Development communication

•          Communication:

–         As a most pervasive form of social relationships

•          Development:

–         One of the most complex forms of social change. Development as referring to processes at the system level; while modernization referring to processes at the individual level.

•          Communications Development:

–         Development of communication infrastructure and systems

–         As role of communication in “development’ or ‘social change’

–         Communications for Development

–         Development Support Communication

a.       The era before the C4D discourse

b.       The bullet theory

c.        The indirect effects era

d.       The two step flow hypothesis

e.        Experiments in developing countries

•          The First Five Year Plan

•          Radio rural forums

•          The Idea of ‘Development’ or ‘Social Change’

a)       Economic growth?

b)       Industrialization?

c)       Westernization?

d)       Modernization?

e)       Socio-cultural change?

•          Different Perspectives to the Development Discourse

Ø  Economic

–         Economic growth, industrialization and trickle down based on laissez faire approach

–         Economic growth based on complete state intervention—the Soviet model

–         The mixed model

Five Stage Theories of Economic Growth—W. W. Rostow

1.       Traditional society

2.       Establishment of the preconditions for take off

3.       Take off into self sustained growth

4.       The Drive to Maturity

5.       Age of High Mass Consumption

Stage One

1.       Traditional society

–         characterized by subsistence agriculture or hunting & gathering; almost wholly a "primary" sector economy

–         limited technology;

–         A static or 'rigid' society: lack of class or individual economic mobility, with stability prioritized and change seen negatively

Stage Two

2.       Establishment of the preconditions for take off

–         external demand for raw materials initiates economic change;

–         development of more productive, commercial agriculture & cash crops not consumed by producers and/or largely exported

–         widespread and enhanced investment in changes to the physical environment to expand production (i.e. irrigation, canals, ports)

–         increasing spread of technology & advances in existing technologies

–         changing social structure, with previous social equilibrium now in flux

–         individual social mobility begins

–         development of national identity and shared economic interests

Stage Three

3.       Take off into self sustained growth

–          manufacturing begins to rationalize and scale increases in a few leading industries, as goods are made both for export and domestic consumption

–         the "secondary" (goods-producing) sector expands and ratio of secondary vs. primary sectors in the economy shifts quickly towards secondary

–         textiles & apparel are usually the first "take-off" industry, as happened in Great Britain's classic “industrial revolution”

Stage Four

4.       The Drive to Maturity

–         diversification of the industrial base; multiple industries expand & new ones take root quickly

–         manufacturing shifts from investment-driven (capital goods) towards consumer durables & domestic consumption

–         rapid development of transportation infrastructure

–         large-scale investment in social infrastructure (schools, universities, hospitals, etc.)

Stage Five

5.       Age of mass consumption

–         diversification of the industrial base; multiple 

–         the industrial base dominates the economy; the primary sector is of greatly diminished weight in economy & society

–         widespread and normative consumption of high-value consumer goods (e.g. automobiles)

–         consumers typically (if not universally), have disposable income, beyond all basic needs, for additional goods

               

CRITICISM OF ROSTOW’S MODEL

–         Historical

–         Mechanical

–         Based on European-American history and simplistic

–         Assumes the inevitability of western growth

–         Does not apply to much of Africa, Latin America or Asia

–         Stages overlap and are blurred

Rostow’s model of economic growth based largely on laissez faire (market) economies, where the market is the main driver. The principle of market economy being the main driver of growth continued to be dominant—e.g. Washington Consensus 1989—which called for structural reforms of a system including deregulation, and freeing the economy of government controls.

SOCIAL CHANGE

–         A process by which change occurs in the structure and function of a social system

–         Can occur through

a.       Immanent or latent change—evolution

b.       Contact change—result of external stimuli

–         Selective when outsiders unintentionally or spontaneously communicate a new idea to members of a social system

–         Directed when new idea is introduced as part of a planned process

DANIEL LERNER AND THE PASSING OF TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

Modernizing the Middle East

–         The first major study which marks the beginning of the field of communication and development—many call this the pioneering study on which they built their own research

–         Part of large scale research at the Bureau of Applied Social Research—Columbia University done for Voice of America in immediate post war era as part of Cold War Propaganda efforts

–         Seven countries in the middle east studied

CLASSIFIES THE MODERNIZING PROCESS INTO THREE STAGES

•          Traditional

•          Transitional

•          Modern

THE AGENTS OF CHANGE

•          The mobile personality—empathy or psychic mobility

•          The mobility multiplier—mass media

•          Urbanization

•          Literacy
Source: Internet