Operational, not theoretical: A critique of the current paradigm in development communication

It has been more than 20 years since Everett Rogers first outlined the elements of the ‘new’, ‘Another Development’, ‘plurality’ paradigm of development. This paradigm was later radicalized and extended by Jan Servaes, who called it ‘multiplicity’. While the paradigm was developed in response to the shortcomings of the earlier modernization paradigm, policy makers in Third World countries continue to use the recommendations of the older paradigm. This paper suggests that the failure of the new paradigm to replace the older one may be due to its own contradictions and inconsistencies. The paper presents the various elements of this paradigm and then critically evaluates them. It discusses why the conceptualizations in the new paradigm are not always useful, and notes that while some of the voices being used in it may be new, the ideas are really quite old. The overall purpose of the paper is to initiate a systematic critique of the new paradigm—a task the authors feel is long neglected.