Thomas Tufte:
Youth, communication and social change

Ørecomm co-director Thomas Tufte published an article in the current issue of the Brazilian journal Intercom (Vol. 33, No. 2, 2010), on “Youth, communication and social change”; full title in Portuguese: “Juventude, Comunicação e mudança social: negociação, navegação e narração da vida de jovens em uma realidade glocal”. The article (in Portuguese) can be downloaded here.

Abstract:

This article explores how media, communication practices and popular culture have been strategic instruments, social processes and symbolic resources in young people’s articulation of social change. It frames the analysis in the cross-section of two research strands: firstly, that of research on communication for development and social change. The focus of such research is on the development challenges in our society and how media and communication can serve strategic objectives to inform, empower or mobilize particular groups in society. The second strand is youth-specific media and communication research which explores how young people negotiate meaning; navigate socially and culturally in everyday life, and how they narrate their experiences. Based on brief literature reviews from these two strands of research, this article explores how young people today use the media and popular culture to relate to the surrounding society, and to respond to injustice, inequality and insecurity. The cases used to inform the discussions are drawn from my current research in Tanzania; youth using ‘bongo flava’ music and youth engaging with the print magazines, tv talk show and radio drama produced by the local NGO Femina HIP.

Keywords: Youth, communication, citizen media, globalization.