ABSTRACT “There are many ways of conceptualizing development, ways that foreground economics, politics, culture, or a combination, and within each of those realms, ways that emphasize processes or structures or both and their relationships. Further, in some perspectives development is geographically inclusive, whereas in others the focus is the so-called Third World or developing countries and their aid needs”. (Wilkins, 2000, p.7) Considering the term ‘development’ in above quote, this thesis focuses on poverty and under-development prevailing in Mithilanchal region in India, the caste system which divides the society and its direct and indirect consequences. India, whether called a Third World country or a developing country, the difference between the developed and deprived regions can be well spotted and the aim of this thesis is to track how communication and other media tools have been helpful in development of society so far and then analyse how similar development can lead to more liveable society.The division of Mithilanchal region between the Elite and Mass led to control of Media by the powerful Elites. The flow of information was more diffusive (one-way / top to bottom) than participatory (both way) and with new media and ICT making its place globally, awareness increased along with the participation of people from different strata of society.This thesis explores on how instrumental media has been in enlightening the society over the period of time, what impact media and its various forms have had in everyday life of commoners and how people living in deprivation look up to the media for it to be more available and accessible.With the help of qualitative interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted in the region, the thesis concludes that people have had the benefit of media’s presence since long. Traditional - Communication media did leave impact on people’s lives and even today, those who live in these regions are looking forward to more economic, political and social development with the help of new media and ICT. The various positive transformations in unequal social structure brought out with help of communication is aimed to be discussed by the end of the thesis.

In many academic disciplines, there are promising discoveries and valuable information, which have the potential to improve lives but have not been transferred to or taken up in ‘real world’ practice. There are multiple, complex reasons for this divide between theory and practice—sometimes referred to as the ‘know-do’ gap—and there are a number of disciplines and research fields that have grown out of the perceived need to close these gaps. In the field of health, Knowledge Translation (KT) and its related research field, Implementation Science (IS) aim to shorten the time between discovery and implementation to save and improve lives. In the field of humanitarian development, the discipline of Communication for Development (ComDev) arose from a belief that communication methods could help close the perceived gap in development between high- and low-income societies. While Implementation Science and Communication for Development share some historical roots and key characteristics and IS is being increasingly applied in development contexts, there has been limited knowledge exchange between these fields. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the characteristics of IS and ComDev, analyze some key similarities and differences between them and discuss how knowledge from each could help inform the other to more effectively achieve their common goals.

The anti-evictions movement Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) is one of the most effective and valued grassroots initiatives in Spain. It has convinced the majority of the population on the need to change the mortgage law, given solution to the immediate needs of its members via civic-disobedience actions and dignified the people who are not able to pay their mortgage debts. From being considered irresponsible victims, now they are seen as heroes fighting for a just cause and as the representation of the collective power of organized citizenship to produce social change.To find out if –and how- communication has been key in this transformative process, this research uses observations and in-depth interviews to respond to the question: What role does communication play in the PAH for the empowerment of its members and for the overall impact of the movement? The findings suggest that empowerment has been necessary to obtain impact, while impact has further promoted empowerment, in a virtuous cycle where internal and external communication practices, both interpersonal and mediated, have been central. The main communicative goal, as we will see, has been to transform people and society, and not to obtain visibility. Decentralisation, open and horizontal collective knowledge-sharing and decision-making, diagnostic and motivational counter-frames, a focus on positive messages and results, graphic elements, the savvy use of different media (Twitter, Facebook, videos, mass media) and a very skilled spokes-person are some of the key aspects of a successful communication strategy that has been able to challenge neoliberal frames and representations related to poverty. Several concrete activists have been very competent in designing and adapting the PAH’s use of communication, and in promoting contributions of many other participants throughout every part of the network. However, only a continuous effort in spreading knowledge and skills throughout the movement, in line with participatory communication approaches, will guarantee a sustainable and long-lasting impact.

The aim of this study is to introduce and analyze the case of the Núcleo de Comunicação Comunitária São Miguel no Ar (Centre of Community Media Sao Miguel on the air, freely translated), known by its acronym NCC, in order to discuss in what ways an educommunication project can contribute to local development and social change, and might be acknowledge as a Communication for Development strategy. The general research question is: in what ways can an educommunication project enhance social participation and contribute to local development? What are the main features of NCC projects in regard to social participation and local development that might characterize it as a Communication for Development strategy? The general aim of this study is to bridge Educommunication and Communication for Development.

This Master in Communication for Development thesis –an essay- is based on two documentaries made with -and about- indigenous communities located in the North region of Argentina (the provinces of Misiones and Jujuy) which the author produced between 1997 and 2003 through the implementation of a participatory communication approach: Ayvü-Porä/The beautiful words (1998), and Candabare/Late summer celebration (2001). The essay is meant to be in itself a communication for development device: an investigation of examples, and a mapping exercise, intent at laying open and laying out the actual practices that led to the concrete products discussed.

