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Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field

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A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 15632

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Dr. Valentina Baú

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Guest Editor

Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia
Interests: communication for development; development communication; communication for social change; peace communication; humanitarian communication; community development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past two decades, Communication for Development (C4D) has undergone both an evolution and a revolution in its approaches and methods. This has led to the growth of a distinctive and, at the same time, diverse field of work. First, this field has established itself both as a notable academic discipline and as a conceptual framework for rethinking participation and inclusion in development. Second, on-the-ground application has extended and expanded into multiple sub-realms, which have seen the institutionalisation of different areas of practice.

This Special Issue aims to critically review the reconceptualisation of C4D that has progressively occurred, from which an interesting and, at times, contested landscape has now emerged. This will be achieved through the presentation of a range of scholarly and practical perspectives, which provide a comprehensive account of what is favoured in the field today. We welcome contributions that present theoretical reviews, case study analyses, field-based research, new frameworks, analytical techniques, and methodological approaches in areas that include, but are not exclusive to, communication for social change, behaviour change communication, rural communication, communication for peace, participatory communication, indigenous voices, climate change communication, communication in protracted emergencies, and media development.

Dr. Valentina Baú
Guest Editor

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Keywords

communication for development
development communication
communication for social change
participatory communication
sustainable development
community development

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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17 pages, 271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interdisciplinary Perspectives: Rethinking Communication for Development and Social Change in Health Communication

by Eliza Govender

Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(2), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14020056 - 22 Jan 2025

Viewed by 90

Abstract

Communication for development and social change is an evolving field both in research and practice, transcending paradigms of conventional communication towards engaging and somewhat exposing some of the real-life communicative disorders experienced by communities. While public health and communication for development and social change operate from diverse paradigmatic thinking and are applied quite independently as disciplinary fields of study, health communication converges these fields in research and practice. In this paper, I discuss these interdisciplinary perspectives that draw from communication for development and social change principles and public health through a process of divergence and convergence towards new ways of thinking about decision making. Much of this discourse stems from understanding many health problems as a development problem first, one that recognises the role of community responses during pandemics yet at the same time places the agency back with individuals to make informed choices. Communicating for health decision making from this perspective is what I call Communicating for Health-as-Development (C4HD). C4HD foregrounds health as development, which caters to the messy, unidirectional, non-process-orientated, non-measurable and often non-data-driven approaches to health outcomes. It is in these messy health communication efforts that real development takes place. This paper, using examples from HIV and COVID-19, discusses these ongoing developments in the field and the convergence of public health and communication for development and social change from an interdisciplinary perspective, by exploring three key concepts: community engagement to influence decision making, community agency and ownership, and context and collaboration, which contribute to understanding communication for health-as-development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

19 pages, 522 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cultural Studies with Communities in South Africa: Implications for Participatory Development Communication and Social Change Research

by Lauren Dyll and Keyan G. Tomaselli

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(11), 614; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110614 - 13 Nov 2024

Viewed by 1411

Abstract

This article theorizes the role of local and indigenous culture in its intersection with development initiatives. It argues that Communication for Development and Social Change (CDSC), through a cultural studies framework, strengthens the potentiality of democratization and participation within community-based development and social change settings. We advocate that applied cultural studies can facilitate agency (through voice and self-representation) in social interventions. This is a cultural studies approach that has been recontextualised from the Birmingham origin as read through Marxist development studies, first adapted and mobilized during the anti-apartheid struggle in developing cultural strategy, and more recently with efforts to indigenise research practices with research participants in the southern Kalahari. We draw on an example of the community-owned, state-funded, and privately operated !Xaus Lodge cultural tourism asset. We illustrate how CDSC strategies, influenced by applied cultural studies, can work with an agentic imperative to effect development and mutual understanding in a defined geographical area, where multiple stakeholder agendas, cultural backgrounds, and ontologies are to be negotiated. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

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9 pages, 238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Feminist Gaze on Communication for Social Change

by Karin Gwinn Wilkins

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(11), 580; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13110580 - 28 Oct 2024

Viewed by 993

Abstract

A critical appraisal of the field of feminist approaches offers a valuable critical lens to help reshape our conceptualizations of development and the roles communication may play in constructive intervention. Development communication has shifted over time from ignoring and obscuring women to recognizing gendered differences in experiences. Development approaches have also brought participatory processes into focus. However, our strategic initiatives still fall short, both in effectiveness and in ethics. At this juncture, we need to take next steps more seriously in order to promote a more humanitarian approach that would guide institutional practices in programs and research. In this article, I aim to critique the discourse that celebrates digital technologies as tools to promote participatory governance, entrepreneurship, and collective activism through a feminist gaze that privileges the political and economic contexts that condition access to voice, the capacity to listen, and potential for dialog. This analysis builds on an understanding of mediated communication as a prism rather than as a projected mirror, structuring our potential as well as our challenges in creating constructive social change. We need to be accountable toward social justice, relying on our critical appraisals and informed dialogs to create paths to stronger and more impactful communication for social change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

