Dr Jessica Noske-Turner, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director of the MA Global Communication and Social Change programme, offers her reading recommendations from a new Open Access reading list on Global Communication and Social Change.

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Unless you have access to a well-resourced university library it can be prohibitively expensive to access academic books and journal articles. There are pockets of publications that are published ‘open access’ and therefore available digitally for free. Recently, I asked fellow researchers active in the field of communication and social change to suggest their favourite open access publications. The resulting compilation offers both introductory texts useful for prospective students hoping to get a head-start, as well as new, cutting edge research articles suitable for graduates, practitioners, and indeed all scholars in both the Global South and North.  

For someone just embarking on their journey into the field of communication and social change my recommended entry point would be Prof. Silvio Waisbord’s 2005 chapter entitled ‘Five key ideas: coincidences and challenges in development communication‘. This chapter is included along with other introductory texts in the ‘Foundations in Communication and Social Change’ section, and it neatly summarises some of the key concepts and points of broad consensus in this field. This Foundations section also includes a recent article by Ana Cristina Suzina and Thomas Tufte discussing the significant legacy of the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, on the field of communication and social change. They discuss Freire’s lasting relevant in the context of the recent swathes of social movements, and show how these social change movements actively critiques the assumptions about meanings of ‘development’.   

My other recommendation is the entire section called ‘Diverse Communities and Diverse Practices’, which showcases case-studies of media and communication in action across Africa, Latin America, Asia the Pacific, as well as indeed in the US and Australia. Case studies are not only inspiring to read, but they are also particularly important in this field where there is a tight relationship between theory and practice.

Finally, the concluding section links to full open access books and special issues. Many articles and chapters from these special issues and books are featured earlier sections, but this final section might be useful for people with more specific interests.   

With thanks to the following scholars for their contributions to this list: Dr Florencia Enghel, Michael Kim, Dr Martin Scott, Dr Ana Cristina Suzina, Prof. Jo Tacchi, Prof. Thomas Tufte, Prof. Karin Wilkins.

Have we missed something? Contact Jessica to help build our Communication and Social Change Open Access Reading List.

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Open access reading list: Global Communication and Social Change

Foundations in Communication and Social Change

This section includes some introductory and foundational texts (listed in alphabetical order) useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students.

• Morris, N. (2005) “The diffusion and participatory models: a comparative analysis” in (eds.) Hemer, O. & Tufte, T. Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development. Pp 124-144.
• Thomas, P. (2014) ‘Development Communication and Social Change in Historical Context’ in (eds.) Wilkins, Karin Gwinn, Tufte, Thomas, and Obregon, Rafael, The Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change. Wiley Blackwell. Pp 5-9.
• Suzina, A.C. & Tufte, T. (2020). Freire’s vision of development and social change – past experiences, present challenges and perspectives for the future. International Communication Gazette, 82(5), pp 411-424.
• Waisbord, S. (2005) “Five key ideas: coincidences and challenges in development communication” in (eds.) Hemer, O. & Tufte, T. Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development. pp 79-90.

Diverse communities and diverse practices

This section includes case studies showing a diverse range of approaches to media and communication for social change.

• da Costa, Peter (2012) ‘The Growing Pains of Community Radio in Africa. Emerging Lessons Towards Sustainability’ Nodicom Review 33 (Special Issue) pp 135-148.
• Elliott, J., Samati, M. E., Noske-Turner, J. and Rogers, P. (2020) “Using ‘tepetepe’ for understanding the complexity of people’s lives in Malawi” in J. Noske-Turner (ed.) Evaluating Communication for Development: A Framework in Action. Practical Action Publishing: Rugby.
• Milan, S., & Treré, E. (2019). Big Data from the South(s): Beyond Data Universalism. Television & New Media, 20(4), 319–335.
• Noske-Turner, J. & Tacchi, J. (2016) “Grounding Innovation in Pacific Media, Communication and Development Projects” Informational Technologies & International Development (Special Issue) 12(4) pp. 59-69.
• Ramafoko, Lebogang, Andersson, Gavin  & Weiner, Renay (2012) ‘Reality Television for Community Development. The Kwanda Initiative in South Africa’, Nordicom Review Vol: 33 (Special Issue) pp 149-162.
• Turnbull, Gemma-Rose (2015) ‘Surface Tension: Navigating Socially Engaged Documentary Photographic Practices’, Nordicom Review 36 (Special Issue).

