Participatory communication for development in practice: the case of community media

Roskilde, June 2011

Prf. Dr. Víctor Manuel Marí SáezUniversidad de Cádiz (España)

victor.mari@uca.es

1. The genealogy of the term “development”.

2. The different stages that development has gone trough.

3. The central role played by participation.

4. The role of community media.

5. Conclusions.

The controversial and polysemic concept of development

1. It is a historical concept.

2. It is also a future-bound category.

Development and communication for development models

Servaes (2003) proposes three phases in the modern history of development:

1. Modernization (from 1945 to 1965).

Modernization = to transfer of technology and of a sociopolitical culture from developed societies to traditional societies.

The media and information technologies are a means towards theDiffusion of Innovations (Everett Rogers)

Development and communication for development models

2. The dependency approach (from 1965 until the mid-1980s).

Modernization processes built development in the center at the expense of exporting underdevelopment to the periphery.

Sub-development in many countries is the historical consequence of the development of “the few”, the minority (Eduardo Galeano)

Development and communication for development models

Inspired by Paulo Freire's ideas, a new critical understanding of communication was articulated in Latin America:

1. Overall change in the social structure...

2. Technological advancements do not lead to development per se.

3. Communication does not naturally engender national development.

Development and communication for development models

3. The multiplicity approach (from the 1980s to date).

This new conceptualization of development emphasizes cultural identity and multidimensionality.

But...and excessive emphasis on culture might lead to escapist positions that neglect the political and structural dimensions of communication (Erik Neveu and Armand Mattelart, 2004)

PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT AND PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION IN THE 1990s

According to Hamelink, the characteristics of “human development” are:

1. Equitable access to resources.

2. Sustainable resources and institutions.

3. The procurement and dissemination ok knowledge aimed at rendering human beings responsible.

4. Participation.

Information vs Communication

COMMUNITY MEDIA AS DRIVERS OF PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

For Freire, praxis implies reflection upon and action on the world in order to transform it.

The concept of community media goes beyond the instrumental and technological connotations of the term.

COMMUNITY MEDIA AS DRIVERS OF PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

In the face of the mercantilistic logic characteristic of the commercial media and of state intervention through the govermmental-public media, community media operate as from the logic of social appropriation (Sénécal, 1986).

CONCLUSIONS

One of the purposes has been to highlight the strategic relevance of participation.

Participatory communication for development gained momentum in the 1990s, but cannot be fully understood without linking it back to the so-called Freirean Connection.

Participation must to beyond the boundaries of the communicational and technological field and imbue the entirely of transformative social practices connected to communicational initiatives.