Theories of Mass

UNIT 16 DEVELOPMENT Communication

COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS
AND THEORIES

Structure
16.0 Introduction
16.1 Learning Outcomes
16.2 Dominant Paradigm of Development
16.2.1 Approaches to Dominant Paradigm of Development
16.2.2 Critique of Dominant Paradigm of Development
16.3 Theories Since Dominant Paradigm of Development
16.3.1 Structuralist Theory
16.3.2 Dependency Theory
16.4 Alternative Approaches to Development
16.4.1 Basic Needs Approach
16.4.2 Another Development Paradigm
16.4.3 Participatory Approach
16.4.4 ‘Capability’ as Development
16.4.5 Rights Based Approach
16.5 Approaches to Development Communication
16.6 Let Us Sum Up
16.7 Keywords
16.8 References and Further Readings
16.9 Check Your Progress: Possible Answers

16.0 INTRODUCTION
Development and well-being of any society is measured in terms of their access
to better education, health care, equality and freedom in the modern world.
Improving the quality of life of citizens and reduction in poverty are two essential
components of development. Although economic factors have a substantial role
in development, it is now increasingly recognised that money alone cannot qualify
as an end to the concept of wellbeing. In recent years, globalisation, which was
considered to promote global economic growth and social progress, has in-fact
led to growing income inequality and greater social inequities. It has been asserted
that inclusive development is the need of the hour to effectively tackle disparities
that are inherent in the development initiatives mooted in a globalised economic
system. Thus the concept of development has undergone several transformations
in the post-Second World War period.

The role of media in development also had to be redefined to address the emergent
challenges and aspirations. Mass media had to confront internal (ownership, reach,
revenue and technology) as well as external (cultural imbalance, political
influence, market forces and competition) issues in the process of positioning
itself in the realm of development discourse in a globalised environment.
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Development Communication: Development Communication (Devcom) has addressed some of these issues and
Models and Theories
Devcom theorists have mooted many communication strategies for development
– appropriate for respective regions of the world.

In this unit, we shall take an overview of the concept of development and discuss
various theories of development including the dominant paradigm of development;
structuralist and dependency theories, and alternative approaches to development.
We shall also look at the recent debates in communication for development.

16.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this unit, you should be able to:
define the concept of development;
discuss various approaches to development;
explain the theories of development communication; and
provide a critique of these concepts and theories

16.2 DOMINANT PARADIGM OF DEVELOPMENT

We have earlier discussed that the post-colonial era paved the way for new ideas
for development in developing countries. Most of the early theories were founded
on western models of development which heavily relied on industrialisation and
technological adaptation. Prominent among them was the Modernisation theory
or Dominant Paradigm of Development which aimed at replicating the western
model of development through industrialisation, free market and urbanisation
and ‘take’ development to the ‘under-developed’ regions of the world mainly
through aid agencies, NGOs, UN bodies and multilateral organisations. Having
roots in the Atlantic Charter of 1941 and the Marshall Plan of 1948, the proposed
initiatives were portrayed as an attempt to improve the conditions of the under
developed world by helping them with scientific advances and industrial progress
by US governments. However, later on, Marshall Plan was criticised as an effort
to establish political hegemony of the US to counter the communist aggression
from the USSR.
The key features of Modernisation Approach were:
Industry is the prime mover of the economy. Therefore a major part of
investment must go to industry and what is required are raw material,
transportation and training.
Modern society requires more specialists rather than generalists in each field
(health and industry).
Public education, health care and family planning require intensive
intervention for participatory governance and well-being of the people.
The profit from industries should trickle down to other sectors such as
agriculture and rural technology.
To ensure rapid development, necessary information can be diffused and
persuasion can occur through the mass media.
Modernisation approach firmly believed that urbanisation and industrialization
were the most feasible routes to achieve modernity. Having an economic-oriented
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view, it sees development as an unilinear, evolutionary process and defines the Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
state of underdevelopment in terms of observable quantitative differences between
so-called poor and rich countries on the one hand, and traditional and modern
societies on the other hand (Servaes & Paitachalee, 2002). This approach was
also known as the Dominant Paradigm of Development.

