Prepared for The Rockefeller Foundation

Click here to download a PDF version of this document.

The following summary was prepared by The Communication Initiative; a Table of Contents with access to each portion of the document follows the summary.

This 44-page paper explores the roots and shape of the field of development communication. In it, Silvio Waisbord presents readers with a "family tree" of theories, concepts, methodologies and strategies for change, describing each "offshoot" of the related but quite distinct directions in which this field has moved - from its origins in post-war international aid programmes in developing countries to its various refinements over the years, through to the present day. In short, this report "identifies the main theoretical approaches and their practical applications, traces their origins, draws comparisons, and indicates strengths and weaknesses. It also analyzes the main understandings of development communication that express the outlook of the main 'trunks' and 'branches' of the family tree."

Exercising care not to set up a stiff dichotomy, Waisbord explains that there are two core development communication approaches, which may be characterised as follows:

1. The Dominant Paradigm - On this model, the problem of underdevelopment is due to lack of information. Consistent with the modernisation theory which underpins this paradigm, culture is seen as a potential impediment to social change. The idea is that, by transmitting information (e.g., via mass media) from a sender to a receiver through a linear, unidirectional process, modern values could be instilled and ideas changed...resulting in changed behaviour on the part of individuals. Everett Rogers introduced the "diffusion of innovations" theory, which involves 5 stages through which an individual adopts innovations; over time, he shaped his theory to integrate a need for development practitioners to be sensitive to the sociocultural environment. He conceded that interpersonal relations were crucial in channeling and shaping opinion. The focus, as Waisbord points out, is still on the individual, on psychologically-based theories and interventions, and on attitudinal/behavioural models. He goes on to illustrate theories in the position of this dominant paradigm, such as:
   
   • Social marketing - uses marketing techniques to promote socially beneficial practices or products by providing information to help fulfill uncovered demand. Waisbord presents criticisms of this approach, and responses on the part of the social marketing community - along with lessons learned.
   • Health promotion and health education - emphasises changes in personal behaviours (e.g., smoking and high-fat diets). Over time, health promotion came to be understood as going beyond transmitting health knowledge to the individual, to include the promotion of public policies and social mobilisation.
   • Entertainment-education - uses mass media to carry out behaviour change at individual and community levels by disseminating information. Shaped by Albert Bandura's social learning theory, the strategy is premised on the idea that individuals learn behaviour by observing role models; self-efficacy is a key concept. Waisbord cites several examples of apparently successful entertainment-education initiatives, along with challenges.
2. Critiques of the Dominant Paradigm - On this model, the problem of underdevelopment is due to power inequality. Rather than drawing on information- and behaviour-centred theories, this approach champions a participatory view of communication. "Branches" have included:
   
   • Dependency theory - urges that so-called third world countries are politically and culturally dependent on the West; urban and powerful interests which control the media in developing countries are interested in profit-making rather than social change, on this view. For this reason, dissemination of information through mass media is not advisable. Rather, efforts such as the development of national communication policies are the first priority in terms of addressing the social causes of poverty and marginalisation.
   • Participatory theory and approaches - urge that participation is a value in itself, not just a means to some other end. Local residents get actively involved (they are not passive "targets"); their own (indigenous) knowledge is not seen as an impediment but instead as a crucial contribution. Paulo Freire is a key thinker here; he stressed communication as active grassroots participation in free dialogue that prioritises cultural identity, trust, and commitment. Face-to-face channels are often selected over mass media; when "group media" is used, its value "is not in being instruments of transmission but of communication, that is, for exchanging views and involving members." Waisbord presents several criticisms of this approach, such as those who say that expediency is ignored, that it is not clear what participation entails, that citizens in non-democratic societies might be wary to participate or feel manipulated into participating, and that evaluation challenges are insurmountable. Participatory theorists have offered responses, which Waisbord discusses.
   • Media advocacy - uses mass media strategically to advance social or public policy initiatives. Its goals are to stimulate debate and promote responsible portrays and coverage of public health issues (not merely to share information about health and motivate personal behaviour change, as in entertainment-education). Communities get actively involved in gaining control and power to transform their social conditions/environments by forming coalitions, undertaking grassroots actions, and carrying out media lobbying.
   • Social mobilisation - starts with problem assessment and analysis at the community level (with wide local participation) as a means of informing and stimulating the gathering of strategic allies at all levels (e.g., UNICEF, World Bank) to coalesce around a certain problem.

The final section of Waisbord's paper examines the potential of a theoretical and empirical convergence between diffusion and participatory models. He fleshes out a number of points of intersection and/or efforts to integrate various approaches ("communication for social change" (CFSC), to cite only one) which seem to illustrate growing movements/trends in the field. In the end, however, "definitions of the problem are different, and expectedly, theories, strategies and techniques still offer essentially opposite analyses and recommendations."

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

THE DOMINANT PARADIGM

THEORIES IN THE TRADITION OF THE DOMINANT PARADIGM

a. Social marketing

b. Entertainment-education

CRITIQUES OF THE DOMINANT PARADIGM

a. Dependancy Theory

b. Participatory theories and approaches

c. Media advocacy

d. Social mobilization

TOWARDS A THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL CONVERGENCE?

a. General remarks

b. Points of convergence

BIBLIOGRAPHY