scholarly journals Social Change: Bringing Allies to the Field. An Interdisciplinary Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 153-174
Author(s):  
Sara Balonas
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Traditional Practice ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Effective Change ◽  
Communication For Development

This chapter discusses the proposition that development programmes may not place sufficient value on the use of strategic communication, and instead focus on information and awareness campaigns that offer no guarantee of effective change. The chapter seeks to emphasise the importance of strategic communication when applied to behavioural change and effective social change. To this end, certain fundamental concepts will be revisited, such as communication for development and social change and its capacity to embed strategic thinking. Furthermore, we will try to understand the essentials of participatory communication, social marketing, and behavioural sciences, as disciplines to be convened in communication strategies for social change. Assuming that any act of communication of development programmes aims to influence attitudes and behaviours that will foster better living conditions for communities or a more sustainable future, communication should be viewed less as an isolated task and more as a tool to promote effective change. It is not sufficient to launch information campaigns or create awareness about a specific topic. It is necessary to identify what kind of reaction is intended and set corresponding behavioural objectives. Setting concrete, delimited, and measurable objectives is one of the mandatory variables of strategic communication planning in many fields and must underpin social change strategies. Strategic communication is also characterised by the attention given to situation analysis, making it possible to obtain objective data and an overview of the context, in order to support strategic decisions. This is a traditional practice in activities that are pursued by private organisations and should always remain top of mind in contexts of societal development. Strategic communication must also increase interdisciplinarity, as has been pointed out by academic experts. Revisiting the associated arguments inspires us to create a strategic communication matrix for social change, based on a cross-disciplinary perspective. As an ultimate goal, this chapter defends the transposition, with the necessary adaptations, of consolidated practices in other field, to the arena of social change. On this basis, a working model will be proposed that articulates the contributions of the various aforementioned disciplines to be adopted, for instance, in the communication strategies of sustainable development goals.

Another Paradigm

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emile G. McAnany
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Change Initiative ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Dominant Discourse ◽  
Communication For Development ◽  
National Film Board

This chapter focuses on the rise of the participation paradigm from the early 1980s through the end of the 1990s, noting that it is still the dominant discourse within the field of communication for development (c4d) today. The idea of people participating in their own development goes back to the beginning of communication for development and social change. This approach refocused the effort of c4d on people as the engines of change, and trusting them to be up to the challenge. This chapter first considers different kinds of participation and what they might mean, along with the context for participatory communication in c4d during the period 1970–1990s. It then turns to pioneers of participatory communication in development and goes on to address the question of whether the approach deserves the title of paradigm, much less that of a dominant one. It also examines a case that illustrates both the problems and the successes of the application of the participation paradigm: Canada's Challenge for Change initiative, implemented by the National Film Board in Fogo Island.

scholarly journals Politik Strategis Berbasis Internet pada Akun Facebook Komunitas Petani Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ahmad Badari Burhan
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Sustainable Change ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Active Involvement

