Empowerment and Communication: Lessons Learned from Organizing for Social Change
Author(s)
Rogers, Everett M.; Singhal, Arvind
Abstract
Empowerment is the process through which individuals perceive that they control situations. Such perceived agency is a fundamental behavior change, which often leads to many other behavior changes. This chapter synthesizes research on empowerment and communication in the developing nations of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Several investigations into the empowerment of underdogs in society are examined, including a) women dairy farmers in India, b) women members of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, c) community-based radio listening groups in the villages of Lutsaan and Abirpur in India, and d) people living with AIDS in Thailand. Essentially, the process of empowerment occurs in small groups at the local level when individuals organize for social changes in order to accomplish goals that they cannot achieve as separate individuals. By exploring the relationship between individual and collective empowerment, the authors seek to draw a series of lessons learned about the empowerment process and apply them more generally to any type of system in any nation.
