Communication for Development and Social Change
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Abstract
This book is about people and the processes needed to facilitate sharing of knowledge in order to achieve sustainable developmental change. It underlines that development communication is based on dialogue, which is necessary to promote people’s participation. It follows a two-way model and increasingly makes use of many-to-may forms of communication to facilitate the understanding of people’s perceptions, priorities and knowledge with its use of a number of tools, techniques, media and methods. It aims to give voice to those most affected by the development issue(s) at stake, allowing them to participate directly in defining and implementing solutions. Based on the assumption that authentic participation directly addresses power and its distribution in society, which often decreases the advantage of certain elite groups, the authors argue that structural and sustainable change necessitates the redistribution of power.