16.2.1 Approaches to Dominant Paradigm of Development

Dominant Paradigm called for mechanical emulation of western ideas of
development and underscored the ethnic culture and history of a country. It
considered Mass Media a strong agent in development and the paradigm found
powerful effects of media in bringing about socio-economic change.

Daniel Lerner
One of the prominent figures of the modernisation paradigm was Daniel Lerner
who wrote the book, ‘The Passing of the Traditional Society and Modernising
the Middle East’ (1958). He postulated that urbanisation, literacy, mass media
exposure and political participation could be the change agents for transition
from traditional agrarian communities to modern industrial societies. According
to Lerner, development failed because people in third world countries were unable
to ‘empathise’ or imaginatively identify with the modern societies new roles,
and a changed and ‘better’ way of life and hence they remained fatalistic,
unambitious and resistant to change. He saw the media as filling this need of
promoting interest among the people for embracing change.

High media consumption was seen as a prerequisite for people’s participation to

change their own traditional customs and beliefs and key to bringing about
political and economic participation and overall social development. Media was
considered a ‘multiplier’ and enhancer and its expected role was to make ideas
of modernisation attractive, change people’s psychological state, and teach them
skills which are required for a modern society (Narula, 2014). Lerner believed in
the media’s ability to transform its audience into an empathetic state where they
will embrace the ideas of modernity. People here were passive recipients of ideas
advocated by the authoritarian administration. Consequent to the achievements
of urbanisation and literacy, people may use mass media as mobility multipliers
to create a climate of acceptance of change.

Wilbur Schramm
Wilbur Schramm extended the opinions of Lerner in his work, ‘Mass Media and
National Development (1979)’ in favour of ‘modernisation’ through mass media-
which he termed as magic multipliers. He perceived mass media as agents of
social change as media has the magical capability to inform, educate and persuade
people and accomplish the transitions to new customs and practices of a
community. Schramm further argued that a nation that wants to accelerate the
process of development must allow information to flow as quickly and as widely
as possible so as to make relevant information available to them, as well as
understand their needs and of the opportunities for meeting them. This will
facilitate the decision making process and will help the people put the new
practices smoothly and swiftly into effect. Schramm forcefully postulated that
the mass media has the potential to widen horizons, to focus attention, to raise
aspirations and to create a climate for development.
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Development Communication: Walt Whitman Rostow
Models and Theories
Walt Whitman Rostow’s linear stages of growth model (1960) laid out the path
for building a ‘modern industrial’ society in five transitional stages. They are
traditional societies, pre-conditions for take- off (existed in traditional economy),
take-off, drive to maturity and the age of high mass consumption. Traditional
society was constrained by ‘rigid social structure and irrational psychological
attitudes. According to Rostow’s model, a country needed to follow some rules
of development to reach the take-off stage. They are-
Investment rate of a country needs to be increased to at least 10% of its
GDP
One or two manufacturing sectors with a high rate of growth need to be
established
An institutional, political and social framework has to exist or be created in
order to promote the expansion of those sectors.
The Rostow concept had some serious flaws. It assumed that development can
be achieved through a basic sequence of stages which are the same for all
countries. It measured development solely by means of the increase of GDP per
capita. The model focused on characteristics of development, but did not identify
the causal factors which lead development to occur. As such, it neglected the
social structures that have to be present to foster development.
Everett M Rogers
Rogers’ (1962) Diffusion of Innovations theory was also in line with the economic
and technological aspects of the modernisation paradigm. It considered
Modernisation as a process of diffusion whereby individuals are ‘persuaded’ to
move from a traditional way of life to a different, more technically developed
one (Servaes, 2002; 2007).The approach focuses upon the process of diffusion
and adoption of innovations in a systematic and planned way.
Emphasising the importance of mass communication in the diffusion process,
according to Rogers, its influence operates by a ‘two step flow’ process of
awareness through the mass media and development of favourable attitudes and
adaptation by inter-personal channels, particularly, “opinion leaders”. Hence when
a message is propagated, such as a new family planning method, or a new fertiliser,
a segment of the population adopts it, and develops a positive attitude towards it.
These people then directly or indirectly shape the positive attitude of others who
remain indifferent to the message as people like to get confirmation from people
they know and trust.
Originally having five stages – awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption,
the model is considered to be hierarchic and unidirectional as communications
are directed from the informed ‘source’ to the uninformed ‘receiver’. Rogers,
however, later revisited and included the element of ‘participation’ in
communication. The explanation for the term ‘development’ given by Rogers
subsequently enjoyed acceptance from scholars across social science disciplines
since it included the concepts of equality, freedom and individual expressions. It
said, “Development is a widely participatory process of directed social change
in a society, intended to bring about both social and material advancement
including greater equality, freedom and other valued qualities for the majority of
the people through their gaining greater control over their environment” (Rogers,
1976).
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16.2.2 Critique of Dominant Paradigm of Development Development Communication
Concepts and Theories

