“…The question then becomes: Which actors and ideas capture the limelight and to what extent is this selection a function of inherent characteristics of new media formats? Like all research on social media, studies investigating this nexus are only in a nascent state (Archetti, ; Denskus & Esser, ; Denskus & Papan, ; Manning, ; Taub, ). Most notably, Lewis, Rodgers, and Woolcock () have posited in a recent edited volume that:[D]istinctive and useful insights into the phenomenon of development can be gleaned by going beyond the source material most familiar to academics and practitioners—namely research monographs, journal articles and policy reports—to include contributions from popular culture.…”
Section: International Development New Media and Ted Talks As Datamentioning
Despite their global popularity and relevance to Communication for Development (C4D), TED talks have not yet been systematically examined from the vantage point of C4D. We offer the first theoretical and empirical investigation of both the content and structure of talks on international development by leveraging definitions of C4D as well as literature on mediatization, rituals in international relations, and online activism. Our analysis suggests that TED talks succeed in disseminating ideas and sparking public interest. At the same time, they reflect institutionalized, corporatized modes of mass communication rooted in elitist discourses and practices. Contrary to popular perceptions, we therefore conclude that while TED talks are an effective vehicle for information dissemination, they are an unlikely catalyst for social change.
“…The question then becomes: Which actors and ideas capture the limelight and to what extent is this selection a function of inherent characteristics of new media formats? Like all research on social media, studies investigating this nexus are only in a nascent state (Archetti, ; Denskus & Esser, ; Denskus & Papan, ; Manning, ; Taub, ). Most notably, Lewis, Rodgers, and Woolcock () have posited in a recent edited volume that:[D]istinctive and useful insights into the phenomenon of development can be gleaned by going beyond the source material most familiar to academics and practitioners—namely research monographs, journal articles and policy reports—to include contributions from popular culture.…”
Section: International Development New Media and Ted Talks As Datamentioning
Despite their global popularity and relevance to Communication for Development (C4D), TED talks have not yet been systematically examined from the vantage point of C4D. We offer the first theoretical and empirical investigation of both the content and structure of talks on international development by leveraging definitions of C4D as well as literature on mediatization, rituals in international relations, and online activism. Our analysis suggests that TED talks succeed in disseminating ideas and sparking public interest. At the same time, they reflect institutionalized, corporatized modes of mass communication rooted in elitist discourses and practices. Contrary to popular perceptions, we therefore conclude that while TED talks are an effective vehicle for information dissemination, they are an unlikely catalyst for social change.
“…As Ryan Manning (2014) wrote in the precursor volume to this book, Popular Representations of Development (Lewis et al, 2014: 213), recent years have seen an explosion of Internet-based communication and publishing forums, ranging from Facebook and Twitter to more traditional websites. These have dramatically lowered the barriers to producing and distributing content, and people can now easily share information, experiences, perspectives, artwork, and almost anything else with their fellow Internet users around the world.…”
The notion of development influences and is influenced by all aspects of human life. Social science is but one representational option among many for conveying the myriad ways in which development is conceived, encountered, experienced, justified, courted, and/or resisted by different groups at particular times and places. This wide-ranging collection from a diverse group of academic and non-academic authors engages with the broad field of development through twelve chapters that deal with music, theatre, fiction, photography, festivals, computer games, the arts, blogging, and other media. It explores three broad areas of alternative forms of knowledge about development, organized around the three themes of ‘translation’, ‘advocacy’, and ‘engagement’. The first of these is concerned with how popular representations of development can successfully compete with and complement formal social scientific representations; the second relates to the politics of popular representations of development, and the way that popular productions shape debates; and the third asks whether popular representations of development can generate alternative critiques that allow for the articulation of views that would be unacceptable to more orthodox means.
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