This incisive Handbook critically examines the role and place of media and communication in development and social change, reflecting a vision for change anchored in values of social justice. Expert contributors discuss and evaluate the roles and outcomes of media and communication for social mobilization, media mobilization, community mobilization, advocacy, participation, empowerment, capacity-building, resistance, networking, and action for progressive social change. Chapters explore communicative actions involved in social, economic, political, and cultural integration and the transformation of individuals, communities, places, and societies in the processes of development and social change. Outlining the genealogy and history of the field, the Handbook investigates the possible new directions and objectives in the area. Key conclusions include an enhanced role for development communication in participatory development, active agency of stakeholders of development programs, and the operationalization of social justice in development. Comprehensive yet accessible, this Handbook will be a key resource for students and scholars of media and communication, political science, development studies, social work, critical education, community organization, and anthropology. It will also be of value to professionals working in associations and organizations dealing with development and social change.

Although Africa is the world's poorest continent, it is a major emerging market and partner in the global village of the new millennium. This book presents a wide array of perspectives on the problems and prospects of developing Africa. Leading scholars in African studies and international communication analyze the socio-political and cultural experiences in various communities, focusing on key questions: What is development? What are the main issues surrounding development in Africa? And how can communication per se be used to address the persistent problems of underdevelopment?

Healthcare Management Strategy, Communication, and Development Challenges and Solutions in Developing Countries analyzes the ways in which health services, public health administration, and healthcare policies are managed in developing countries and how intercultural, intergroup, and mass communication practices are weakening those efforts. If developing countries are to reach their development goals, their leaders must have a firm understanding of the impact of infectious diseases on their people and take prompt action to fix socioeconomic issues arising from the problems associated with poor health practices. Drawing on experiences from international health organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), commissioned in poor countries to assist national governments in improving the wellbeing of their citizens, this volume analyzes maternal and child mortality and the spread of infectious diseases, and offers communication strategies for the management of malaria, HIV Aids, Polio, tuberculosis, and others in Somalia, Madagascar, Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and India.

To reshape the field of development communication, Redeveloping Communication for Social Change proposes situating theory and practice within contexts of power, recognizing both the ability of dominant groups to control and the potential for marginal communities to resist. Contributors from communication and anthropology explore the global and institutional structures within which agencies construct social problems and interventions, the discourse guiding the normative climate for conceiving and implementing projects, and the practice of strategic interventions for social change. Examining early and emerging models of development, power dynamics, ethnographic approaches, gender issues, and information technologies, they speculate how a framework accounting for power might contribute toward new directions and applications in the field. Instead of mourning the demise of development communication, this volume should provoke critical debate that will help us change our approaches to meet new challenges.

International Satellite Broadcasting in South Asia focuses on the increase in the popularity of television in India beginning with the entrance of Hong Kong Based STAR-TV in 1991. This television system, which initially carried mostly Western programs, radically changed the nature of entertainment communications in countries where communications were generally state-controlled. These essays address the political, economic, and cultural significance and impact of transnational satellite networks in India, questioning the cultural effects of Western media programs on the recipient non-Western countries. They contain a survey of STAR-TV and the state-controlled Doordarshan as well as explore issues such as media and identity, pro-social entertainment television and culture as a market force.