Malmö University Journals
Not a member yet
374 research outputs found
Sort by
IN THIS ISSUE (NOVEMBER 2009)
Get PDFBritish theorist and media critic Raymond Williams first published his Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society in 1975. In that book, his discussion of the keyword communication can be traced back to the Latin “communis - common: hence communicate - make common to many, impart” (Wiliams, 1985). Williams states that “In controversy about communications systems and communication theory it is useful to recall the unresolved range of the original noun of action, represented at its extremes by transmit, a one-way process, and share (cf. communion and especially communicant), a common or mutual process” (ibid). Hold on to that thought: “the unresolved range of the original noun of action”. In their newly published book Communication for Another Development, Wendy Quarry and Ricardo Ramírez, both experienced independent practitioners, state provokingly: “The only sustainable aspect of Communication for Development as a field is its constant negotiation for survival” (Quarry and Ramírez, 2009). I recently resorted to “inconsistent” as the adjective of choice in pitching the relevance of communication for development, also known as communication for social change, for a small audience of mostly uninformed scholars at the New Agendas for Global Communication conference convened by the University of Texas at Austin in October. (Establishing whether disarming honesty might work in order to get the attention of media and communication academics that see comdev/cfsc as stray distant relatives, by the way, will require additional testing).Reflecting further, I have come to think that the field is in fact paradoxical –a condition reflected in the unresolved range of denominations available to name it, which calls for critical revision. While such condition may be obvious to many, the value of paradox for the field, however, remains somewhat undetermined. In this issue of Glocal Times, an effort was made to provide a comprehensive glimpse of the field’s geometry.Some articles portray a practice that keeps on growing strong, be it grounded in interdisciplinary creative efforts focused on advocating for more livable cities for all through communication (see Doung Jahangeer’s “Media versus mall”) or in social enterprise endeavors focused on generating capacity through the regular use of a methodology of choice (see Nick Lunch’s “Participatory video hubs”). Lotte Dahlmann’s article, “The role of media in rolling out democracy in Pakistan”, in turn reminds us of the fact that media support remains an active component of the ‘development’ end of the field. Research and theory-building concerns are also present. in “What’s in a name”, Karin Wilkins calls our attention to the shift from ‘development’ to ‘social change’ as the terminology preferred by different actors in the field lately, and problematizes ‘social change’, inviting deeper discussion of the binding ways in which we refer to our work than currently available. In “Incentives and Participation in Development Communication”, Emile McAnany analyzes evidence from several innovative applications of technology to development economics, equality, health, education and the environment and challenges us to envision improved and more comprehensive ways in which successful experiences can be communicated to those in need of concrete solutions to pressing problems. In “Our petrified gardens”, Susan Hayden, a graduate from Malmö University’s Master in Communication for Development, explores how two popular South African television series created to address pressing health issues play a role in the rearticulation of identity after apartheid.In “Sugar coating or the manufacture of community support”, Jason Rush (also a Malmö graduate) documents how the adoption of participatory language by a government-supported partnership between a gold company and The World Bank’s lending arm, International Finance Corporation, masks a situation in which a community’s needs and views are consistently disregarded in the search for economic profit. Rush evidences a one-way process, disguised as a common or mutual process, in which language is used to obscure what should be the field’s ultimate concern when it comes to communication-bound interventions: who benefits, and who gets hurt?1 Referring to controversy about communication theory -“the unresolved range of the original noun of action”- Williams noted that “the choice of direction is often crucial” (Williams, 1985). Uncovering the paradoxes ingrained in the field and identifying their consequences is necessary, but not enough. Documenting inventive and successful experiences is vital, but just one step. We need to map the structural conditions in which experiences take place, paying special attention to the ongoing changes in terms of the political economy of culture and the media and their impact on everyday life. If communication is to be truly strategic in addressing the many faces of inequality and the many forms of insecurity which are a by-product of globalization (Amnesty International, 2009), we must look into the consequences of paradox within the field as the point of departure for the creation of better future realities. The next issue of Glocal Times will be published in March 2010. In the meantime, your comments and suggestions are welcome at [email protected] 1. Wilkins, Karin. “New Agendas for Global Communication conference: Mobilizing for whom?” E-mail communication (October 9, 2009). Amnesty International Report 2009.Quarry, Wendy and Ramírez, Ricardo (2009) Communication for another development: listening before telling. London: Zed Books.Williams, Raymond (1985, 1976) Keywords: a vocabulary of culture and society. New York: Oxford University Press
