This article argues that a focus on sustainability will allow us to engage the complexity that communication research for development and social change routinely encounters. We start with a brief historical overview, move to the need for sustainability as an organizing principle, then to a consideration of some theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainability, and finally to conclusions concerning the state of the field.
DervinBHuescaR (1999) The participatory communication for development narrative: An examination of meta-theoretic assumptions and their impacts. In: JacobsonTLServaesJ (eds) Theoretical Approaches to Participatory Communication, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, pp. 169–210.
2.
Fair JE (1988) A meta-research of mass media effects on audiences in developing countries from 1958 through 1986. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.
3.
FairJE (1989) 29 years of theory and research on media and development: The dominant paradigm impact. Gazette44: 129–150.
4.
FairJEShahH (1997) Continuities and discontinuities in communication and development research since 1958. Journal of International Communication4(2): 3–23.
5.
HuescaR (2008) Tracing the history of participatory communication approaches to development: A critical appraisal. In: ServaesJ (ed.) Communication for Development and Social Change, New Delhi: SAGE, pp. 180–200.
6.
Inagaki N (2007) Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development. Recent Trends in Empirical Research. Washington, DC: The World Bank, Working Paper Series, Development Communication Division.
7.
LennieJTacchiJ (2013) Evaluating Communication for Development. A Framework for Social Change, London: Routledge Earthscan.
8.
LieRServaesJ (2015) Disciplines in the field of communication for development. Communication Theory25(2): 244–258.
9.
ManyozoL (2012) Media, Communication and Development. Three Approaches, New Delhi: SAGE.
10.
McAnanyEG (2012) Saving the World: A Brief History of Communication for Development and Social Change, Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
11.
MelkoteSRSteevesHL (2001) Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, 2nd ed. London: SAGE.
12.
MorrisN (2003) A comparative analysis of the diffusion and participatory models in development communication. Communication Theory13(2): 225–248.
13.
OganCBashirMCamajL (2009) Development communication: The state of research in an era of ICTs and globalization. International Communication Gazette71(8): 655–670.
14.
Puddephatt A, Horsewell R and Menheneott G (2009) Discussion paper on the monitoring and evaluation of UN-assisted communication for development programmes. Recommendations for best practice methodologies and indicators. Paper presented at the 11th UN inter-agency round table on communication for development, 11–13 March. Washington, DC: UNDP—World Bank.
15.
RogersEHartW (2002) The histories of intercultural, international, and development communication. In: GudykunstWBModyB (eds) Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, pp. 1–18.
16.
RogersA (2005a) The State of Communications in International Development and Its Relevance to the Work of the United Nations, New York: UNCDF.
17.
RogersA (2005b) Participatory diffusion or semantic confusion. In: HarveyM (ed.) Media Matters. Perspectives on Advancing Governance & Development from the Global Forum for Media Development, London: Internews Europe, pp. 179–187.
18.
ServaesJ (1999) Communication for Development. One World, Multiple Cultures, Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
19.
Servaes J (2007) Harnessing the UN System into a Common Approach on Communication for Development. The International Communication Gazette (SAGE) 69(6): 483–507.
20.
ServaesJ (2012) Comparing development communication. In: EsserFHanitzschT (eds) The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research, New York: Routledge, pp. 64–80.
21.
ServaesJEmilyPShiS (2012) Towards a framework of sustainability indicators for ‘Communication for Development and Social Change’ projects. The International Communication Gazette (SAGE)74(2): 99–123.
22.
Servaes J (ed.) (2013) Sustainability, Participation and Culture in Communication. Theory and Praxis. Chicago: Intellect-University of Chicago Press.
23.
Servaes J (ed.) (2014) Technological Determinism and Social Change. Communication in a Techn-Mad World. Lanham: Lexington.
24.
Servaes J and Malikhao P (2014) Communication for development and social change: Three development paradigms, two communication models, many applications and approaches 发展及社会变革传播学:三种发展理论,两种传播学模式,众多实践和方法. Dr Song Shi (trans.). In: Junhoa Hong (ed.), New Trends in Communication Studies. Vol. 1, Beijing: Tsinghua University Press, pp. 20–45 (in Chinese). Available at: http://www.tup.com.cn; http://www.wqbook.com.
25.
Shah H (2007) Meta-research of development communication studies, 1997–2005: Patterns and trends since 1958. Paper presented to ICA, San Francisco, 24–27 May.
SparksC (2007) Globalization, Development and the Mass Media, London: SAGE.
29.
ThompsonJ (1995) The Media and Modernity. A Social Theory of the Media, Cambridge: Polity Press.
30.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2012) Mobile Technologies and empowerment: Enhancing human development through participation and innovation. Available at: http://undpegov.org (accessed 28 January 2015).