Communicative aspects of participatory video projects : An exploratory study

This exploratory study analyses the functions and implications of participatory video projects inrural development settings. The term ‘participatory video’ refers to a bundle of innovativeusages of video technology which enjoy growing popularity in many corners of the world. Afterthe first trials in the late 1960s participatory video has developed into several differentdirections and there is no consensus of what the term actually stands for. In the currentliterature participatory video is closely associated to the burgeoning field of participatoryapproaches such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), even though its application goesbeyond the idea of participatory research and learning in many instances.There is by no means a consistent, established way of using the tool; experience and knowledgeabout what good practice is differ from person to person and in the literature. This studytherefore categorises the varying approaches into a typology based on a review of the relativelyscarce literature on the subject. Through a conceptual distinction of different project goals,three basic kinds of participatory video are identified, i. e. therapy-, activism- andempowerment-type video.The central part of the study consists of three case studies, from Mexico, Tanzania, andVietnam respectively. In each of these the functions and implications of participatory video useare identified. A particular focus is put on the second case study, the ‘Fisherfolks’ Project’, asthe relatively biggest amount of background information has been available. A number oftheories and concepts are tested on this case in order to deepen the understanding of thepotentials and limitations of participatory video. The concepts and theories applied to the caseinclude pluralism, the platform approach, soft systems thinking; Habermas’ theory ofcommunicative action and ultimately the principle of participation as applied in PRA. It isfound that participatory video is appropriate to facilitate processes such as mediation, conflictmanagement, capacity building and empowerment.Since the study is of exploratory nature, a considerable stress was put on the identification ofinteresting fields of further research. A list of easily available participatory video literature (inthe appendix) has been compiled to provide a starting point for such research