The dominant paradigm faced severe criticism for it’s over emphasis on
technological and economic aspects of development, under-estimation of
traditional wisdom of communities in the developing countries, deliberate silence
on issues of human rights, environment, personal freedom, and democratic
participation etc. Communication in the dominant paradigm was essentially a
linear, mass media model aimed at transmitting information and messages from
one point to many others, in a vertical, top-down manner. Strong belief in the
persuasive power of media, and the use of media to persuade people to adopt
ideas about development dominated the structuring of communications for
development. The pro-persuasion and pro-top down bias of the modernisation
paradigm questioned the intelligence of local communities to make choices and
their indigenous knowledge. According to several scholars the paradigm intentions
were only establishing western hegemony by diffusing inventions, ideas and
values conceived in the west and undermining the ‘internal forces’ in the
developing countries (Mody, 1991).

The dominant paradigm of development was criticised by various scholars as it

also failed to bring down poverty, unemployment and inequality in the developing
countries. In fact the paradigm led to large scale displacement and environmental
degradation in the name of development (Melkote and Steeves, 2015) and key
aspects of development processes- emancipation and empowerment - were not
explicitly stated in the modernisation paradigm (Sinha 2013).

Jan Servaes (1986) points towards the dichotomy of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’,
inherent in the modernisation paradigm, which has restricted it to having uni-
linear and evolutionary perspectives founded on the concepts of economic growth
only. The modernists identified ‘growth’ as the idea of ‘progress and
underestimated socio-psychological attitudes, nationality, strengths of traditional
systems etc. The minimalistic approach of modernisation and its limits were
identified by the theorists of this paradigm also and Rogers, Lerner and others
who later modified the central ideas by addressing the ‘individuals’ and the cultural
environment in which communication strategies needed to be evolved.

These debates paved the way for Dependency Theory.

Check Your Progress 1
Note: 1) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
2) Check your answer with those given at the end of the unit.
1) What is the role of mass media in development according to modernisation
theorists?
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Development Communication: 2) What is the criticism of modernisation approach to development?
Models and Theories
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16.3 THEORIES SINCE DOMINANT PARADIGM

OF DEVELOPMENT
Structuralist and dependency theories were proposed as a response and critique
of the dominant paradigm of development. These theories reaffirmed the
significance of the international social and political system in the course of
development within each nation. Issues of economic development could not be
understood on a nation- by-nation basis and an analysis of the network of
interrelations among nations must be evaluated according to these theories.

16.3.1 Structuralist Theory

The key aspects of structuralist school of thought were proposed by Raul Prebisch,
first executive director of Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA)
and Brazilian economist Celso Furtado. They broadly divided the world into
Core nations and Periphery nations and articulated the unequal terms of trade
that exist between core and periphery nations, they cited the experiences of Latin
American nations such as Chile. Breaking away from this unequal trade relation
requires rapid development through fast-paced industrialisation. The Structuralists
argued that the only way Third World countries can develop is through action by
the state. They need to push industrialisation and reduce their dependence on
trade with the First World, and trade among themselves.
Structuralism focuses on policy prescriptions including major government
intervention in the economy to fuel the industrial sector, known as Import
Substitution Industrialization (ISI). ISI is the initiative for ending the reliance of
the underdeveloped country on exports of primary goods such as agricultural
and mining products. It shields the domestic economy from that of the developed
economies. The under-developed economy is protected by the trade barriers and
promotion of domestic industrial substitutes.

