Advance Search

Theorising participation as communicative action for development and social change

Hannelie Otto
North-West University
Lynnette Fourie
North-West University
Keywords:
Copyright and Licensing:
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Share:

How to Cite

Theorising participation as communicative action for development and social change. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 35(1), 21-39. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v35i1.1600
  • Articles
  • Submited: October 14, 2022
  • Published: October 17, 2022

Abstract

This article explores, through a basic conceptual-theoretical analysis and a review of relevant
literature, the usefulness of employing the communicative action theory of Jürgen Habermas
in theorising the elusive notions of participation and participatory communication theory as
applicable to project based development (Burnside-Lawry, 2012; Chang & Jacobson, 2010;
Jacobson, 2003; Jacobson & Storey, 2004; Ramella & De La Cruz, 2000; Servaes, 1999). The
problem with defining participation is that it is ambiguous – both notionally and in actual contexts
– as the concept comprises a myriad of dissimilar epistemologies, methodologies and imagined
goals, while also representing disparate evaluative measures in thinking about and determining
whether or not participation has actually occurred in its various applied settings (Chitnis, 2005;
Huesca, 2008; Jacobson & Storey, 2004; McAnany, 2012; Melkote & Steeves, 2001; Morris,
2003; Wilkins, 2000).

pdf
pdf

Article Metrics Graph

Article Views | PDF Downloads
Chart Graph | Range Graph

References

  1. Barranquero, A. (2006). From Freire to Habermas to multiplicity: Widening the theoretical borders of participative communication for social change. In A. Gumcio-Dagron & T. Tufte (Eds.), Communication for social change anthology: historical and contemporary readings (pp. 920-924). South Orange: Communication for Social Change Consortium.
  2. Benhabib, S. (1997). Autonomy, Modernity, and Community; Communicatarianism and Critical Theory. In A. Honneth, T. McCarthy, C. Offe, & A. Wellmer (Eds.), Cultural-Political Interventions in the Unfinished Project of Enlightenment (pp. 39-58). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  3. Burnside-Lawry, J. (2012). Listening and participatory communication: A model to assess organization listening competency. International Journal of Listening, 26(2):102-121.
  4. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2012.678092
  5. Carpentier, N. (2011). Media and participation: a site of ideological-democratic struggle. Bristol: Intellect.
  6. https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_606390
  7. Chambers, S. 1994. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA): Analysis of experience. World Development, 22(10):1437-1454.
  8. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-750X(94)90030-2
  9. Chang, L. & Jacobson, T. (2010). Measuring participation as communicative action: A case study of citizen involvement in and assessment of a city's smoking cessation policy-making process. Journal of Communication, 60(2010):660-679.
  10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2010.01508.x
  11. Chasi, C. (2011). Why participation? In K. Tomaselli & C. Chasi, (Eds.), Development and public health communication (pp. 137-150). Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa.
  12. Chitnis, K. (2005). The duality of development: recasting participatory communication for development using structuration theory. Investigación Y Desarrollo, 13(2):228-249.
  13. Dervin, B. & Huesca, R. (1999). The participatory communication for development narrative: An examination of meta-theoretic assumptions and their impacts. In T.L. Jacobson & J. Servaes (Eds.), Theoretical approaches to participatory communication (pp. 169-210). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
  14. Dutta, M.J. (2011). Communicating social change: structure, culture, and agency. New York: Routledge.
  15. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203834343
  16. Edgar, A. (2006). Habermas. The key concepts. London: Routledge.
  17. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203608715
  18. Eriksen, E. & Weigård, J. (2003). Understanding Habermas: Communicative action and deliberative democracy. London: Continuum.
  19. Finlayson, G. (2005). Habermas: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  20. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192840950.001.0001
  21. Freire, P. (1996). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books.
  22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25349-4_25
  23. Gumucio-Dagron, A. & Tufte, T. (2006). Roots and Relevance: Introduction to the CFSC Anthology. In A. Gumucio-Dagron & T. Tufte (Eds.), Communication for social change anthology: Historical and contemporary readings (pp. xiv-xxxvi). South Orange: Communication for Social Change Consortium.
  24. Habermas, J. (1979). Communication and the evolution of society. Toronto: Beacon Press.
  25. Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action, Vol. 1: Reason and the rationalization of society. Transl. by T. McCarthy. Boston: Beacon Press.
  26. Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action, Vol. 2: A critique of functionalist reason. Transl. by T. McCarthy. Boston: Beacon Press.
  27. Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. Transl. by T. Burger & F. Lawrence. Cambridge, MA: Polity.
  28. Habermas, J. (1990). Moral consciousness and communicative action. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  29. Habermas, J. (2001). On the pragmatics of social interaction: preliminary studies in the theory of communicative action. Transl. by B. Fultner. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  30. Harper. (2016). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved July 7, 2016, from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=communication
  31. Huesca, R. (2008). Tracing the history of participatory communication approaches to development: A critical appraisal. In J. Servaes (Ed.), Communication for development and social change (pp. 188-195). London: Sage.
  32. https://doi.org/10.4135/9788132108474.n9
  33. Jacobson, T.L. (2002). Differentiating kinds communication for social change. Paper prepared for presentation at the 22nd Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Barcelona, July 21-26. Retrieved July 10, 2014, from http://www.portalcomunicacion.com/bcn2002/n_eng/programme/prog_ind/papers/0_arribats_peremail/abans_07_2002/pdf/jacobson.pdf
