IN THIS ISSUE (OCTOBER 2008)
Abstract
It is not May but October 2008 as this new issue of Glocal Times is published online.
The world is in shock, puzzled over the spectacle of the market crisis and governments suddenly keen on rescuing high-level speculators.
In the field of communication for development, the sad news was that Colin Fraser, one of its most influential figures, died in September. If you are not familiar with his work, I strongly suggest that you read his book Communicating for Development/Human Change for Survival, co-written in 1998 with his wife, Sonia Restrepo-Estrada, also a relevant figure in the field.
This issue of Glocal Times was edited in the spirit of a type of education described by Juan Díaz Bordenave, a Latin American communication expert, in a paper from 1976. Bordenave referred to an educational model or pedagogy that emphasizes process, which included, among other imperatives, an aim to “facilitate the observation of reality and problemposing, such that people seek solutions adapted to their individual situations” and “facilitate dialogue, participation and cooperation, such that individuals learn to live together, articulate common problems and resolve them cooperatively”1.
We are proud to present six contributions from graduates of the Malmö University Master in Communication for Development.
In “A mobile cinema experience in Niger”, Dominique Thaly explores the impact of the Cinéma Numérique Ambulant project on a rural audience in western Africa, in a context in which new technologies and lighter equipment have made mobile cinema, a long-time tradition, easier to implement.
In “Dancing to change”, Evelyn Lutwama-Rukundo looks into a selection of popular songs from Kampala, Uganda, and discusses their potential to advance the Millennium Development Goal of gender equity. In “DramAidE and live drama”, Fredrick Mugira examines the distinctive ways in which live drama could help sensitize people about the HIV/AIDS pandemic by analyzing a project at work in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
In “Sex tourism and the importance of images”, Charlotte Pruth points at the responsibility of travel and governmental tourism agencies in the increase of male sex tourism to Natal, in Brazil, and introduces the work of the international NGO “Ecpat” to prevent child sex tourism.
In “Seeing beyond celebrity”, Varihi Scott maps the emergence of new philanthropists and ‘Hollywood’s new progressives’ in the development landscape and compares different celebrity-led communication initiatives, categorizing them as “new” vis-à-vis “traditional” and analyzing their pros and cons.
In “Big Brother and empowered sisters”, Helen Belcastro highlights the themes and initiatives discussed during an international conference of the same title held in Sweden in April 2008, with participants fromKenya, South Africa, Egypt, Yemen, China, USA and the Philippines.
Oscar Hemer, in his “Editorial”, recalls Jan Nedervee Pieterse’s keynote lecture on “Media and Global Divides” at the annual congress of the International Association of media and Communication Research (IAMCR), held in Sweden in July 2008. For more about the congress, and in particular the presentations of IAMCR’s Participatory Communication Research Section, see my report as guest columnist for MAZI, the newsletter of the Communication for Social Change Consortium, at http://www.communicationforsocialchange.org/mazi-articles.php? id=378
All articles in this issue provide one or more links to interesting online resources. Even if you do not have the time to read the articles straight away, we invite you to browse them for windows into projects and initiatives worldwide, as well as additional reading.
The next issue of Glocal Times will be published in March 2009. In the meantime, your comments and suggestions are welcome at florenghel@gmail.com