Critical and Alternative perspectives on communication and social change in aid, development, and philanthropic contexts

• Barranquero Carretero, A and Saez Baeza, C. (2017) ‘Latin American Critical Epistemologies toward a Biocentric Turn in Communication for Social Change: Communication from a Good Living Perspective.’ Latin American Research Review. 52(3), pp. 431–445.
• Enghel, F. & Wilkins, K. (2013) ‘The Privatization of Development through Global Communication Industries’. Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 35, no 2, pp. 165-181.
• Gurumurthy, A., 2010. ‘From social enterprises to mobiles-seeking a peg to hang a premeditated ICTD theory’. Information Technologies & International Development, 6(SE), pp.pp-57.
• Pamment, J. & Wilkins, K. (2016) ‘Toward a Common Standard for Aid Transparency: Discourses of Global Citizenship Surrounding the BRICS’. International Journal of Communication. Vol 16 pp 2989–3003.
• Waisbord, S. (2008) ‘The institutional challenge of participatory communication in international aid’. Social Identities. 14(4).

Evaluating communication and social change initiatives

• Noske-Turner, J. (ed.) (2020) Evaluating Communication for Development: A Framework in Action. Practical Action Publishing: Rugby.
• Noske-Turner, J. (2015) “Evaluating the Impacts of Media Assistance: Problems and Principles”. Global Media Journal German Edition Vol 4 (2) pp 1-21.
• Tacchi, J. & Lennie, J. (2014) ‘A participatory framework for researching and evaluating communication for development and social change’ in Wilkins, K., Tufte, T., and Obregon, R., The Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change. Wiley Blackwell.

Open access books and special issues

• Enghel, F. & Wilkins, K. (eds) (2012) Communication, Media and Development: Problems and Perspectives. Nordicom Review. Vol 33 (Special Issue).
• Hemer, O. & Tufte, T. (2005) Media & Glocal Change: Rethinking Communication for Development. CLASCO: Buenos Aires.
• Hemer, O. & Thomas, T. (eds.) (2016) Voice & Matter: Communication, Development and the Cultural Return. Nordicom: Gothenburg.
• Noske-Turner, J. (ed.) (2020) Evaluating Communication for Development: A Framework in Action. Practical Action Publishing: Rugby.
• Suzina, A.C., Tufte, T. & Jiménez-Martinez, C. (eds.) (2020). ‘Freire’s vision of development and social change – past experiences, present challenges and perspectives for the future.’ International Communication Gazette, 82: 5. (three of the articles are open access)
• Thomas, P. & van de Fliert, E. (eds.) (2015) ‘Beyond the Impasse: Exploring new thinking in communication for social change’. Nodicom Review Vol 36 (Special Issue).
• Tufte, T., Jiménez-Martinez & Suzina, A.C. (eds.) (2020). ‘Special Issue: The legacy of Paulo Freire. Roles and challenges of Social Movements’. Commons. Revista de Comunicación y Ciudadanía Digital, 9(2). (articles are in English and Spanish)

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This reading list has been compiled by Dr Jessica Noske-Turner, Loughborough University, with contributions from: Dr Florencia Enghel, Michael Kim, Dr Martin Scott, Dr Ana Cristina Suzina, Prof. Jo Tacchi, Prof. Thomas Tufte, and Prof. Karin Wilkins.

If you would like to find out more about the Institute for Media and Creative Industries and their programmes, please visit our website.

Loughborough University London would like to thank Dr Jessica Noske-Turner for this blog.

This open access reading list is published under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA licence.