17 pages, 1905 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Border Tensions for Rethinking Communication and Development: A Case of Building History in Ticoya Resguardo

by Eliana Herrera-Huérfano, Juana Ochoa-Almanza and David Fayad Sanz

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(9), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13090451 - 28 Aug 2024

Viewed by 990

Abstract

This article proposes rethinking communication, development, and social change from a decolonial perspective through the case study of the Ticoya resguardo. It examines how the oral traditions of Indigenous elders construct a history of the territory, positioning orality as a practice of communicative and cognitive justice that transcends the dominant structures of the nation-state. Border tensions are explored both as a physical reality between Colombia and Peru and as a metaphor for identity conflicts. The theoretical framework incorporates debates on post-development, pluriverse, and southern epistemologies, challenging social inequalities. A qualitative methodology based on the praxeological method was implemented in four stages in collaboration with the resguardo’s communications committee. Producing a radio series narrated by participants was crucial for gathering the elders’ narratives through conversations, social mapping, and storytelling. The findings emphasize the break with linear temporality in narratives, the sense of territory beyond state borders, and the identity tensions of river dwellers. The conclusion underscores the necessity of a decolonial perspective, recognizing the impact of monocultures in obscuring diverse forms of life. The Ticoya resguardo case illustrates how communicative justice can highlight the local and everyday, considering the territory essential in the pluriverse, aligning with Escobar’s and Santos’ proposals on transitions toward a pluriversal world. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

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20 pages, 2889 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Subversive Recipes for Communication for Development and Social Change in Times of Digital Capitalism

by Jessica Noske-Turner, Niranjana Sivaram, Aparna Kalley and Shreyas Hiremath

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(8), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13080393 - 25 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1286

Abstract

The era of digital capitalism poses conundrums for communication for development and social change scholarship and practice. On one hand, mainstream social media platforms are an increasingly ubiquitous element of the everyday media practices of growing portions of the global population. On the other, the profit-driven architectures can make these hostile spaces for progressive social change dialogues. While a burgeoning literature exists on the uses of social media as part of hashtag-activism and social movements, much less critical consideration has been given to NGOs’ and civil society organizations’ uses of capitalist-driven social media platforms in their development and social change efforts, and the challenges and compromises they navigate in this, consciously or not. This paper argues that meaningful uses of social media platforms for social change requires cultivating a hacker mindset in order to find tactics to subvert, resist, and appropriate platform logics, combined with an ecological sensibility to understanding media and communication. This paper analyzes how metaphors, specifically of a recipe, can offer a productive, praxis-oriented framework for fostering these sensibilities. The paper draws on insights from workshops with IT for Change, a civil society organization in India, which is both a leader in critiquing the political and economic power of Big Tech especially in the Global South, and beginning to use Instagram for its work on adolescent empowerment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

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16 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Reconceptualizing ICTD: Prioritizing Place-Based Learning Experiences, Socio-Economic Realities, and Individual Aspirations of Young Students in India

by Manisha Pathak-Shelat and Kiran Vinod Bhatia

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(7), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13070379 - 22 Jul 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1444

Abstract

This paper critically examines the neo-liberal conceptualization of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD), which imposes the linear and simplistic notions of empowerment and development on the users from the global South. Using the rapidly growing EdTech segment in India as a case, this paper observes that EdTech has been touted as a magic multiplier and a savior for countries like India that aspire to educate their large populations. This has prompted EdTech companies to pursue platformization and templatization to accomplish scalability and standardization in EdTech use. Based on immersive ethnographic research with youth from low-income families in three Indian cities—Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Vadodara—we argue that the practices of young people concerning EdTech resist standardization. Our analysis reveals that three major factors—challenges of access and autonomy, continued relevance of place-based learning and in-person interactions, and uneven quality and rigor—influence low-income students and families to not completely buy the promise of access, equity, and quality that EdTech companies and governments advance. We explore the significance of the socio-economic and cultural contexts of young learners in the global South context and argue that they aspire for personalization, place-based experiences, guidance/mentorship, high grades, and in-person interactions instead of standardization. They do not fully benefit by the experimentation, DIY practices, and tech-lead learning opportunities and resources offered by EdTech platforms in their current state. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

