Civil society sphericules Emerging communication platforms for civic engagement in Tanzania

1. Civil society sphericules Emerging communication platforms for civic engagement in Tanzania Prof. Thomas Tufte, Ph.D Roskilde University Presentation given at PhD seminar ‘Networked spaces of mediated communication: Forms of appropriation by new social actors and movements’. Søminen, 11 September 2013

2. Aim To explore if and how Femina articulates a ‘civil society sphericule’ Draws on Gitlins concept ‘public sphericules’ (1998) – opportunities to organize around affinity and interest. Denotes the fragmentation and multiplication of the public sphere into ‘a scatter of globules, like mercury’

3. Civic engagement Madianou (2012): tripartite model of engagement: constructing opportunities for speech, proposals for action and promoting increased awareness and understanding Freire: beyond either‘activism’ or ‘verbalism’ (1970) – requires dialogic communication

4. Positioning of NGOs – a paradox and ‘perverse confluence’ between 2 political projects Are they, as NGO, cogs in the ‘neoliberal wheel’ (Mercer & Green 2013)? Negotiating identity between NGOs and social movements.. Negotiating what constitutes the political arena: between neoliberal and radical democratic agendas… Sharing notions of citizenship, participation and civil society.

5. Key research question How does Femina, as a civil society media platform, seek to contribute to young Tanzanian’s civic engagement?

6. Civil society driven media platforms in Africa: history and typology • Normative (ideological - peoples’ organizations, prevalent in the 70s and 80s) • Issue-Driven (fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa in the 90s – now focus is on new issues) • (Transnational) Advocacy Networks – ie the Global Justice Movement) • Mobilizing Mechanisms: Crowdsourcing and aggregation – re-invigorating local, national, global governance processes

7. Tanzania • 1992 multiparty • 2010 last election –new generation politicians • Still low but growing levels of participation in public life and decision-making • Growing, but still weak civil society • Dynamic media development

8. Political culture in Tanzania REDET Study 1994: • 72% of the respondents did not discuss political issues • 80% expressed their fear in scrutinizing government officials and their actions • 70% still depended on the government to solve their day-to-day problems’ (Killian 2008).

9. Tanzanian Youth, Citizenship and Public Sphere Engagement Aisha: When I grow up, I want to be a member of parliament, to be a minister! Why do you like politics? Aisha: I like it because most of the politicians are corrupt, so I might eliminate it. Joyce: We believe them in a very few percent…maybe 20% (Mwanza, March 2011)

10. Introducing Femina HIP • Tanzanian NGO, 1999- • Focuses on lifeskills, citizen engagement, economic empowerment • EE through real life stories • Reaches 25% of the population (TAMS 2010) • Many donors on board, but is a ’homegrown’ organisation

11. Further Research Questions What opportunities does Femina construct for public sphere engagement? What communication strategy is pursued to enable increased ‘public sphere connection’ (ie for the girls in Mwanza)?

12. Research Questions.. Being heavily donor-funded, what constraints are tied to this funding? Who is Femina accountable to and who do they partner with? How does Femina define and relate to its key constituency, ‘Tanzanian youth’? How participatory is Femina in defining problems, strategies and content production?

13. Assumption • A shift has occured from being a traditional service provider NGO to a more advocacyorientedcomm.initiativewith an agenda of enhancing public service monitoring, social accountability and community engagement

14. Research design Ethnography of Femina’s construction of a communicative practice Diachronic (2000-2012) and synchronic (2009-2012) perspectives upon Femina’s work FGDs, interviews, PO, letter analysis, content analysis, document analysis Complemented by Datius and Rose

15. Femina HIP Objectives To build supportive environments in Tanzania where: • Young people in their communities enjoy their right to access information & services and are empowered to make positive informed choices around sexuality and lead healthy lifestyles in order to reduce the negative impact of HIV/AIDS (2007).

16. Femina HIP Objectives To build supportive environments in Tanzania where: • Communities exercise their right to express themselves, participate in public debate & engage in civil society. (Femina HIP Logical Framework, 2007)

17. Media outlets • SiMchezo & Fema • Tv talk show • Radio drama • Interactive website • 600+ Feminaclubs • Partnership with 6-700 organisations

18. FEMA • FEMA. A glossy magazine, 64 pages, 180.000 copies published 4 x a year (rising to 250.000 6x pr year). • Targets youth aged 15-24 especially secondary school students in every region of the country

19. SiMchezo • Si Mchezo! 32 pages,175.000 copies. • In Swahili • 6 x a year. • Targets out of school youth and their communities particularly in rural areas.

20. Connecting with youth:Popular culture and participation in content production Discursive strategy: ‘Street language’ Youth ‘icons’ on the cover (music, sports, politics) National representation (covering regions) Community outreach in story development, foto novels, national events, club input E-feedback (Sms’s, mails, fb, twitter) Youth advisory board Cultures of entrepreneurship and farming

21. Organizing and mobilizing for civic engagement Everyday tension between media production >< social mobilization Long term (the ‘Femina generation’) >< short term (current topical foci) ‘Femina family’: layered constituency: staff, club members, readers, partners… Identity struggle between media, NGO and ‘wannabe’ social movement (=> how is it perceived by the contituency?)

22. Establishing Fema clubs: an embryonic civil society sphericule? 550 in-school clubs, 70 out-of-school Connects to the swamp metafor:‘we find.. a multitude of small forces that surface and burst like bubbles in a swamp. But in the same way that these bubbles are a clear sign that the swamp is alive, we should approach democratic communication as a live creature that contracts and expands with its own very vital rhythms’(Rodrigues 2001/2006: 775)

23. Civil society driven media platforms:common denominators? Engage key target audiences in developing the focus and strategy of campaigns Participatory content production, a dilemma with large constituencies Control and own content development, but often times subdued to constraints imposed by the broadcaster Have ambitious aims in terms of whom to reach/mobilize/engage Layered understanding of constituency

24. Civil society driven media platforms:commondenominators? 6. Often open, critical discourse around previously difficult to talk about issues 7. Embedded in popular culture 8. Draw on edutainment oriented communication strategies 9. Set up broad strategic alliances within civil society and across to private sector, government and media 10. Integrate and balance the short-term mobilization of large groups of people, and the long-term aim of their communication initiative

25. Communicating for change.. ‘a claim is relevant only within a historical context and for a situated subject, and cannot be transferred to a different positioning. A claim only lasts for as long as the dominant forces remain unmoved. As the situation changes, the claim will also change. As opposed to the ‘platform’ or the ‘social project’, claims are not static; they are in constant flux, following the movements of a changing social subject’ (Rodrigues 2001/2006: 776).

26. Thank you!