DeCoding Communication for Development In India's North-East

There are many different ways of telling the story of the study and practice of communication for development (C4D) over the past ten years. There is clearly a great deal to be said about how social media and mobile technologies have enabled social movements in Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and elsewhere to mobilise in pursuit of positive social change. From an institutional perspective, we might highlight instead how information, communication and media appears to be gradually achieving a higher profile within the international development community. The most prominent example of this is the potential inclusion of reference to 'access to information and media' within the new Sustainable Development goals. There is also a story to be told about the increasing number of postgraduate university courses related to the study of C4D that have been established in the last decade. In the UK, for example, there are now at least eight different postgraduate degree programmes concerned with this subject; signalling a growing appetite amongst students to study these issues. Another compelling narrative, frequently reproduced in the media, concerns the potential of new communication technologies to transform conventional development projects. Whether in the context of humanitarian response, education or agricultural practices, new technologies are often framed as offering innovative and cost-effective solutions to long-standing development problems. Conversely, though, we might also tell a story of how such technologies have enabled governments to monitor public and private communications and to suppress dissent more effectively, or how they are being used in increasingly sophisticated ways to further the goals of terrorist organisations such as Islamic State. My purpose in sketching out these alternative narratives is to make clear that there can be no universal definition or history of the study and practice of C4D. The variation in these accounts also helps to demonstrate that the history – and potential futures – of C4D are socially constructed – and contested. In defining and describing the history of C4D we face inevitable choices of drawing attention either to institutions or individuals, state actors or non-state actors, communities or corporations, global processes or local actions. These choices are important because they help to legitimise some actors and forms of action over others. Put another way, once we acknowledge the rhetorical nature of narratives concerning the role of communication in development, then we can also begin to recognise that such narratives are also closely tied to different interests. To present access to new communication technologies as the central objective of C4D, for example, and to describe the history of C4D as a struggle to bridge the 'digital divide', clearly serves the interests of those (companies) who benefit from an expansion in levels of access to such technologies.

About the Book: Communication for development is a broad cognitive field of enormous international, national and regional interest attracting attention as a special field of study by students and researchers across disciplines. New media and communication convergence are reshaping the ways in which communication can be used in development infusing renewed interest in the field as a subject of serious academic study. This book includes these new developments and has been designed keeping in mind the UGC Core Curriculum for the course Communication for Development offered at the Masters Degree for students of Journalism, Mass Communication, Electronic Media, Visual Communication, Public Relations and Advertising Studies.

The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 2012

The Communication Initiative Network, 2018

Communication for Development and Social Change (CDSC) has been a dynamic field where there is still a lot to explore and many ideas are yet to crystalize. A lot of scholars have proposed different frameworks at different points in time and will continue to do so to help understand and explain this ever-changing field of scholarship and practice. Meanwhile, I take the opportunity to share the framework that is helping me these days to understand the range of practices in CDSC (or C4D or CSC, whatever name you prefer). And for the lack of a better name, I would call it what it is, a just another framework.

2007

This volume represents the praxis that one person has undergone in the discipline he has chosen to pursue. The person is this writer and the discipline is development communication or devcom. Although devcom is relatively young and nascent as disciplines go, I have grown old in its study. Yet, I have never considered myself to have fully matured in this undertaking for there is always something new in the horizon, something fresh and exciting to pursue, a testimony to the dynamism inherent in this field. Among my initial interests was the concept of participation, a key feature of devcom since its very inception. This interest segued to participatory documentation and cinema verite, precursors of today's reality film. Then followed a long preoccupation on environmental communication. Nowadays, my focus is on information and communication technology, specifically knowledge management for development or KM4D.

2002

All those involved in the analysis and application of communication for development-or what can broadly be termed “development communication”-would probably agree that in essence development communication is the sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a consensus for action that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned. It is thus a social process. Communication media are important tools in achieving this process but their use is not an aim in itself—interpersonal communication too must play a fundamental role.

This article provides an overview of subdisciplines in the field of Communication for Development and Social Change. Different subdisciplines of communication science are analyzed to assess their connection to the field. Building on these subdisciplines the article reviews health communication, agricultural extension and rural communication, and environmental communication as practice-based subdisciplines of Communication for Development and Social Change. By assessing the current development and communication approaches within the different subdisciplines, the article aims to better understand the current state-of-the-art of the field and identify future imperatives. Disciplines in the Field of Communication for Development and Social Change less established within the discipline of communication science and have at the same time established a community of interest within the field of Communication for Development and Social Change. We make a distinction between nonthematic subdisciplines, which cover a domain within communication science (strategic communication, participatory communication, crisis communication, risk communication, development journalism and international communication, and online media and Internet studies) and thematic subdisciplines, which cover a life science theme in the development sector. The thematic subdisciplines are (a) health communication, (b) agricultural extension and rural communication, and (c) environmental communication (including climate change communication). We especially focus on agricultural extension and rural communication and environmental communication, while only briefly addressing health communication. Health communication is the most developed subdiscipline and has already been addressed in many other publications that fall under the heading of Communication for Development. As Ogan et al. reported in their 2009 publication, much of the research done in this field relates to HIV/AIDS under the methodological rubric of social marketing or behavioral change communication (BCC; see also Malikhao, 2012). Subdisciplines This section reviews the subdisciplines within communication science that relate to development communication or in some way address development communication within their scope. Subdisciplines cover a communication domain within communication science. The subdisciplines discussed are: strategic communication, participatory communication, crisis communication, risk communication, development journalism and international communication, and online media and Internet studies. It is interesting to note that the subdiscipline of political communication has not, or only in a very marginal way, engaged with development communication. The same seems to be true for the subdiscipline of intercultural communication. This is remarkable because these two subdisciplines could obviously engage very well with development communication. Strategic communication and participatory communication Strategic communication deals with the organizational planning of communication and relates to persuasive communication, marketing, and public relations. Strategic communication is planned communication with a strategic, intentional goal. Being strategic means thinking in terms of executing a stakeholder analysis, a risk analysis, a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, setting objectives, identifying target audiences, developing key messages, and designing an effective communication plan. The social psychological line within communication science has always been strong within the subdiscipline of strategic communication. Some key books are Lewis (2011), Mahoney (2012), and Paul (2011). Strategic communication in the field of development communication is often applied in the thematic Communication Theory 25 (2015) 244-258

Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2021