16.3.2 Dependency Theory

Dependency theory was proposed as a response to the failure of Latin American
structuralism. It was influenced by the works of Paul Baran (The political economy
of growth) and Andre Gunder Frank (Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin
America) which were based on the US monopoly capital School of thought. It
critiqued the exploitation of periphery (underdeveloped countries) by the core
(developed countries) and extraction and transfer of surplus generated in the
periphery nations. It also critically viewed the collapse of ISI in periphery nations.

The main theorists of Dependency School of thought were Gunder Frank,

Fernando H. Cardoso, Samir Amin and Immanuel Wallenstein. According to
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Gunder Frank the ties of dominance and dependency run in chain- like fashion Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
throughout the global capitalist system with, ‘metropolitan states’(centre)
appropriate the surplus from the ‘satellites’(periphery).While the Structuralists
were of the view that, development would not be possible unless a strategy for
delinking with other developed economies is put in place and rigorous ISI was
pursued, dependency theorists allowed developmental interaction with other parts
of the globe.
According to dependency theorists:-
Economic growth in developed nations did not lead to growth in the poor
countries, whereas activities in richer countries often lead to serious economic
problems in the poor countries.
Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries and they
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to
poor countries.
Poor countries should be empowered themselves on import substitution
practice.
Replace imports to capital products.
Levy higher tariff for capital goods.
Import substitution is not a feasible solution as this increased dependency
on foreign capital goods (machine tools and technology).
New forms of marginalisation from labour intensive structures to capital
intensive structures emerged. (Indebtedness)
Politics became more authoritarian.
Undevelopment v/s underdevelopment: - Undevelopment refers to a
condition which resources are not being used while underdevelopment refers
to a situation in which resources are being actively used but used in a way
which benefits dominant states and not the poor states.
Instead of internal factors such as traditions and values, dependency theorists
(Santos, 1971; Galtung 1971) attributed ‘historical conditions which favoured
the developed west’ as the cause for underdevelopment of the third world.
Immanuel Wallerstein, (2000) identified two interdependent regions of the world
as labour- intensive production based periphery and capital- intensive production
based core. According to them, technology was the most prominent factor which
shaped up the core and periphery nations.

Dependency paradigm was strongly influenced by the Marxist way of social

interpretations. According to Servaes, this notion failed to recognise the local
inequalities and class differences. However, dependency and world-systems
analysis showed that independence from western colonial forces alone had not
sanctioned freedom to the South as those nations were largely dependent on the
foreign policies of North, markets, capital and technology (Mody, 1991).

Based on the critique of modernisation, structuralist and dependency theories;

some Alternative approaches to development emerged.

Mass communication theories are classified in various ways. This is because

theories or the way social processes are explained keep changing or advancing
depending on technological, political and social factors. Most mass media theorists 285
Development Communication: classify theories based on eras of development of mass media. And rightly so,
Models and Theories
because the way the media operated in society and the importance they held
from time to time changed with the change in technology. So while theories are
generally classified as those of the era of mass society, the era of scientific
perspective, the era of limited effects and the era of cultural theory, to facilitate
greater understanding, we classify them as sociological, psychological, critical
and cultural theories and media society theories.

16.4 ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO

DEVELOPMENT
Alternative approaches to development placed individuals above society, allowed
plurality in development discourses and brought participation, equality and
inclusivity as keys to development. It underscored the importance of meeting
basic needs of the ‘last’ person of society and the need to curb unscrupulous
exploitation of natural resources. Some of these include basic needs approach,
another development paradigm, participatory approach, capability as development
and rights based approach. Let us discuss these approaches in detail.

