Grounded at the intersection of rhetorics of health and medicine (RHM), technical and professional communication (TPC), and transnational institutional communication, my study aimed to explore the transnational issues of negotiation and power and (mis)articulations within the realm of global maternal nutrition (MN) communication design. Specifically, I sought to demystify the behind-the-scenes interactions and negotiations among funders (in this case, USAID headquarters), contractors (global health designers for a project called "Advancing Nutrition"), and local partners (Global South program implementers).
To achieve this goal, I conducted a rhetorical analysis of twenty-eight publicly available Advancing Nutrition MN artifacts, including program guides, worksheets, toolkits, and multimedia discourses. Additionally, I performed fifteen episodic narrative interviews with key informants from the Advancing Nutrition team, USAID, and local implementing agencies in India, Kyrgyz Republic, and Ghana. Through the theoretical lenses of power as assemblage and articulation, my findings suggested a continual flux of (re)articulation tension within global MN communication design.
This tension stemmed from power assemblages—a confluence of historical-political-ideological forces at the production site in the Global North and the rigid socio-cultural framework at the implementation site in the Global South—in transnational content creation spaces. This tension manifested in maternal-child nutrition indicators, temporally bound MN program design, community narratives in local implementation sites, and an emphasis on normative views of women's nutrition.
Despite the power differentials among funders, contractors, and implementers, global health designers employed tactical technical communication approaches, including coalitional actions and reconstructive moves, to empower women and mothers in the Global South. Thus I conclude that technical and health communication scholars can help global institutional actors create socially-inclusive communication design and foster intentional community-engaged interventions by both attuning themselves to and exposing globalized power structures in the context of public health document creation. / Doctor of Philosophy / Situated at the crossroads of health and medical rhetoric, technical and professional communication, and cross-border institutional interaction, my research set out to delve into the complexities of negotiation, power dynamics, and communication challenges in the global arena of maternal nutrition. Specifically, I aimed to shed light on the behind-the-scenes dealings and discussions among key players such as funders (like USAID headquarters), contractors (working on projects such as "Advancing Nutrition"), and local partners (implementing programs in the Global South).
To accomplish this, I conducted a detailed analysis of twenty-eight publicly available materials related to the Advancing Nutrition initiative, including program guides, worksheets, toolkits, and multimedia presentations. Additionally, I conducted fifteen interviews with individuals from the Advancing Nutrition team, USAID, and local agencies in India, Kyrgyz Republic, and Ghana. Using the theoretical frameworks of power dynamics and articulation, my findings revealed a continual tension in how maternal nutrition communication is (re)shaped and understood on a global scale.
This tension arises from a blend of historical, political, and ideological forces influencing content creation in the Global North, juxtaposed with the socio-cultural realities at the implementation sites in the Global South. It is evident in various aspects such as maternal-child nutrition metrics, the design of time-sensitive nutrition programs, local community narratives, and the portrayal of women's nutrition.
Despite the inherent power imbalances among funders, contractors, and implementers, those involved in global health initiatives employed strategic communication methods, including collaborative efforts and reconstructive strategies, to empower women and mothers in the Global South. As a result, I argue that scholars in technical and health communication have a vital role to play in fostering inclusive communication design and facilitating community-focused interventions by both understanding and exposing global power dynamics in the realm of public health document creation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/118971 |
| Date | 13 May 2024 |
| Creators | Ganguly, Priyanka |
| Contributors | English, Pender, Kelly Elizabeth, Gerdes, Julie Marie, Webster, Travis, Baniya, Sweta |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Rights | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
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