This research is intended to review the use of Facebook by Indonesian farmer community in the strategic political platform. This issue is important to formulate as participatory communication stresses the importance of dialogue and rejects strategic communication efforts. If the community's active involvement in normative social change is desirable and pragmatically important to produce sustainable change, it is necessary to discuss how communication, strategy, and participation are interrelated. The results of this study indicate that the use of Facebook as a social networked site by the Indonesian farmer community is still dominated by information sharing and knowledge of cultivation and trading, as well as a medium for social interaction. Strategic political discourse occasionally and weakly appears related to government policies that are considered to be inadequate to farmers, among others related to rice import policy during the harvest, and the lack of government attention when their crops are faced with price declines, while production costs are steadily increasing. Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk meninjau penggunaan media sosial Facebook oleh komunitas petani Indonesia dalam platform politik strategis. Permasalahan ini penting untuk dirumuskan karena komunikasi partisipatoris menekankan pentingnya dialog dan menolak upaya-upaya komunikasi strategis. Jika keterlibatan aktif masyarakat dalam perubahan sosial secara normatif diinginkan dan secara pragmatis penting untuk menghasilkan perubahan yang berkelanjutan, perlu untuk membahas bagaimana komunikasi, strategi, dan partisipasi saling terkait. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan Facebook sebagai situs sosial berjaringan oleh komunitas petani Indonesia masih didominasi oleh sharing informasi dan pengetahuan budidaya dan tata niaga, di samping sebagai media untuk interaksi sosial. Wacana politik strategis muncul sekali-sekali terkait dengan kebijakan pemerintah yang dianggap kurang berpihak kepada petani, antara lain terkait dengan kebijakan impor beras saat panen raya, dan kurangnya perhatian pemerintah manakala hasil panen mereka dihadapkan pada penurunan harga, sementara biaya produksi diwacanakan semakin mahal. This research is intended to review the use of Facebook by Indonesian farmer community in the strategic political platform. This issue is important to formulate as participatory communication stresses the importance of dialogue and rejects strategic communication efforts. If the community's active involvement in normative social change is desirable and pragmatically important to produce sustainable change, it is necessary to discuss how communication, strategy, and participation are interrelated. The results of this study indicate that the use of Facebook as a social networked site by the Indonesian farmer community is still dominated by information sharing and knowledge of cultivation and trading, as well as a medium for social interaction. Strategic political discourse occasionally and weakly appears related to government policies that are considered to be inadequate to farmers, among others related to rice import policy during the harvest, and the lack of government attention when their crops are faced with price declines, while production costs are steadily increasing.

Strategic Communication in Health and Development: Concepts, Applications and Programming

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108
Author(s):  
Deepak Gupta ◽  
Narain Jai P ◽  
S. J. Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Community Involvement ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Strategic Communication ◽  
Development Communication ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Health And Development

Significance of communication in health and development is well recognised. Strategic communication informs, educates and influences. In addressing varied health and development issues, including the challenges involving diseases control, more targeted communication strategies are designed to make optimum use of available resources to achieve the planned results in a given context. Based on research, that is, the community-based study of risk factors and the operational research, communication theories evolved and so did the strategies and practices for result-driven health and development communication. In this article, some approaches have been examined to better understand the role of strategic communication in development and health, including disease control. Information dissemination through ‘extension approach’, first for agriculture development and later for family planning, adapted and boosted through advertising and marketing frameworks led to wide awareness about the methods and techniques of family planning but not the adoption at the same levels. Experience and research studies demonstrated that mere ‘awareness’ was not adequate for fostering adoption of ‘new’ practices; instead, it required sustained investments in communication for social and behavioural change processes. For this, bottom-up communication design, participatory communication with community involvement, evidence-based advocacy and preparedness for risk communication are required for effective communication and health and development. As HIV/AIDS posed an initial challenge for communication scholars earlier in the 1980s, so is the COVID-19 pandemic throwing a major communication challenge today. The article attempts to analyse the approaches and shed light on the role of communication in health and development, especially in the context of health crisis.

scholarly journals 21st Century Socialism: Making a State for Revolution

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 537-554
Author(s):  
Lee Artz
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Bolivarian Revolution ◽  
Media Access ◽  
Participatory Communication ◽  
Cultural Challenges ◽  
Public Media

The Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela has built mass organizations of workers and communities that have erratically challenged class and market relations—verifying that taking political power is difficult but essential to fundamental social change and that capitalist cultural practices complicate the revolutionary process. This work identifies components of state power, separating state apparatus (government) as a crucial site for instituting social change. The case of democratic, participatory communication and public media access is presented as central to the successes and problems of Venezuelan 21st century socialism. Drawing on field research in community media in Caracas, the essay highlights some of the politico-cultural challenges and class contradictions in producing and distributing cultural values and social practices for a new socialist hegemony necessary for fundamental social change.

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