16.4.1 Basic Needs Approach

The Basic needs approach is rooted within the ideas of well being and focuses
upon the fulfillment of basic human needs of people as the overriding objective
of any development policy. People who are unable to meet their basic human
requirements are living in poverty. The approach included identifying and
measuring wellbeing outcomes and focused upon standards of both material needs,
such as food, clothing shelter as well as non-material needs such as employment,
participation and political liberty. The approach was proposed by Paul Streeten
and others. The main features of this approach were:
Provide adequate food and clean drinking water
Provide decent shelter
Provide education
Provide security of livelihood
Help people participate in decision making
Uphold a person’s dignity and self respect.
PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index): The usual indicators of development
such as GDP and GNP did not adequately reflect growth in the quality of life of
an individual. In order to measure the fulfillment of standards in a quantifiable
way, one measure/indicator developed by Overseas Development Council (ODC)
was the PQLI which includes data on three aspects:-
Life expectancy
Infant mortality
Literacy
Flexibility and ease of implementation is the core strength of this approach. Based
on prevailing situations different bundles of needs can be created for different
regions or groups of people. However it remains a top down approach and is
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criticised for its arbitrariness as “Experts” and policy makers generally decide Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
peoples ‘needs’, assuming that all people have exactly the same needs and are
indifferent to individual preferences.

16.4.2 Another Development Paradigm

Jan Servaes (1986) postulated a new paradigm - ‘multiplicity’ or ‘another
development’, which stated, ‘development must be conceived as an integral,
multi-dimensional and dialectic process which can differ from country to country’.

He observed that each country should form their own model of development by
keeping in mind the factors such as basic needs, endogeny (stemming from the
heart of each society), self-reliance, ecological balance, participatory democracy
and structural transformations.

The alternative paradigm of development rejects the idea of economic centralism

in development discussions. It puts both social and cultural aspects of the society
as vital components of development. The scholars associated with this approach
are Jan Servaes, Majid Teharanian and Goran Hedebro. The new definitions for
development under alternative paradigms included clean environment, growth
with equity, provisions for basic needs such as food, shelter, education and medical
care, meaningful employment and a harmonious relationship between culture
and change.
The key elements of alternative paradigm or new paradigm are:-
Greater equality in the distribution of growth
People’s participation
Self reliance and independence
Integration of traditional and modern communication systems
Acceptance of local culture.
Peng Hwa Ang and Shikha Dalmia (2000) traced inherent contradictions
and inconsistencies in the multiplicity paradigm and posed some relevant
questions. What would be the outcome if the history and culture of a society
contradicted any of the principles of the paradigm? What would happen if
an under developed country relied heavily on its own culture in the absence
of any other model? Is the new paradigm free from paternalism (i.e., when
the administrative machinery does everything for its citizens, but not giving
any choice at all)? The authors concluded that the multiplicity paradigm
also was not successful in providing a theoretical framework for development
in many developing countries.

16.4.3 Participatory Approach

The participatory approach, on the other hand, places people at the core of
development processes. It incorporates the concepts in the framework of
multiplicity and stresses the significance of cultural identity of local communities,
democratisation, peoples’ participation at all levels. It emphasises emancipatory
processes that strive towards redistribution of power and greater voice to the
marginalised. Braidottiet al (1994) called for “locally sustainable lifestyles,
participatory democracy and recovery of dominated people’s over powered
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Development Communication: knowledge”. They summarised the alternative perspectives on development as:
Models and Theories
Equity in of information and other benefits of development
Active distribution participation of the people at the grassroots
Independence of local communities (or nations) to tailor development
projects to their own objectives.
Integration of the old and new ideas, the traditional and modern system, the
endogenous and exogenous elements to constitute a unique blend suited to the
needs of a particular community.

Building empathy and communion participatory processes help shape new ideas,
foster trust and encourage people to question existing hierarchies.

The importance of dialogue and participation was ascertained by many other

scholars as well. Well known usages such as “making them (people in the
periphery) masters of their own destiny” (Wang and Dissanayake, 1984),
“development with a human face” and “growth with equity” gained much attention
in the participatory approach to development.

‘Equality’ and ‘access’ constitute two key intertwined facets on which

effectiveness of the participatory model depends. The first emphasising respect
and dignity for otherness and opportunities for collective dialogue rooted in
Freire’s dialogical pedagogy. The second involves the opportunities of access,
participation and self-management (Berrigan, 1977, 1979) in bottom up decision-
making within organisations and in the formulation of policies and plans.

However, later experiences revealed that these were not sufficient to answer the
complex issues of development emerging in the 21st century. Although people
may have chances to access development initiatives, but their ‘capability’ to
utilise such opportunities made a difference.

