Thomas Tufte

Paolo Mefalopulos

What do we mean when we say participatory communication? What are the practical implications of working with participatory communication strategies in development and social change processes? What experiences exists in practice that documents that participatory communication adds value to a development project or programme? The aim of this user guide on participatory communication is to provide answers to some of these questions. Many communication practitioners and development workers face obstacles and challenges in their practical work. A participatory communication strategy offers a very specific perspective on how to articulate social processes, decision-making processes and any change process for that matter. Participatory approaches are nothing new. However, what is new is the proliferation of institutions, especially governmental but also non-governmental, that seek participatory approaches in their development initiative. This guide seeks to provide perspectives, tools and experiences regarding how to go about it with participatory communication strategies. It is conceived as a guide that hopefully can be of relevance and utility for development workers in the field. It is targeted at both at government and their officials, World Bank staff and at civil society.

A Practical Guide

Participatory Communication

Oscar Hemer

Marie Brobeck

Anders Høg Hansen

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 always relay imaginations of futures that we want to shape and inhabit. The book's 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 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. (Series: Culture: Research and Science / Kultur: Forschung und Wissenschaft - Vol. 20) [Subject: Memory Studies, Sociology, Social Justice]

Media, Citizenship and Social Justice

Memory on Trial

How do the communication practices of governments, NGOs and social movements enhance opportunities for citizen-led change? In this incisive book, Thomas Tufte makes a call for a fundamental rethinking of what it takes to enable citizens’ voices, participation and power in processes of social change. Drawing on examples ranging from the Indignados movement in Spain to media activists in Brazil, from rural community workers in Malawi to UNICEF’s global outreach programmes, he presents cutting-edge debates about the role of media and communication in enhancing social change. He offers both new and contested ideas of approaching social change from below, and highlights the need for institutions – governments and civil society organizations alike – to be in sync with their constituencies. Communication and Social Change provides essential insights to students and scholars of media and communications, as well as anyone concerned with the practices and processes that lead to citizenship, democracy and social justice.

A Citizen Perspective

Communication and Social Change

Alfonso Gumucio Dagron

Historical and Contemporary Readings

Communication for Social Change Anthology

Jo Tacchi

This book offers a fresh set of innovative and creative contributions related to the role of communication in processes of change. Given the current fast pace of social-economic, political and technological change across the globe, and the central role of communication in this, there is a growing need to reconceptualize how we approach communication and change that provides entry points to help us expand and enrich our scholarly and practical work. This collection presents 14 concepts from a multi-disciplinary collection of internationally leading and emerging scholars, from 13 countries on 5 continents. They come together around three meta-topics: citizenship and justice, critiques of development, and renewing thought (from and for the margins). The short chapter format ensures that authors get straight to the nub of their ideas, providing readers — students, scholars and practitioners alike — with accessible, engaging and innovative ways to think critically about communication and social change, in new ways.

Thomas Tufte

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