The newly published book, Communication in International Development: Doing Good or Looking Good, edited by Florencia Enghel and Jessica Noske-Turner, is available for free for the next 50 days via the ReadCube eReader platform, using the following link: https://rdcu.be/4fuv.
Abstract: International development stakeholders harness communication with two broad purposes: to do good, via communication for development and media assistance, and to communicate do-gooding, via public relations and information. This book unpacks various ways in which different efforts to do good are combined with attempts to look good, be it in the eyes of donor constituencies at large, or among more specific audiences, such as journalists or intra-agency decision-makers.
Development communication studies have tended to focus primarily on interventions aimed at doing good among recipients, at the expense of examining the extent to which promotion and reputation management are elements of those practices. This book establishes the importance of interrogating the tensions generated by overlapping uses of communication to do good and to look good within international development cooperation.
The book is a critical text for students and scholars in the areas of development communication and international development and will also appeal to practitioners working in international aid who are directly affected by the challenges of communicating for and about development.
The book contributors are: Mel Bunce, Peter da Costa, Florencia Enghel, Lauren Kogen, Jessica Noske-Turner, Vinod Pavarala, Wendy Quarry, Ricardo Ramirez, Martin Scott, Jo Tacchi, Silvio Waisbord, Karin Gwinn Wilkins, Ben Wilson and Kate Wright.