Changing Roles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Changing Roles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to Advocacy Communicators.

By Thomas Tufte, Roskilde

University

Presentation given at seminar: ‘

Media and Citizen Engagement –

experiences

from Kenya and Tanzania’

Nairobi, 7-8 May 2014

Slide2

Today’s presentation

Youth

,

communication

and

citizenship

:

c

onceptual

reflections

Introducing

civil society driven media platforms

The case of

Femina

P

olitical

context

Strategy

,

identity

and mode

of

operation

Navigating

colonial

and post-

colonial

discourses

of

awareness-raising

and

modernity

Conclusions

Slide3

Enacting citizenship Social Movements

and

Insurgent

Politics

‘in a world marked by the rise of

mass self-communication

,

social movements

and

insurgent politics

have a the chance to

enter the public space

from multiple sources. By using both horizontal communication networks and mainstream media to convey their images and messages, they increase their chances of enacting social and political change – even if they start from a subordinate position in institutional power, financial resources, or symbolic legitimacy’

(Castells 2009. 302)

Slide4

Disjunctions of Citizenship- the ménage

of

exclusion

‘the state is today unable, and/or unwilling, to promise its subjects existential security (‘freedom from fear’, as Franklin D. Roosevelt famously phrased it) (Bauman 2010: 65)’. When the state acts in this way, the individual citizen is left to his own, unable to obtain

existential security,

that is unable to obtain and retain ‘a legitimate and dignified place in human society and avoiding the ménage of exclusion’ (Bauman).

Slide5

Human SecurityHuman security as freedom from fear describes a condition of existence in which human dignity is realized, embracing not only physical safety but going beyond that to include meaningful participation in the life of the community, control over one’s life and so forth (…)Thus, while material sufficiency lies at the core of human security, in addition the concept encompasses non-material dimensions to form a qualitative whole. In other words, human security embraces the whole gamut of rights, civil and political, economic and social, and cultural (Thomas 2007: 108-109)

Slide6

Assumption: Human (In)Securitythis concept

helps

us understand:

T

he

subjective

position from

which

many

marginalized

people

speak and act

Conditions

of

existence

fundamental for

agency

and

communiction

The social reality

citizens

live in, and the

socio-physic

situation

this

reality

produces

Helps

produce

a parameter for the

quality

and

scope

of civil society driven media and

communication

initiatives

Slide7

Civil society driven media platforms- the new darling of development

communication

Normative (ideological - peoples’ organizations, prevalent in the 70s and 80s)

Issue-Driven (fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa in the 90s – now focus is on new issues)

Networking (Transnational Advocacy Networks –

ie

the Global Justice Movement in the 00s)

Crowdsourcing, mobilizing and

aggregation initiatives –

re-invigorating local/national/global governance and accountability processes

Slide8

Communication for Social Change and the proliferation of edutainment

strategies

Significant

experiences

growing out of 20-25

years

of HIV/AIDS

communication

Soul City (1992)

ADRA (1991/2003)

Straight

Talk Foundation (1993)

N’weti

,

Pakachere

, Scenarios from

Africa

…

… and

Femina

Slide9

Key research questions

What

civil

society sphere

does

Femina

seek

to

construct

in

its

attempt

to provide

space

and

opportunity

for

civic

engagement of

Tanzanian

youth

?

How

does

Femina

navigate

between

it’s

identities

as an NGO, a social

movement

and a

conglomerate

of media

channels

?

How

does

it

define

and

related

to

its

contituency

‘

Tanzanian

youth

’?

How

does

Femina

as a civil society media platform

contribute

to

young

Tanzanian’s

civic

engagement?

Slide10

Methodology12

weeks

of

fieldwork

over 6 visits between 2009-2012

Participatory

observation in

office

, seminars,

clubs

Interviews

FGDs

with

youth

from

secondary

schools

Slide11

Political culture in Tanzania

-

looking

back

REDET Study 1994:

72% of the respondents did not discuss political issues

80% expressed their fear in scrutinizing government officials and their actions

70% still depended on the government to solve their day-to-day problems’ (Killian 2008).