In this issue (April 2009)
Get PDFIt is April 2009 as this new issue of Glocal Times is published online, and plenty has happened in the global scene since October 2008.In December 2008, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) released its annual list of the "Top Ten" humanitarian crises affecting the world. MSF began producing the "Top Ten" list in 1998, when a devastating famine in southern Sudan went largely unreported in U.S. media. Drawing on MSF’s emergency medical work, it seeks to generate greater awareness of the magnitude and severity of crises that may or may not be reflected in media accounts. The 2008 list includes massive forced civilian displacements, violence, and unmet medical needs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, and Pakistan, along with neglected medical emergencies in Myanmar and Zimbabwe. MSF’s report underscores major difficulties in bringing assistance to people affected by conflict, the lack of global attention to the growing prevalence of HIV-tuberculosis co-infection and the critical need for increased global efforts to prevent and treat childhood malnutrition, which is the underlying cause of death for up to five million children per year—are also included in the list. For a detailed account, see http://doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/topten/ This issue of Glocal Times touches the relationship between conflict and communication for development and social change in two of its articles.In "Communication, development and... counterterrorism", Gordon Adam raises the question of how participative communication approaches can inform the prevention of radicalization leading to violent extremism in Pakistan. In "Knowledge is the beginning", Paul Smaczny gives us an insight into Daniel Baremboim and the late Edward Said’s project, The West-Eastern Divan orchestra, a forum for dialogue and reflection on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. But conflict is not the only theme occupying us.In “Bridging the gap between Community Based Organizations and donors: the Ikhala model”, Ulrika Wedin introduces us to the Ikhala Trust, a community grant-maker for existing community based organizations in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa aimed at addressing the difficulties that such organizations face in the search for funding. In “Beyond the pencil test: transformations in hair and headstyles, or communicating social change”, Andre Powe puts forward a provocative analysis of hair as sign, symbol, text, and a highly specialized language of representation. In “Old dogs learn new tricks”, Wendy Quarry and Ricardo Ramírez reflect on collaborating and teaching at a distance, and discuss what it takes to incorporate new technologies with a view to allowing productive interaction with students in real time. In “Talk right, make right”, Johanna Stenersen raises questions regarding discourses and practices of health, body and citizenship in civil society organizations in Nicaragua, Central America, that work to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights.In “Media, democracy and globalization”, Zeenath Hasan reports the Wahlgren Symposium, held in Lund University, Sweden, in November 2008, which brought together five PhD candidates and five eminent scholars to discuss different approaches to their research themes.Last but not least, Silvia Balit remembers the late Colin Fraser and shares highlights of his immense contribution to the field of communication for development. The next issue of Glocal Times will be published in October 2009. In the meantime, your comments and suggestions are welcome at [email protected]
BEYOND THE PENCIL TEST. Transformations in hair and headstyles, or communicating social change
Get PDFWhy does Black hair have such potency? To whom is Black hair speaking? What messages does Black hair communicate? Each hairstyle choice tells an intimate story of the wearer, disclosing a personal narrative to spectators. In this article, Andre Powe analyzes hair as sign, symbol, text, and a highly specialized language of representation
OUR PETRIFIED GARDENS. Constructions of identity on South African TV
Get PDFBy examining TV’s role in rationalizing and validating apartheid, and how such role has changed over time, this article analyses the function that storytelling has played (and plays) in the formulation of the South African identity and in perceptions of what is real
KNOWLEDGE IS THE BEGINNING: A FILM ABOUT THE WEST-EASTERN DIVAN ORCHESTRA. An interview with Paul Smaczny
Get PDFThis interview with the German filmmaker Paul Smaczny explores what music can do to open up a constructive approach to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict –and how film can help spread the word
OLD DOGS LEARN NEW (E-) TRICKS
Get PDFHow do you share reflections on Communication for Development with scholars and practitioners alike -and in real time? How do you facilitate an interactive environment where participants have a voice and at the same time document the event for future reference? And how do you do this across continents? On the 13 and 14th of March 2009, we participated as guest lecturers in a seminar that took place on cyberspace, using a video link to connect the University of Malmö in Sweden and the University of Guelph in Canada. As old dogs, we learned some new (e-)tricks. We explain here how it all went beyond our expectations
RESEARCH AND NETWORKING AS THE WAY FORWARD
