding of praxis. Freirean-based participatory action research became the basis of what we know today as participatory development communication (PDC), which ended up becoming, toward the end of the 1980s, a common ground between development communication and communication for social change. However, as PDC evolved, its practice was still – and is still – challenged by Freirean concepts. Currently, the field of Communication for Development and Social Change needs to continue reaching out to Freire’s teachings, particularly to his epistemological and ontological framework based on his Pedagogy of the Oppressed." (Abstract)
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"Benefiting from more than 50 years of practice and innovation, participatory video (PV) is a firmly established approach in the field of communications for development. The term “participatory video” is used to refer to a very wide range of practices that involve nonprofessionals in making thei
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r own films as a means to engage communities, develop critical awareness, and amplify citizens’ voices to discuss social problems that they prioritize. The canonical texts on participatory video all make reference to PV’s grounding in the praxis of Brazilian popular educator Paulo Freire, and the influence of feminist practice is often also noted in the literature. The authors also draw on affordance theory as a way of clarifying the possibilities for social action enabled by participatory video. In recent years, a number of important critiques have been leveled at PV which have reopened a normative debate about what practices, values, and objectives should constitute participatory video. Rapid recent advances in digital filmmaking technologies coupled with falling costs of mobile devices are opening up exciting new future possibilities and challenges for PV. This chapter reviews a range of PV practices, examines key critiques, and assesses potential future directions for participatory video in communication for development." (Abstract)
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