Communicative Interfaces for Social Change: Two Case Studies of Youth Advocacy in Tanzania
Authors: Brylla, C.-M. and Reuben, R.
Publisher: University of Amsterdam
Abstract:The precarious situation of young people in Tanzania is marked by the lack of access to quality education, vocational training and job opportunities, which particularly affects young people with disabilities and women. This chapter examines two case studies that aim for positive social change for these two groups. The first is the Youth Disability Advocacy and Research Network, a collaborative project between Bournemouth University and ADD International, a global disability justice organization. This project facilitates communication between activists, academics, campaigning organizations and disability networks in order to challenge the stigma of disability and change practices and policies that have marginalized the youth disability community in Tanzania and globally. The second case study is the Tanzania Media Women’s Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes the rights of woman, girls and children through the use of media. It has advocated for women's wellbeing, gender equality and the destigmatisation of women through different tools to engage with and educate the public about a variety of issues, such as Female Genital Mutilation.
The aim of this chapter is to formulate a conceptual framework for studying the ‘communicative interfaces’ established through the work of YDAR and TAMWA. ‘Communicative interface’ denotes a nexus of contact and change through connection and interaction between different social groups, which results in the bidirectional production, consumption and exchange of information. Being prerequisites for positive social change, communicative interfaces have been used to challenge rigid, binary structures of identity and belonging, such as ability-disability, European-African, privileged-disadvantaged, heard– silenced voices, and men-women.
Source: Manual