Memories of agency, participation and resistance towards a diachronic dimension in communication for social change

En este artículo el autor reflexiona sobre el modo en que el trabajo de la memoria (memory work) puede incorporarse como una nueva dimensión en la investigación y en la práctica de la comunicación para el desarrollo y el cambio social. A menudo se pasa por alto que la memoria constituye un recurso oculto en la comunicación para el cambio social. Aquí se propone una dimensión diacrónica, con tres vertientes, para la investigación y práctica de la comunicación para el desarrollo y el cambio social. Se reconoce que la memoria pública es, al tiempo, una estrategia retórica (Phillips 2014) y una estrategia política (Olesen 2014) así como la necesidad de estar atentos a los desafíos de la traducción del pasado en un presente significativo por completo (Mbembe 2001). Estas tres vertientes constituyen escalones, tanto en la planificación de estrategias de comunicación para el cambio social como en la comprensión de su dinámica y potencial. Esta dimensión diacrónica puede resultar una vía útil para profundizar nuestra comprensión de lo que realmente ha sucedido con la “erupción” de los movimientos sociales en los últimos años.In this article the author elaborates on an argument on how memory work can add a new dimension to both the research and practice of communication for development and social change. What is often overlooked is how memory constitutes a hidden resource in communicating for social change. A threepronged diachronic dimension is proposed to both research in and practice of communication for development and social change. Recognizing public memory as both a rhetorical strategy (Phillips 2014) and political strategy (Olesen 2014) and being attentive to the challenges of translating the past into a meaningful present altogether (Mbembe 2001) constitute stepping stones, both in planning communication for social change strategies and in understanding their dynamics and potential. This diachronic dimension can furthermore prove a useful pathway to deepen our understanding of what really happened with the ‘eruption’ of social movements in recent years

Medierne og de Etniske Minoriteter i Danmark – traditioner i og udfordringer for dansk medieforskning

Indenfor ovennævnte forskningsfelt, hvad forskes der egentlig i i Dan- mark? Hvad er de centrale forskningstemaer, og hvilke institutioner og videnskaber er engagerede indenfor dette bredt definerede forsknings- felt? Fokus i artiklen er på medieforskning, der beskæftiger sig med de flygtninge- og indvandrergrupper, som er kommet til Danmark indenfor de seneste cirka tre årtier. For at strukturere diskussionen organiserer Thomas Tufte præsentationen indenfor tre hovedtemaer; medierepræ- sentation; etnisk medierepræsentation og selvrepræsentation samt for- skning i mediebrug blandt etniske minoriteter. Tufte efterlyser et større engagement fra de danske medievidenskablige institutioner indenfor dette område og afslutter artiklen med at identificere tre områder, som han anser for væsentlige at prioritere yderligere, nemlig forskning i popu- lærkulturelle genrer og udtryksformer, kulturel produktion og selvartiku- lation samt hverdagslivets globalisering: diaspora og transnationalisme

Towards a renaissance in communication for social change redefining the discipline and practice in the Post ‘Arab Spring’ Era1

Worldwide, we have experienced a resurgence in practices of bottom-up communication for social change, a plethora of agency in which voice, citizenship and collective action have centre stage as core values, principles and practices. This resurgence sparks a series of questions; How are these new calls for social change and their principles and communicative practices influencing and informing the thinking and practice of institutionalized communication for development and social change? And what are the underlying conceptual differences in the notions of action, participation and social change which inform the new generation of social movements, on one side, and the established field of communication for social change, on the other? These are the questions that drive this chapter

Towards a renaissance in communication for social change redefining the discipline and practice in the Post ‘Arab Spring’ Era1

Worldwide, we have experienced a resurgence in practices of bottom-up communication for social change, a plethora of agency in which voice, citizenship and collective action have centre stage as core values, principles and practices. This resurgence sparks a series of questions; How are these new calls for social change and their principles and communicative practices influencing and informing the thinking and practice of institutionalized communication for development and social change? And what are the underlying conceptual differences in the notions of action, participation and social change which inform the new generation of social movements, on one side, and the established field of communication for social change, on the other? These are the questions that drive this chapter

ComDev in the Mediatized World

As we are writing, in late 2011, we are in the beginning of a historical revolution that may or may not turn out to be even more far-reaching than the one unleashed in 1989. A common denominator in this resurging revolution is the mobilizing power of the so-called social media. Even if labels such as the Twitter or Facebook revolution are rightfully refuted, the on-going Arab Spring is a clear-cut example of a new and unprecedented communication power, which is largely out of the authorities’ control. While the crucial role of media and communication in processes of social change and development at last becomes evident, it is however not associated with the field of communication for development and social change, not even by the development agencies themselves. While ComDev historically has been about developing prescriptive recipes of communication for some development, it is high time we refocus our attention to the deliberative, non-institutional change processes that are emerging from a citizens’ profound and often desperate reaction to this global Now

African youth, media and civic engagement

Speaking Up and Talking Back? Media, Empowerment and Civic Engagement among East and Southern African Youth. This is the title we have given to the book. The fundamental aim is to question if and how citizens in Africa engage with media and communication technologies and platforms in their pursuit to be included in the change processes of their societies. The theme echoes some of the claims made by disenchanted and frustrated youth and other citizens in the streets of the North African cities of Tunis and Cairo in 2012. Severe critiques were articulated against the governance structures of their countries; mass social mobilisations were seen, governments fell, and in the aftermath, the slow process of deep change continued, now with one tyran less, but still with huge challenges in the social and economic development of these countries. Youth in particular engaged massively, visibly, loudly and dramatically around claims to be involved and included in their countries’ development process. Our book taps into the less visible and dramatic, but nevertheless highly dynamic and influential process of media development and enlargement of youth-driven, deliberative spaces which sub-Saharan Africa seems currently to experience

Televisão, modernidade e vida quotidiana: discussão sobre o trabalho de Roger Silverstone face a diferentes contextos culturais

Como a televisão entra, influencia e, portanto, contribui para a constituição social, cultural e econômica das nossas vidas diárias? O que nós aprendemos com a mudança qualitativa nos estudos empíricos de mídia nos últimos 15-20 anos? É possível estabelecer diretrizes analíticas para tais estudos? E quais são as possibilidades e limitações ligadas ao desejo de fazer generalizações sobre televisão e vida quotidiana nas modernas sociedades contemporâneas? Discute-se esta questão principalmente em referência a dois aspectos que considera-se chaves em qualquer análise relacionada à televisão e vida quotidiana