An engine for social change that would improve all our lives has been popping up in different forms for a long time. But now, The Communication for Social Change Anthology looks at an essential ingredient that has usually been left out of the fuel for such an engine. And that ingredient is a form of communication that involves real listening, communication that is different from broadcasting because it goes both ways. This idea is flowering at just the right time because it is becoming increasingly clear that communication that doesn’t go both ways doesn’t go anywhere. We’ve been looking for the engine that would not break down on us, that would not carry only a few of us forward. This book may hold, finally, the blueprints for that engine and the fuel it can run on. –Alan Alda, Actor, Writer and Director
Change happens in many ways. However, sustained social change relies upon people to endure: the power of people to advocate for the change that will benefit them, the power of people to negotiate through their differences, and the power of people to come together, to form social movements, in order to demand their rights. This anthology recognizes this and has collected an impressive group of authors — including some 14 African contributions — that through the past half century have reflected upon the role of communication in such processes of social change. Communication for social change, as represented in this collection, is an important component in our common cause. –Graca Machel, Chancellor, University of Cape Town, President and Founder of Mozambique’s Foundation of Community Development and Chair of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation Fund
Over half of the book is available for preview via Google Books: