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Changing Roles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to Advocacy Communicators.

Changing Roles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to Advocacy Communicators. By Thomas Tufte, Roskilde University Presentation given at seminar: ‘ Media and Citizen Engagement – experiences from Kenya and Tanzania’ Nairobi, 7-8 May 2014. Today’s presentation.

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Changing Roles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to Advocacy Communicators.

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  1. ChangingRoles of Civil Society: From Service Providers to Advocacy Communicators. By Thomas Tufte, Roskilde University Presentation given at seminar: ‘Media and Citizen Engagement – experiences from Kenya and Tanzania’ Nairobi, 7-8 May 2014

  2. Today’spresentation • Youth, communication and citizenship: conceptualreflections • Introducing civil society driven media platforms • The case of Femina • Politicalcontext • Strategy, identity and mode of operation • Navigatingcolonial and post-colonialdiscourses of awareness-raising and modernity • Conclusions

  3. EnactingcitizenshipSocial Movements and InsurgentPolitics • ‘in a world marked by the rise of mass self-communication, social movements and insurgent politics have a the chance to enter the public space from multiple sources. By using both horizontal communication networks and mainstream media to convey their images and messages, they increase their chances of enacting social and political change – even if they start from a subordinate position in institutional power, financial resources, or symbolic legitimacy’ (Castells 2009. 302)

  4. Disjunctions of Citizenship- the ménage of exclusion • ‘the state is today unable, and/or unwilling, to promise its subjects existential security (‘freedom from fear’, as Franklin D. Roosevelt famously phrased it) (Bauman 2010: 65)’. When the state acts in this way, the individual citizen is left to his own, unable to obtain existential security, that is unable to obtain and retain ‘a legitimate and dignified place in human society and avoiding the ménage of exclusion’ (Bauman).

  5. Human Security • Human security as freedom from fear describes a condition of existence in which human dignity is realized, embracing not only physical safety but going beyond that to include meaningful participation in the life of the community, control over one’s life and so forth (…)Thus, while material sufficiency lies at the core of human security, in addition the concept encompasses non-material dimensions to form a qualitative whole. In other words, human security embraces the whole gamut of rights, civil and political, economic and social, and cultural (Thomas 2007: 108-109)

  6. Assumption: Human (In)Securitythisconcepthelpsus understand: • The subjective position from whichmanymarginalizedpeople speak and act • Conditions of existence fundamental for agency and communiction • The social reality citizens live in, and the socio-physic situation this reality produces • Helps produce a parameter for the quality and scope of civil society driven media and communicationinitiatives

  7. Civil society driven media platforms- the new darling of developmentcommunication • Normative (ideological - peoples’ organizations, prevalent in the 70s and 80s) • Issue-Driven (fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa in the 90s – now focus is on new issues) • Networking (Transnational Advocacy Networks – ie the Global Justice Movement in the 00s) • Crowdsourcing, mobilizing and aggregation initiatives – re-invigorating local/national/global governance and accountability processes

  8. Communication for Social Change and the proliferation of edutainmentstrategies • Significantexperiences growing out of 20-25 years of HIV/AIDS communication • Soul City (1992) • ADRA (1991/2003) • Straight Talk Foundation (1993) • N’weti, Pakachere, Scenarios from Africa… … and Femina

  9. Key research questions • Whatcivil society spheredoesFeminaseekto construct in itsattempt to provide space and opportunity for civic engagement of Tanzanianyouth? • How doesFeminanavigatebetweenit’sidentities as an NGO, a social movement and a conglomerate of media channels? • How does it define and related to itscontituency ‘Tanzanianyouth’? • How doesFemina as a civil society media platform contribute to youngTanzanian’scivic engagement?

  10. Methodology • 12 weeks of fieldwork over 6 visits between 2009-2012 • Participatory observation in office, seminars, clubs • Interviews • FGDs with youth from secondaryschools

  11. Politicalculture in Tanzania- looking back REDET Study 1994: • 72% of the respondents did not discuss political issues • 80% expressed their fear in scrutinizing government officials and their actions • 70% still depended on the government to solve their day-to-day problems’ (Killian 2008). Since then: democratic development, media development, civil society development. In this context, Femina evolved from 1999 and onwards.

  12. Citizen Engagement in 2011? Aisha: When I grow up, I want to be a member of parliament, to be a minister! Why do you like politics? Aisha: I like it because most of the politicians are corrupt, so I might eliminate it. Joyce: We believe them in a very few percent…maybe 20% (Mwanza, March 2011)

  13. Feminatoday… • Organizing and mobilizing for public sphere engagement: ‘It wasearly morning…. (p.1)

  14. Femina Media Outlets • Fema • Tv talk shows • Radio drama • 600+ Feminaclubs • Interactive website • Facebook group(s) • Partnership with 6-700 organisations • Distribution throughapprox. 2500 schools

  15. FEMA • FEMA. A glossy magazine, 64 pages, 150.000 copies published 4 x a year • Targets youth aged 15-24 especially secondary school students in every region of the country

  16. Femina HIP: A youth-orientedcommunicationinitiative • ‘On enteringFeminaHIP’s top floorheadquarters…’ (p.6)

  17. Popularculture and participation in contentproduction • Street language • Youth ‘icons’ on the cover (music, sports, politics) • National representation (covering regions) • Communityoutreach in story development, foto novels, national events, club input • E-feedback and dialogue (Sms’s, mails, fb, twitter) • Youthadvisoryboard • Cultures of entrepreneurship and farming

  18. NGO, media vehicle or social movement? • Following the elections…(p. 8-9)

  19. Who is Feminaengaging? • The ‘Femina Family’ • Readers • Listeners • Viewers • Club members • Partners • Whothen, canFeminaclaim to representwhenspeaking to opinion formers and descisionmakers, as in the case of the Constitutional Reform process?

  20. Building supportiveenvironments and telling real-lifestories • Combination prevention: sexualhealth and lifeskills, citizen engagement and economicempowerment = ‘a genderempowerment and rights-based approach’ • P. 12…

  21. Conclusion: opportunities • Systematiclistening in order to developthemes. Factoring in the contextsyouth live in • Build trust and empathy– a keyprinciple. Are reasonablyparticipatory • Establish long-term institutionalcollabs (schools) • Develop ‘discursivespaces’ • Promote further establishment at locallevel of suchspaces • Achievehighdegree of popularity, readership and viewership. Thus, achievingreach, and politicalclout. • Long-term commitment/beyondcampagning

  22. Conclusion: opportunities • Go beyondbehaviourchangecommunication….enging in dialogue, participatorypractices, a ‘liberating’ pedagogy, advocacy and social action • Process-oriented more thatresults-focused

  23. Conclusion: challenges • Constructingstrategiesthat: • Enable human security to evolve…Feminaworksmainly with the immaterial dimensions, although not exclusively • Enhancecitizenshipusingmasscommunication and ‘massself-communication’: achievingvoice and representation • Push the boundaries of criticaldebate and citizen engagement • Influencingpolicies

  24. Media, Empowerment and Social Change – issues for discussion • How do strategiccommunicators handle issues of fear, insecurityand negotiation of identity? • How far can civil society organizationsmove in articulatingcitizen engagement. Bottom-up >< Top-down processes. • The balance betweentools and issues, and betweencommunication, organizing and mobilization for social change.

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