New book from Ørecomm:
Social Media in Development Communication

The anthology Social Media in Development Communication (pdf, 3 MB), edited by Ricky Storm Braskov, is an outcome of the Ørecomm Festival 2011. It brings together voices from key institutions and experts central in the established world of development cooperation, invited to share their experiences in using social media.

The much discussed role of social media in recent social mobilisations has sparked a historical attention to communication for social change in the spheres of media and communication scholars. Which current conferences or new calls for publications are not about voice and participation, mobilisation and rights, citizenship and change? Communication for social change as a terrain of practice and as a cross-disciplinary field of research is at the verge of drowning in success!

In this environment, communication for development and social change has proliferated, it is becoming increasingly institutionalised, and Ørecomm is striving to take up the challenges, help set the agendas and explore the actual practices on the ground.

Ørecomm is active both in collaborating around the institutionalization of communication for development programs worldwide, in initiating ways and means whereby activists and social movements can make use of media and communication in their struggles for social change. The relation between mass self-communication as seen amongst bloggers and tweeters in for example the Arab spring, and the more formal and established institutions of society constitutes an emerging challenge on the development agenda.

The next Ørecomm Festival — 14-17 September 2012 — will unfold under the theme of ‘Reclaiming the Public Sphere – communication, power and social change’, putting the spotlight on critically reflecting upon how activists and social movements engage in and with the transforming public sphere.

But for now, download and enjoy (pdf, 3MB).