Approaches to Development in M4D Studies: : An overview of Major Approaches

• There is no doubt that the proliferation of mobile phones in developing regions has opened up a range of possibilities and new avenues for individuals, governments, development agencies and civil society organisations. But we also know that development is a disputed concept and conveys a range of different connotations. Therefore in this chapter we examine the areas, where   mobile phones are discussed as vehicles for development (i.e. M4D), and how mobile communication is related to the idea(s) of development today. To  examine this, we have reviewed M4D articles in three major conference series and in open source journals during  2008-2012. Three dominant areas of M4D emerge out of our sample: livelihood, health and civic participation. Largely being based on an economic understanding of development and biased towards techno-determinism we conclude this chapter by suggesting a future path for studying the  impact of mobile communication  in developing regions, something what we label as a dialectical approach.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap -- Mänsklig interaktion med IKT (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications -- Human Aspects of ICT (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

mobile phones

development

health

livelihood

participation

capability

M4D

ICTD

ICT4D

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Media and Communication Studies

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)