Get PDFIn the 1990s, aspiring PhD students were encouraged not to choose ‘development communication’ as their subject of research (I know of at least two cases. Both students eventually became prominent scholars in the field anyway). The general assumption back then was that development communication -or ComDev, as usually referred to at Malmö University- had passed its zenith sometime in the ‘70s and become obsolete, just like everything else associated with ‘development’ and ‘the third world’. In that context, the timing might have seemed awkward when plans for the ComDev Master were started in Malmö in 1999. In our view, however, the moment was perfect for a radical revision. The first Master course started in 2000. Today the tenth course is in progress, more than a hundred students from all over the world have graduated from the program, and next year we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. This is in many ways a success story, and Glocal Times is part of it, but the purpose of this editorial is neither to boast nor to brag. It would be a mistake to settle down and be happy with what we have achieved, because the challenge is still out there. In spite of an apparent rise in interest in media and communication within development cooperation that achieved a symbolic peak in the Rome WCCD in 2006, momentum might be lost: communication is not even prioritized as a means to achieve the Millennium Goals. While new severe communication challenges emerge all the time, development agents are poorly prepared to meet them. In some cases, the development industry itself may in fact be the main obstacle against the implementation of communication as a powerful strategy towards change.The need for more and better research in the field is essential. Likewise, coordination of the relevant research actually being carried out around the world, but scattered among different departments with little institutional contact, is also needed. When we started the ComDev Master, one of the stated long-term goals was to build a research organization at Malmö University in close collaboration with regional and international partners. That goal has now started to materialize, through a series of concurring circumstances.Thomas Tufte, now professor at Roskilde University in Denmark, has been a crucial partner in developing the curriculum of Malmö’s Master program, but for many years our collaboration –his and mine- was almost entirely at the personal level. Two yeas ago, however, sensing yet another opportunity, we set up an institutional framework in the international research platform Ørecomm, grounded in the EU supported inter-regional collaboration between the universities of Malmö (Sweden) and Roskilde (Denmark), located only 60 kms. apart on each side of the Öresund strait. The legal status of Ørecomm is yet to be defined (cross-border initiatives are always tricky to handle for nation-state bound authorities), but the platform has nevertheless expanded quickly and extended its virtual borders far beyond the Öresund region. Member researchers and PhD students stretch from Lillehammer in Norway to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. In connection with Ørecomm, a Glocal Network On Media And Development (Glocal NOMAD) is being established. Initiated as a Danish research network, linking Roskilde with the universities of Århus and Odense (South Danish University), it is expected to extend to Sweden soon to link Malmö with the universities of Karlstad and Örebro (where two ComDev graduates have recently become PhD candidates). Glocal NOMAD’s intention is to link up with other networks and partners in the field and grow to be truly transnational over time. As seen from the Öresund region, it would be an understatement to affirm that Communication for Development and Social Change is a dynamic field of research and practice. As this new issue of Glocal Times is published, we are busy preparing for a seminar to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on December 3 to 5, with the theme “Media, Empowerment and Democracy in East Africa”. The activities will include the launch of the MEDIeA research project, involving four Ørecomm members, and the kick-off for a number of Project Works to be undertaken in East Africa by Malmö’s ComDev Master students with a focus on new media and ICT. Expect to read more about this and other developments in coming issues of Glocal Times. In the meantime, in this, the 13th issue of the webmag, you can get a glimpse of vibrant developments in the field in terms of theory, research and practice. Enjoy
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND DONORS. The Ikhala model
Get PDFThis article looks into why Community Based Organisations face difficulties to access funding and introduces an alternative funding model aimed at overcoming those obstacles, which teaches CBOs how to play “the funding game” without loosing their unique insider position within communities
MEDIA, DEMOCRACY AND GLOBALIZATION. PhD candidates meet established scholars
Get PDFIn November 2008, the Wahlgren Symposium on Media, Democracy, and Globalization, held in Lund University, Sweden, brought together five PhD candidates and five eminent scholars to discuss different approaches to the convening theme. The one-day seminar was part of the Walhgren Foundation’s ongoing effort to support multidisciplinary research in the field of media. Zeenath Hasan, one of the PhD candidates, reports
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Problematizing communication’s shift from development to social change
Get PDFOver time, academic attention to “communication for social change” has begun to eclipse “development communication”. The gradual shift in rhetoric is not linear, and may not represent an actual shift in practice or within the development industry led by bilateral and multilateral donors. However, it has achieved enough attention to warrant critical reflection