16.4.4 ‘Capability’ as Development

According to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (2000), the notion of defining
development in terms of Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), industrial output etc. was considered only as ‘means’ of well- being but
this did not guarantee freedom to individuals. The concept of freedom
encompassed better education and health care, removal of poverty and hunger,
political and civil rights which contributed to development and quality of life.
He observed that even in economically well-developed regions; conditions of
lack of freedom and subsequent under-development co-existed for long. Thus
‘development as freedom’ according to Sen can be achieved only by creating an
atmosphere where people have the opportunity to manifest their capabilities. He
defined ‘capability’ as an individual’s freedom to achieve various lifestyles’.

Sen’s proposition on development did not disregard the economic growth

perspectives in a monolithic way. He extended the argument for development
further by focusing on communities within communities and individuals within
families. He correlated conditions of ‘unfreedom’ to lack of development and
ascertained the importance of creating a conducive atmosphere for maximising
the human potential or capability to achieve real development. He did not propose
a model which can be replicated everywhere but pointed out the inter-relationships
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of variables such as economic growth, poverty, under development, support led- Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
strategies, public action and freedom and reaffirmed the importance of evolving
region- specific development strategies (Dreze and Sen, 1996).

Thus in the capability approach, poverty is seen in terms of deprivation of ‘basic

capabilities’ when people are not able to achieve crucially important functionings,
such as being nourished and being sheltered. Unlike the needs approach which
is a consumption oriented approach, the capabilities approach is a people-focused
approach. It focuses on enhancing people’s well being by expanding their
capabilities so that they can look after themselves and lead the life they value. It
is a holistic approach and connects the problem of poverty with the broader issue
of human development. It advocates empowerment initiatives that emphasise
people’s participation and development programmes that provide opportunities
and choices that enable greater control over their lives.

16.4.5 Rights Based Approach

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled.
Historically, recognition of rights has guaranteed minorities and various groups
of people to challenge power structures and enjoy entitlements denied to them.
First generation rights have protected Civil and political liberties; Second
generation Economic Social and Cultural rights have led to greater tolerance to
religious and cultural practices. The Right to Development, a third generation
right is regarded as an inalienable human right which all peoples are entitled to
participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political
development. It is considered as a key element for achieving development goals.

Lately, with globalisation and rising inequities the voices for ‘inclusive
development’ and rights based approach have gained currency in the policy
formulations of national government’s Right to Information, Right to
Employment, Right to Food and Right to Education were fully or partially
implemented or enacted in the country. In this approach, the focus is on
‘distributive equity’ where individuals are empowered legally to claim their rights
and fruits of development.
The right to development contains specific entitlements that include:
People-centred development- identifies “the human person” as the central
subject, participant and beneficiary of development.
A human rights-based approach - requires that development be carried out
in a manner “in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be
fully realised.
Participation - calls for the “active, free and meaningful participation of
people in development.
Equity- the need for “the fair distribution of the benefits of development.
Non-discrimination - permits “no distinction as to race, sex, language or
religion.
Self-determination- integration of self-determination, including full
sovereignty over natural resources, as a constituent element of the right to
development.
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Development Communication: It can be observed that Millennium Development Goals (2000) and Sustainable
Models and Theories
Development Goals (2015) set out by the UN for its member states have linkages
with the rights based approach of development.

Poverty reduction, elimination of hunger, health care, gender equality and

environmental sustainability were some of the eight Millennium Development
Goals targeted to achieve before 2015, by all UN member countries. However,
the MDG targets established by the United Nations in 2000 for the member
states failed to achieve the desired results in parts of the globe, particularly in
Africa. In 2015, September UN set out 17 Sustainable Development Goals which
included targets 169 which are to be fulfilled before 2030 as an agenda for global
development. The crux of these initiatives is to ensure inclusion of the most
disadvantaged people in the process of development.
Check Your Progress 2
Note: 1) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
2) Check your answer with those given at the end of the unit.
1) What are the key features of structuralist and dependency theories?
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2) Trace the salient features of another development paradigm.
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16.5 APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION
The scholarship on the role of communication in development has undergone
paradigmatic changes along with the changes in the approach to development.
Development communications, initially was characterised by the use of mass
media and people were considered passive audiences ready to be influenced by
the messages they received.

