Assignment –

Participatory Paradigm.

Submitted by,

Smrithy Krishna G S

S6

REG NO : 12917825029
 Development communication is the process of intervening in a systematic or strategic manner with
either media (print, radio, telephone, videos and the internet), or education (training, literacy, schooling)
for the purpose of social change. The change could be economic , personal , as in spiritual, social and
cultural or political. Development communication formed in the later half of the 20th century as a
distinct branch of communication. Developed countries started taking interest in the progress of the
developing and under developed countries after the end of the cold war.

Mass media plays a significant role to play in the process of development. Mass media would lead directly
to economic improvement across the poorer regions of the world. The traditional ways of doing things,
particularly in the agricultural sector, were looked and modern methods were viewed as saving and
eventually uplifting the poor, and these new approaches were communicated most effectively to large
audience via the mass media.

The paradigm of development communication has evolved along the lines of shifts in paradigms
communication and development. Or we can say, the initial understanding of the ability of
communication, especially the mass media and that of development impacted greatly on the thinking of
what development communication was and is now. As new knowledge emerged on the power of
communication and people have better understanding of what development is, new understanding of
development communication also emerged.

The dominant paradigm of development did not had good results in the third world countries, as the effect
was indirect. Dominant paradigm works in top-down approach of development which is actually based on
activities like construction of huge hydroelectric dams, development of hybrid seed varieties, development
of huge media networks etc. The dominant paradigm has failed considerably due to traditionalism l,
widespread poverty, literacy, growing population and inadequate institutional mechanism to pass on the
fruits of economic growth to the general population, especially the disadvantaged sections. In addition to
these conditions, red-tube, inefficiency and corruption acted as contributing factors.

The Participatory paradigm emphasises not only material development but also the development of values
and the cultures. Where development communication interventions are concerned, it emphasizes the small
media operating in networks and use of grassroots communication approaches. According to this
paradigm, grassroots participation reinforces the chances that communities will adopt activities
appropriate for them. Participatoryarticipatory paradigm or Alternative paradigm adopted in the 1990s by
the United Nations and the other development organizations as key challenges to be addressed
successfully. Common features of this perspective are the emphasis on people, the endogenous vision of
development, and the attention to power and rights issues. Participatory approaches require a shift in the
way individuals are considered, from passive recipients to active agents of development effects. In
addition to poverty reduction, they include objectives in education, gender equality, and health issues.
Most development priorities are out-lined within political frameworks based on the adherence to good
governance and democratic principles (for example, freedom and human rights.

The major reasons considered for the adoption of this approach in development initiatives, maintaining
that :-

1. Services can be provided at a lower cost

2. Participation has intrinsic values for participants, alleviating feelings of alienation and
powerlessness;
3. Participation is a catalyst for further development efforts;
4. Participation leads to a sense of responsibility for the project; and
5. Participation ensures the use of indigenous knowledge and expertise.

The participation is not an absolute concept, and that it can be applied in different degrees, is part of the
problem. A typology that includes seven different types of participation as interpreted and applied by
various development organizations ,The full categorization, the least participatory,

➢ Passive participation,
➢ Participation in information giving,
➢ Participation by consultation,
➢ Participation for material incentives,
➢ Functional participation,
➢ Interactive participation, and
➢ self-mobilization.

1. Passive participation, when stakeholders attend meetings to be informed;

 2. Participation by consultation, when stakeholders are consulted but the decision making rests in the
hands of the experts;
3. Functional participation, when stakeholders are allowed to have some input, although not
necessarily from the beginning of the process and not in equal partnership; and
4. Empowered par-ticipation, when relevant stakeholders take part throughout the whole cycle of the
development initiative and have an equal influence on the decision-making process.

Information sharing and consultation are considered low-level forms of participation, while the other two
are considered high-level forms. These types are consistent with others, such as the classification. In
particular, participatory research methods allowed a growing role for local stakeholders and indigenous
knowledge in the problem-analysis and problem-solving processes of development initiatives. The model
of reference is significantly different from the traditional one, since it is now characterized by dialog and
by a horizontal flow, enabling the balanced sharing of perceptions and knowledge. In this perspective,
the communication acquires a more interactive connotation aimed at facilitating participation and
empowerment. Even when using mass media, messages can be expected to originate from people
themselves rather than from "outside experts" .

The World Bank (1995) identified four types of participation:

1) Information sharing
2) Consultation
3) Collaboration
4) Empowerment.

Amartya Sen, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, introduced the concept of capability
dep-rivation to illustrate how poverty is not simply an income issue, but also and espe-cially a social issue.
He considers income poverty and capability poverty to be two closely related dimensions because income
greatly affects the capabilities of an indi-vidual, and vice versa. The deprivations deriving from feeling
excluded from relevant decisions and from seeing limited available options can be successfully addressed
through communication, since it is by communicating that individuals perceive and define their conditions
and construct their reality in social networks.

This approach facilitates people's involvement in the problem-analysis process, and it stimulates the
"reversal of learning" from the rural poor to the experts. They both share a sincere concern for the
empowerment of the poorest and the most dis-advantaged sectors of society, which often tend to be in
rural areas or on the periph-ery of urban agglomerates. It claims that participatory research should not be
neutral but should always side with the poor and the marginalized.

Features of Participatory approach :

o The emphasis on participation in development also implies increased attention to communication,

because there can be no participation without communication, at least without a certain type of
communication.
o Finally, the participation mode also addresses poverty, or at least one of its key dimensions, in a
direct way. Poverty is not simply the deprivation of basic material needs; it concerns other
significant dimensions of people's life.
o Social exclusion is one of the elements contributing to the overall poverty dimension. Eliminating
or significantly reducing social exclusion, through the dia-logic use of communication, is a step
toward a world without poverty.
o By engaging stakeholders who often have been excluded from any form of deci-sion making in
their lives and allowing them to engage in the decision-making process, development
communication not only reduces poor people's "capability.

One of the models attached to this paradigm is the methodology of community media “Wherever carefully
developed programs have failed”, states a UNESCO study, “This approach, which consists in helping
people to formulate their problems or to acquire an awareness of new options, instead pf imposing on
them on a plan that was formulated elsewhere, makes it possible to intervene more effectively in the real
space of the individual or the group.

Disadvantages
The added emphasis on participation helps to mainstream communication in many initiatives, and at the
same time promotes a more dialogic and two-way conception of communication.

Bibliography

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❖ Anaeto, S. G. & Solomon-Anaeto (2010). Development Communication: Principles and Practice.

Ibadan: Stirling-Horden Publishers.

❖ https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parti
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