Communication for development in the mediatized world

As we are writing, in late 2011, we are in the beginning of a historical revolution that may or may not turn out to be even more far-reaching than the one unleashed in 1989. A common denominator in this resurging revolution is the mobilizing power of the so-called social media. Even if labels such as the Twitter or Facebook revolution are rightfully refuted, the on-going Arab Spring is a clear-cut example of a new and unprecedented communication power, which is largely out of the authorities’ control.While the crucial role of media and communication in processes of social change and development at last becomes evident, it is however not associated with the field of communication for development and social change, not even by the development agencies themselves. Mediatization, like Globalization before it, challenges the traditional conception of development communication. What are the causal relations between media development, agency and social change? And how do we study these dynamics? The challenge for ComDev scholars and practitioners, at this moment, is to take a step back and reflect, to analyze and understand, rather than to impose development strategies. While ComDev historically has been about developing prescriptive recipes of communication for some development, it is high time we refocus our attention to the deliberative, non-institutional change processes that are emerging from a citizens’ profound and often desperate reaction to this global Now. And there is more than ever a need for cross- or inter-disciplinarity