Content area
Full text
Thomas, Pradip Ninan and Elske van de Fliert. Interrogating the Theory and Practice of Communication for Social Change: The Basis For a Renewal. New York NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2105. Pp. 150. ISBN 978-1-137-42630-7 (cloth) $100; 978-1-137-42631-4 (e-book) $79.99.
Interrogating the Theory and Practice of Communication for Social Change: The Basis For a Renewal begins with a compelling preface. It is the first book in Palgrave's series on communication for social change (CSC), so it has a big job of laying out the problem-that the field of CSC has lost its way. One reason is the institutionalization and corporatization of CSC. As a case in point, the term CSC has been trademarked, a point of contention that shows the extent to which top-down CSC approaches now dominate, and bottom-up approaches to CSC are marginalized. The whole enterprise suffers. CSC is tightly bound with development communication, and in recent years, the nature of the discourse has shifted. Terms such as empowerment and participation have been co-opted and gutted of their emancipatory meaning in the service of a neoliberal agenda. Further, the corporatized use of the term participation obscures the workings of power. While Interrogating clearly outlines the misdirected path the field of CSC traveled to arrive in this place, a place both ubiquitous and impotent, it does something unusual to critiques-it offers a way out. Solutions demonstrates hope and commitment to the power and promise of CSC. Interrogating is wellwritten and thought provoking. It clarifies the problems with current CSC practices, theory, and scholarship and accounts for their rise and invisibility. Therefore, Interrogating is worthwhile reading for CSC or C4D (Communication for Development) scholars, teachers, and practitioners.
A follow-the-money chapter outlines the financial and political agenda of the neoliberal project to globally promote democracy and "soft diplomacy" through CSC. Often a follow-the-money chapter trails off in an emotional rant. Thomas and Fliert do not. They craft clear summary points from the evidence presented. They ask that CSC thinkers understand "it is important that we not underestimate the geo-political motivations behind aid in media development" (p. 75).
In a chapter on the role of technologies in social change, Thomas and Fliert outline the three broad solutions that have been explored in global development projects. These are information...