Call Me Impure: Myths and Paradigms of Participatory Communication

Abstract

If there is something I have learned during 25 years of working and reflecting on participatory communication experiences, it is that there is no blueprint or perfect model, as each experience is unique. We can group participatory communication experiences according to some of their features, but they hardly respond to the same common features, except in general. We can group them, for example, according to the media tool they use (i.e., video, radio, print, Internet), but even this is subject to a second review, as none of them strictly uses one tool. We might try the subject theme that is predominant (i.e., reproductive health, women’s empowerment, human rights, rural development, environment, and conservation) but this is also a very fragile classification.