"This book explores how unresolved questions of social justice shape the character of the political terrain and political actors, through the lens of social media. It treats communication as the medium through which social issues and processes are made visible. Given the rise and spread of populist
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politics, the views of ordinary people on social issues have never mattered more. One platform through which these voices can be studied extensively is social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter now X, YouTube, and Instagram, among others, afford ordinary citizens-often marginalized by traditional mainstream media-space to vent their opinions, engage in discussions of whatever topic, share information and ideas, and explore various kinds of information as well as data, links to which are often provided through various macro and micro discursive spaces therein. Arguably, therefore, social media have become a quintessential platform for studying contemporary sociality. Social media must be studied not just as a communication platform, but one through which the social world, social processes and social issues are made visible and, in some cases, enacted. With rich case studies from the Global South, and a particular focus on Africa, this collection does just that." (Publisher description)
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"In at least some cases, visual images can challenge normative and normalized ways of grasping the world and prompt their viewers to see differently-and even bring people together. Seeing and Believing marshals religious resources to recast the significance of digital images in the struggle for soci
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al justice. Ellen T. Armour examines what distinguishes digital photography from its analogue predecessor and places the circulation of digital images in the broader context of virtual visual cultures. She explores the challenges and opportunities that visually saturated social media landscapes present for users and organizers. Despite the power of digital platforms and algorithms, possibilities for disruption and resistance emerge from how people engage with these systems. Armour offers ways of seeing drawn from Christianity and found in other religious traditions to help us break with entrenched habits and rethink how we engage with the images that grab our attention. Developing theological perspectives on the power and peril of photography and technology, Seeing and Believing provides suggestions for navigating the new media landscape that can spark what Armour calls "photographic insurrection." (Publisher description)
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"The book identifies and explains the unequal power relations in place that limit the possibilities of communication justice, the challenges and difficulties faced by activists and communities, the ways in which communities and movements have confronted power structures through discourse and materia
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l action, and their successes and limitations in creating new structures that promote the right to, and facilitate a future for, communicative justice. The volume features contributions based on experiences of resistance and transformation in the Global South—Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Malawi, and collaborations between the continents of Latin America and Africa—as well as notable studies from the Global North—Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom—that defy hegemonic models." (Publisher description)
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"This special issue aims to examine the ways in which games and gaming are connected to and potentially accelerate undemocratic and bigoted movements while simultaneously highlighting projects and perspectives from games and games research that learn from analyzing these issues and then use that kno
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wledge to work towards social justice and against oppression. This introduction presents the logic of the special issue and suggests a path for reading the contributions, starting with those articles which trace the relationship between games and oppression and then moving to those that occupy this problem space and offer potential steps toward solutions. This special issue contains nine peer-reviewed articles as well as a game review, an interview with a designer of games for media literacy education, and two reports that offer practical guidelines for anti-oppressive, reflexive, and revolutionary game design. Each contribution is briefly summarized here." (Introduction, page 1)
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"Community Development for Social Change provides a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of community development and associated activities and discusses best practice from global experience and links that to the UK context. The book integrates the realities of practice to key under
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pinning theories, human rights, values and a commitment to promoting social justice. A range of practice models are described and analysed, including UK models, popular education and community organising as well as a range of practice issues that need to be understood by community development workers. For example, strategies to promote individual and community empowerment, challenging discrimination, building and sustaining groups, and critical reflection on practice. Finally, a range of case studies from the UK and overseas illustrates good practice in diverse contexts. These case studies are analysed with reference to the values of community development, the promotion of social justice and the underpinning theories." (Publisher description)
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"This working paper aims to synthesize current efforts to develop comparable evaluation methods for social issue documentary films. Authored by two researchers who have been jointly documenting the field’s transformation over the past five years, this paper offers a framework for planning and eval
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uating the impact of these films in a networked media environment [...] Drawing insights from the design thinking field—a user-focused creation process that has emerged from the commercial design field and is now being applied to create and improve social sector projects—this working paper examines state-of-the art methodologies for strategic design and evaluation of documentaries. The report’s recommendations are informed by lessons from six case studies of representative films: A Lion in the House; The Line; Lioness; Not in Our Town; Out in the Silence; and State of Fear. These are all award-winning projects featuring compelling documentary films at the center of multiplatform strategic outreach campaigns. All have been screened in traditional broadcast and/or film festival settings, as well as venues designed to engage publics and mobilize advocates relevant to the issue being addressed. These producers utilize a variety of technologies and both online and offline organizing tactics. At their most powerful, they catalyze and support issue-based networks that connect individuals with relevant organizations and empower participants not only to learn about and discuss shared problems, but to organize for action and respond to breaking developments. In this way, documentaries feed both social movements and the broader public sphere." (Introduction)
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"This book is an anthology of work by critical media scholars, media makers, and activists who are committed to advancing social justice. Topics addressed include but are not limited to international media activist projects such as the Right to Communication movement and its corollaries; the importa
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nce of listening and enacting policies that advance democratic media; regional and local media justice projects; explorations of the challenges the era of participatory media pose to public media; youth and minority media projects and activism; ethical dilemmas posed by attempts to democratize access to media tools; the continued marginalization of feminist perspectives in international policy venues; software freedom and intellectual property rights; video activism in both historical and contemporary contexts; internet strategies for defending dissenting voices; and five accounts by prominent scholar/activists of their lifelong struggles for media justice." (Publisher description)
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"On the basis of a thorough review of the growing literature on the mobile phone and the cultures it inspires, Goliama highlights the ambivalent nature of mobile cultures for the Roman Catholic Church's evangelization mission in Africa. He argues not only for the continued merits of face-to-face com
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munication for the Church's pastoral approach in the African context. He points to how this could be enriched by a creative appropriation of the mobile phone as a tool for theological engagement, in its capacity to shape cultures in ways amenable to the construction of a Cell phone Ecclesiology. Such emergent mobile cultural values include the tendency of mobile users to transcend social divides, to promote social interconnectedness, and to privilege the question 'where are you?" (Publisher description)
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