The field of communication for development has been marked by shifts in paradigms from the top-down/mechanistic approaches that emerged in the 1950s to the participatory/bottom-up approaches of the later periods. Despite the paradigm shifts, the faith in the power of the media to influence development has not died down. The research Using Radio for Advocacy and Communication of Issues Affecting Farm Communities in Zimbabwe adds to the body of literature on alternate episodes of faith and doubt in the power of the media in development that characterize intellectual discourse on communication for development. Through a triangulation of both qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study looks at the extent to which radio remains useful in communication and advocacy for the development of marginalized communities, the farm communities in Zimbabwe. The research is based on a case study of the radio programme sponsored by an NGO, which is broadcast on national radio.The research findings indicate that radio remains a popular medium with communities and development actors that still see it to be useful in dissemination of development messages. The challenge that lies ahead of using radio for development in the era of democracy is how to integrate and adapt it to participatory and empowerment models of communication, which build the capacities of the marginalized people. The radio programme studied in this research has been found to be relying more on top-down approaches than participatory methods.Overall, there remains the need to make radio more interactive for it to fit into the participatory methods, which are the more appropriate route to take in the present era.

The aim of this study is to look at how organisations’ discourse is tailored to reach and persuade the donors, how it is constructed in terms of representation and power, and if there has been a change on representation of aid over the last decade. The study is conducted from texts and visuals from the Anglo-Saxon Save the Children Organization and the French Apprentis d’Auteuil Catholic Foundation to evaluate cultural points in relation to discourse constructions; most of the selected Material has been extracted from respective website at the same period of time (2003, 2013, and 2014) to make the comparison fair. The theoretical framework includes communication for development, post-colonialism, social theology, representation, discourse and power; the methodology is related to discourse analysis and visual analysis. The deconstruction of the texts has revealed that the traditional way of representing the disadvantaged as the voiceless ‘Others’ and the hegemonic approach, in the name of globalisation, are still strongly present as it seems to be a trigger for the act of donation. Nevertheless, according to studies, a new wind of social responsibility instead of Christian duty is emerging. A gap between the traditional representation of aid and actual modern actions implemented by organisations has been noticed mostly on the French national level. The recommendation to the organisations would be to compose a new discourse in their communication, placing the helper and the helped on a balanced representation, giving a common ‘human’ voice, promoting participation and insuring sustainable social change, towards a real changing of mentalities of the audience. This communication should also be homogenised between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media as well as speeches held by the organisations’ staff.

This Master in Communication for Development thesis is based on the experience of "Amina's looking for a job", a Forum Theatre play created in 2007 - whith the help of her sons and an NGO- by a Moroccan woman who is discriminated by different institutions in her will to find a decent job in Catalonia, Spain. Through this case study, the essay explores the contributions of participatory approaches to Education-Entertainment field from a communication for social change perspective.

This thesis will explore the relationship between war crimes trials and communication for development by utilising the Gibril Massaquoi trial as a case study. Mr Massaquoi, a Sierra Leonean national accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Second Liberian Civil War, was residing in Finland, and therefore tried by Finnish authorities under universal jurisdiction. The growing importance of universal jurisdiction - the practice that allows States to prosecute individuals accused of international crimes independently from nationality and the location where the crimes were committed – raises important questions of process ownership, localisation, and social change.  Universal jurisdiction cases are often prosecuted in temporally and geographically distant countries from where the alleged crimes were committed. Whilst they are extensively debated in legal studies, this thesis will analyse the matter through a communication development lens.  With a focus on those few selected journalists that had the opportunity to witness the trial for its Liberian stretch, I will use their experiences to draw lessons learned and future avenues to explore for cases of this nature from a communication for development approach.

Participatory communication through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been identified to enhance self-dependency and equality for local communities in development projects. As well, ICTs served as an accelerator for citizen participation in social movements, such as in Egypt. However, it is still questionable how participation and ICTs are understood on a global scale where structural inequalities between developing and developed countries might influence communication processes. Similarly, international organizations often address a global network of stakeholders with various economic and social backgrounds. However, it is unclear how participatory communication and ICTs are used in global organizations aiming to foster sustainable development. Hence, this thesis investigates the understanding and practices of participatory communication and the role of ICTs in a global network organization, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) based in Stockholm. The GWPs network consists of 2964 institutional partners in 172 countries worldwide. It can be seen that the GWP aims to achieve dialogic communication with local partners, but that they do not have a mechanism that ensures continuous participation in all working processes, although the local partners demand more possibilities to contribute and participate. As well, ICTs play a minor role in addressing the GWP network. In fact, most of the partner organizations do not have reliable internet access and insufficient English literacy, which makes communication through ICTs especially challenging.This suggests that globally operating organizations should be careful not to reproduce existing power relationship between developed and developing countries through the use of ICTs. As well, more mechanisms need to be established which ensure more participation in organization’s processes.