Since then: democratic development, media development, civil society development. In this context,

Femina

evolved from 1999 and onwards.

Slide12

Citizen Engagement in 2011?

Aisha: When I grow up, I want to be a member of parliament, to be a minister

!

Why do you like politics?

Aisha: I like it because most of the politicians are corrupt, so I might eliminate it.

Joyce: W

e believe them in a very few percent…maybe 20% (

Mwanza

, March 2011)

Slide13

Femina today…

Organizing

and

mobilizing

for public

sphere

engagement: ‘It

was

early

morning…. (p.1)

Slide14

Femina Media Outlets

Fema

Tv talk

shows

Radio drama

600+

Femina

clubs

Interactive

website

Facebook

group

(s)

Partnership

with 6-700

organisations

Distribution

through

approx

. 2500

schools

Slide15

FEMA

FEMA. A glossy magazine, 64 pages, 150.000 copies published 4 x a year

Targets youth aged 15-24 especially secondary school students in every region of the country

Slide16

Femina HIP: A youth-oriented communication initiative

‘On

entering

Femina

HIP’s

top

floor

headquarters

…’ (p.6)

Slide17

Popular culture and participation in content

production

Street

language

Youth

‘

icons

’ on the cover (

music

, sports,

politics

)

National

representation

(

covering

regions)

Community

outreach

in story

development

, foto

novels

, national events,

club

input

E-feedback and

dialogue

(

Sms’s

, mails,

fb

,

twitter

)

Youth

advisory

board

Cultures

of

entrepreneurship

and

farming

Slide18

NGO, media vehicle or social movement?

Following

the

elections

…(p. 8-9)

Slide19

Who is Femina engaging?

The ‘

Femina

Family’

Readers

Listeners

Viewers

Club

members

Partners

Who

then

,

can

Femina

claim

to

represent

when

speaking

to opinion formers and

descision

makers

, as in the case of the

Constitutional

Reform

process

?

Slide20

Building supportive environments and telling real-

life

stories

C

ombination

prevention

:

sexual

health

and

life

skills

,

citizen

engagement and

economic

empowerment

= ‘a

gender

empowerment

and

rights-based

approach’

P. 12…

Slide21

Conclusion: opportunities

Systematic

listening

in

order

to

develop

themes

. Factoring

in

the

contexts

youth

live in

Build

trust and

empathy

– a

key

principle

. Are

reasonably

participatory

Establish

long-term

institutional

collabs

(

schools

)

Develop

‘

discursive

spaces

’

Promote

further

establishment at

local

level

of

such

spaces

Achieve

high

degree

of

popularity

,

readership

and

viewership

. Thus,

achieving

reach

, and

political

clout

.

Long-term

commitment

/

beyond

campagning

Slide22

Conclusion: opportunities

Go

beyond

behaviour

change

communication

….

enging

in

dialogue

,

participatory

practices

, a ‘

liberating

’

pedagogy

,

advocacy

and social action

Process-oriented

more

that

results-focused

Slide23

Conclusion: challenges

Constructing

strategies

that

:

Enable

human

security

to

evolve

…

Femina

works

mainly

with the

immaterial

dimensions,

although

not

exclusively

Enhance

citizenship

using

mass

communication

and ‘

mass

self-communication

’:

achieving

voice

and

representation

Push the

boundaries

of

critical

debate

and

citizen

engagement

Influencing

policies

Slide24

Media, Empowerment and Social Change – issues for discussion

How do

strategic

communicators handle

issues

of

fear

,

insecurity

and

negotiation

of

identity

?

How far

can

civil society

organizations

move

in

articulating

citizen

engagement.

Bottom

-up >< Top-

down

processes.

The balance

between

tools

and

issues

, and

between

communication

,

organizing

and

mobilization

for social

change

.