Chapter 9 detailed outline

Milestones in Communication and National Development

Communication for Development is the use of communication processes, techniques and media to help people toward a full awareness of their situation and their options for change, to resolve conflicts, to work toward consensus, to help people plan actions for change and sustainable development, to help people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to improve their condition and that society, and to improve the effectiveness of institutions. (p.63)

I. What is Development?

Development is recognized as a complex, integrated, participatory process, involving stakeholders and beneficiaries and aimed at improving the overall quality of human life through improvements in a range of social sectors in an environment responsible manner.

II. Communication for Development

Forces that have influenced the evolution of the field of communication for development are: growth of capitalism

advances in communication technology and

the ideological rivalries between the U.S.A and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

a. Southeast Ohio, USA Southeast Ohio is an example of maldevolopment and the process of underdevelopment.*Community groups such as Rural Action and the Monday Creek Watershed Improvement Committee have been working to improve the economy and the environment by facilitating participatory practices.

III. The Modernization Model

a. Modernization through Capitalism A modern society is characterized by” materialism, the dominance of capital as a form of wealth, consumerism, rational-legal authority, sub-cultural diversity, and positive evaluation of change” (Weinstein, 1997, pp.358- 359).b. Communism· The society would progress materially and spiritually, leading ultimately to “withering away of the state”.

FAO

UNICEF

WHO

UN

a. The Dependency Critique

By the 1960s, the modernization approach was under attack.

Dependency theorists demonstrated that the existing pattern of global economic relations, one dominated by the industrialized North, was contributing to the underdevelopment of the developing regions of the world.

IV. Contemporary Strategies in Communication development:

Piblic Awarness campaigns

Social marketing

Entertainement education (Edutainement)Advocacy