16 pages, 298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Unlearning Communication for Social Change—A Pedagogical Proposition

by Thomas Tufte

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(7), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13070335 - 25 Jun 2024

Viewed by 2581

Abstract

We have in recent years seen growing calls for pedagogies for social change amongst communication and development scholars, identifying resistances, critiques, and emerging practices in the field. This review article addresses this ‘pedagogical turn’, suggesting that it is in these pedagogies we can see the pathways to unlearn and relearn communication for social change. Offering a decolonial analytical lens, this article asks two questions: What characterizes these critical pedagogies? And how can the various pedagogies contribute to unlearning and relearning the field of communication and social change? This article is structured in five parts, first offering a review of key critiques articulated within the field of communication and social development in the past two decades, arguing that, in practice, what we are seeing is the organic development of a pluriverse of knowledges, values, and visions of society. Secondly, it proposes the decolonial term of ‘unlearning’ as a pedagogical pathway and epistemological ambition for the production and recognition of a pluriverse of knowledges, thereby challenging dominant perceptions of society and social change. Thirdly, it introduces a model of analysis which structures ways whereby we can think about monocultures and ecologies in relation to a range of dimensions of the pluriverse. Fourthly, it reviews key critical pedagogies, discussing how they address epistemic injustice both in broader societal contexts as well as in the university space. This article concludes by discussing how the process of unlearning through critical pedagogies has implications for the configuration and definition of the field of communication and social change, suggesting three areas for further research: ways of seeing (positionality), new subject positions (relationality), and new design processes (transition). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

28 pages, 1538 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Communication for Development: Conceptualising Changes in Communication and Inclusive Rural Transformation in the Context of Environmental Change

by Sarah Cardey, Pamela Joyce Moraleda Eleazar, Juliet Ainomugisha, Macneil Kalowekamo and Yurii Vlasenko

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(6), 324; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13060324 - 19 Jun 2024

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3140

Abstract

Globally, rural conditions are in states of change. They are often highly vulnerable to climate and environmental change, extreme weather events, conflict, socio-economic changes, inequalities, and demographic changes. These changes are putting stress on rural areas, which rely upon agriculture and natural resources for their livelihoods and are often the foundation of national economies. Communication for development (C4D) has played an important role in addressing these challenges. Its thinking is broadly consistent with rural development goals—indeed, the roots of C4D come in part from rural development and agricultural extension. Communication for development (C4D) was defined by the World Congress on Communication for Development as “…a social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It also seeks change at different levels, including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating, and learning for sustained and meaningful change. It is not public relations or corporate communications”. However, after decades of action to address these interrelated rural development challenges, much remains to be done. This paper critically considers the following: What does inclusive rural development mean now, in light of environmental change, and how does this affect the conceptualisation and practice of C4D? This was done by using three countries as case studies: Malawi, Ukraine, and the Philippines. Each of these countries represented contrasting challenges and opportunities for rural development and environmental change, with lessons from their experiences shedding insight into the communication for development thinking. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

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13 pages, 295 KiB

Open AccessEssay

Social Movements, Social Change, and International Cooperation: Strategic Insights from Latin America and the Caribbean

by Cássia Ayres, Jair Vega-Casanova and Jesús Arroyave Cabrera

Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(12), 639; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13120639 - 27 Nov 2024

Viewed by 1985

Abstract

In the wake of the advancements made in civil and human rights in the twentieth century, social movements have come to be regarded as a driving force behind social change. Nevertheless, evidence demonstrates that social transformations driven by certain citizen mobilisations do not always prove beneficial to the most marginalised groups. In January 2023, acts of vandalism were perpetrated against the buildings of public institutions in Brasilia. Similarly, anti-democratic mobilisations have been observed in Colombia against the peace agreement with the FARC and in Chile against the proposed more inclusive constitution. Globally, anti-democracy and other movements that are in opposition to human rights are gaining ground, and their effects are having a detrimental impact on the environment in which organisations that are advocating for excluded sectors are operating. However, Latin American perspectives of social and behaviour change (SBC) emphasise engagement with social movements to contribute to social justice, creating alliances to amplify the voices of those most affected without interfering with the organic nature of citizen-led movements. This prompts the following inquiries: Can we categorize as social movements those with popular roots but espousing hegemonic interests? How can the Latin American tradition of social movement action and reflection inform strategies for social change? How can SBC strategies counteract anti-human rights movements and empower social movements prone to inclusion? This essay addresses these questions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reconceptualising Communication for Development: A Critical Appraisal of the Field)

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