Dominated by western notions of development and westernisation,

communication was rooted in the basic Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver
(SMCR) model and was perceived as a simple one-way asymmetrical process.
The top-down, vertical communication models of the dominant paradigm was
challenged by inter-dependency theorists who called for decolonisation of
information conditions in the developing countries. This approach has helped in
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institutionalising “New World Information Order” (Narula, 2014). Further, the Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
dependency theorists pointed out that the control over mass media by transnational
corporations has enabled the promotion of consumerism which led to cultural
imbalances. According to them, mass media should take up the role of an educator
and help them in mobilising their own structure for development.

Subsequently, the Basic needs approach was promoted by Paul Streeten et al

(1979) which was aimed at creating awareness among the poor people about
their fundamental needs such as food, clean drinking water, shelter, education,
livelihood etc. and ways to achieve these minimum requirements. It sought the
government intervention in establishing community media networks to help poor
people who were denied access to mass media due to various socio-economic
factors. By placing the audience who were ‘active’ and ‘participatory’ at the
centre, the New Paradigm of Development in the 70’s proposed a two-way
communication for development between authorities and audience. Bottom-up
interactive communication strategy was adopted in this period.

Paulo Friere, Luis Ramiro Beltran and Arturo Escobar; scholars from Latin
America, enriched the participatory model of development and communication
by exposing the discriminatory approaches in the western models (Sinha, 2013).
Friere through his famous work, ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, revealed the
tendency to promote dependence among underprivileged communities by the
dominant institutions in the name of ‘assistencialism’ (providing assistance to
make them dependent always). Escobar explored the issues related to ‘capital’
based development strategies and how it aggravated the unequal conditions of
development in the developing countries. The Latin American school of thoughts
sought rejection of the ‘transmission models’ mooted by the west by the
participatory model and ‘dialogic communications’.

Under the participatory approach, with increased emphasis on horizontal

communication processes, the focus shifted to motivating the community to
participate in dialogue and evolve their own development strategies. The
importance of the process and context was emphasised in the exchange of
‘meaning,’ and the effect ‘of’ as well ‘on’ patterns of social relationships and
social institutions due to the participatory processes. The emerging alternative
communication paradigm favoured multiplicity, smallness of scale, locality, de-
institutionalisation, interchange of sender-receiver roles (and) horizontality of
communication links at all levels of society (McQuail, 1983:97).

During the 80’s, specific efforts were made to bring development to the needy
through an approach known as Information, Education, Communication within
cultural matrix and Motivation for participation in development (IECM). Mass
media had a pivotal role in each of these stages. Globalisation and economic
reforms introduced yet another approach - technology paradigm in which
decentralisation, participatory democracy and sustainability featured prominently.

Milan L. Rodrigo (1989) highlighted agriculture, irrigation, health education

and family planning as four areas associated with top-down models of
development communication. After explaining the limitations of the economic
(Rostow), modernisation (Lerner) and diffusion (Rogers) approaches of
development communication, she called for a receiver-centered, bottom-up
approach. She emphasised popular participation and facilitation of personal
expression and dialogue and said, ‘for any development programme to be
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Development Communication: successful, it has to be integrated and coordinated with the needs of the people.
Models and Theories
It must also be implemented by committed leaders’. The lack of insight and
understanding in development planners of the needs of their clients were identified
as the major factor for setbacks in achieving desired goals of development.

The basic framework of communication for development hence has seen some
drastic shifts from a simplistic one-way, asymmetrical approach that was used to
influence, less developed third world countries, to adhere to Western ideas and
norms to a more mature sophisticated, two-way symmetrical approach that aims
to involve the target audience through various means of participation. The
conceptual shifts in the concept of development have consequently led to
transformation in the role of media and development communications. You will
read more about it in the next unit.
Check Your Progress 3
Note: 1) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
2) Check your answer with those given at the end of the unit.
1) What is the nature of communication in the modernisation paradigm?
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2) Briefly outline the shifts in the framework of Communication for
Development.
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16.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed the changing concept of development through the
emerging theories of development. The Modernisation or dominant paradigm of
development aimed at replicating the western model of development and Mass
Media was considered a strong agent in bringing about socio-economic change.
It was criticised for its economic growth oriented linear top down approach and
was later replaced by the structuralist and dependency theories. These theories
focused on underdeveloped countries which need to reduce their dependence on
the developed world to overcome their vulnerabilities.