  34. Jacobson, T.L. (2003). Participatory communication for social change: The relevance of the theory of communicative action. In P. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication yearbook 27 (pp. 87-124). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  35. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15567419cy2701_4
  36. Jacobson, T.L. & Kolluri, S. (1999). Participatory communication as communicative action. In T.L. Jacobson & J. Servaes (Eds.), Theoretical approaches to participatory communication (pp.1-13). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
  37. Jacobson, T.L. & Servaes, J. (1999). Introduction. In T.L. Jacobson & J. Servaes (Eds.), Theoretical prospects for participatory communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
  38. Jacobson, T.L. & Storey, J.D. (2004). Communicative action and participation: Applying Habermas to a case study of population programs in Nepal. Communication Theory, 14(2):99-121.
  39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00307.x
  40. McAnany, E. (2010). Communication for development and social change: New millennium. Communication Research Trends, 29(3):3-17.
  41. McAnany, E. (2012). Saving the world: a brief history of communication for development and social change. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
  42. https://doi.org/10.5406/illinois/9780252036774.001.0001
  43. McCarthy, T. (1994). Translator's Introduction. In. J. Habermas. The theory of communicative action, Vol. 1: Reason and the rationalization of society (pp.v-xxxvii). Transl. by T. McCarthy. Boston: Beacon Press.
  44. Mefalopulos, P. (2003). Theory and practice of participatory communication: The case of the FAO project "Communication for Development in Southern Africa". Retrieved July 10, 2014, from http://repositories2.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/776/mefalopulosp039.pdf?sequence=2
  45. Mefalopulos, P. (2008). Development communication sourcebook. Broadening the boundaries of communication. Washington: The World Bank.
  46. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-7522-8
  47. Melkote, S.R. & Steeves, H.L. (2001). Communication for development in the Third World: Theory and practice for development (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Sage.
  48. https://doi.org/10.4135/9788132113751
  49. Morris, N. (2003). A comparative analysis of the diffusion and participatory models in development communication. Communication Theory, 13(2):225-248, May.
  50. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/13.2.225
  51. Morrow, R.A. & Torres, C.A. (2002). Reading Freire and Habermas: Critical pedagogy and transformative social change. New York: Teachers College Press.
  52. Närman, A. (2006). Paulo Freire, (1921-1997). In D. Simon (Ed.), Fifty key thinkers on development (pp. 96-100). London: Routledge.
  53. Pan, L. (2012). Performance evaluation, communication environment, and decision legitimacy: a case in China. D. Phil. dissertation. Philadelphia: Temple University.
  54. Quarry, W. & Ramirez, R. 2009. Communication for another development: Listening before telling. London: ZED Books.
  55. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350219274
  56. Quinlan, E. & Robertson, S. 2010. Modeling dimensions of 'the social' in knowledge teams: An operationalization of Habermas's theory of communicative action. Sociological Research Online, 15(3)11. Retrieved August 15, 2014, from http://www.socresonline.org.uk/15/3/11.html
  57. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.2189
  58. Ramella, M. & De La Cruz, B.R. (2000). Taking part in adolescent sexual health promotion in Peru: Community participation from a social psychological perspective. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 10: 271-284.
  59. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-1298(200007/08)10:4<271::AID-CASP583>3.0.CO;2-H
  60. Rasmussen, D.M. (1990). Reading Habermas. Cambridge: Blackwell.
  61. Ritzer, G. & Goodman, D.J. (2003). Sociological Theory. (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
  62. Roman, N. (2005). The place of theory in development communication: retrospect and prospects. In P. Kalbfleisch (Ed.), Communication yearbook 29 (pp. 311-331). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  63. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15567419cy2901_10
  64. Servaes, J. (1999). Communication for development: one world, multiple cultures. Cresskill: Hampton Press.
  65. Servaes, J. & Malikhao, P. (2008). Development communication approaches in an international perspective. In J. Servaes (Ed.), Communication for development and social change (pp. 158-179). London: Sage.
  66. https://doi.org/10.4135/9788132108474.n8
  67. Servaes, J., Jacobson, T.L. & White, S.A. (Eds.). (1996). Participatory communication for social change. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
  68. Swanepoel, H. & De Beer, F. 2006. Community development: Breaking the cycle of poverty. Landsdowne: Juta.
  69. The Penguin Dictionary of Philosophy (DoP). (2005). London: Penguin Books.
  70. Tufte, T. & Mefalopulos, P. (2009). Participatory communication: A practical guide. World Bank Working Paper No. 170. Washington: The World Bank.
  71. Waisbord, S. (2001). Family tree of theories, methodologies and strategies in development communication: Convergences and differences. Report prepared for the Rockefeller Foundation 2001. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.comminit.com/stsilviocomm/sld-2881.html
  72. White, S.A. (2003). Participatory video: images that transform and empower. Sage: New Delhi.
  73. Wilkins, K W. (2000a). Introduction. In K.W. Wilkins (Ed.), Redeveloping communication for social change: Theory, practice, and power (pp. 1-4). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
  74. Wilkins, K.W. (2000b). Accounting for power in development communication. In K.W. Wilkins (Ed.), Redeveloping communication for social change: Theory, practice, and power (pp. 197-208). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
How to Cite
Theorising participation as communicative action for development and social change. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 35(1), 21-39. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v35i1.1600

Send mail to Author

Send Cancel

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Custom technologies based on your needs

  • ORCID
  • Crossref
  • PubMed
    • Clarivate