We further discussed Alternative approaches to development including another

development paradigm and participatory approaches that recognised the
multiplicity of perspectives and need for center-staging marginalised groups,
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voices in development debates. The basic needs approach focused on the Development Communication
Concepts and Theories
fulfillment of human needs, and the ‘capability’ as development brought to light
the issue of freedom, capability and choices while the rights based approach
provided an entitlement view towards development. In the last section we
highlighted how through various conceptual changes in the notion of development
the role of communications for development has changed and evolved.

From above discussion you would have learned that there is no universal approach
for developing a region. Ideally, it should be evolved from respective regions as
per the needs and aspirations of the people and it also should facilitate in improving
the quality of life in terms of socio-economic and cultural growth of individuals.
Development experiences in the present context need introspection in terms of
inclusion, equality and freedom and the role of media in current development
discourse.

16.7 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS

Friere, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York: Herder & Herder
Manyozo, Linje (2012). Media, Communication and Development - Three
Approaches, Sage, New Delhi.
Mody, Bella (1991), Designing messages for development communication- An
audience participation based approach, Sage, Delhi.
Melkote, R. Srinivas and Steeves, H. Leslie (2015), Communication for
Development in the third world.Theory and practice of empowerment, Sage, New
Delhi.
Narula, Uma (2014). Handbook of Communication- Models, Perspectives,
Strategies, Atlantic, New Delhi.
Sen, Amartya (2000). Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, New
Delhi.
Servaes, J. (Ed.) (2008). Communication for Development and Social Change,
Sage, New Delhi.
Sinha, Dipankar. (2013), Development Communication- Contexts for the twenty-
first century, Orient BlackSwan, New Delhi.
Waisbord S. (2001), Family tree of theories, methodologies and strategies In
development communication. Rockefeller Foundation, New York.

16.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1

1) The powerful effects of mass media in disseminating information and its

capability in bringing about desirable changes was the foundational pillar
of modernisation theorists. Media was portrayed as magic and mobility
multipliers which can act as an agent in creating ‘empathy among masses’.
Media was perceived as the supporter of development initiatives in this
school of thought.
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Development Communication: 2) Modernisation approaches underestimate the ground realities of least
Models and Theories
developed nations. The technology and innovation provided were not tailor
made for the regions. It undermined the ethnic culture and ignored the
characteristics of communities. The economic imbalance created out of
modernisation was instrumental in increasing inequality in such societies.
Further, it forced the periphery nations dependent on foreign capital intensive
technology and structures and thereby paved the way for neo- economic
colonialism which was based on exploitation.

Check Your Progress 2

1) The structuralist theory prescribed fast-paced industrialisation based on

indigenous technology as a panacea for under-development. They advised
shielding of the domestic economy through Import Substitution
Industrialisation. The reliance of periphery nations on core nations should
be brought down according to structuralists. Dependency theorists were more
realistic about the inadequacies of indigenous technologies for industrialised
nations and advised need based imports of capital goods.

2) Another development paradigm brought in human face to development

discourses. Equality and participation were considered as key drivers of
development according to the theorists. They accepted local culture and
sought a mid-way between tradition and modernity.

Check Your Progress 3

1) The dominant paradigm was characterised by the use of mass media and
people were considered passive audiences ready to be influenced by the
messages they received. Communication was rooted in the basic Sender-
Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) model and was perceived as a simple
one-way asymmetrical process and remained top-down and vertical in
approach.

2) The basic framework of communication for development has seen some

drastic shifts from a simplistic one-way, asymmetrical approach that was
used to influence, less developed third world countries, to adhere to the
Western ideas and norms to a more mature sophisticated, two-way
symmetrical approach that aims to involve the target audience through
various means of participation.

294