This chapter critically rethinks Communication for Social Change from the perspective of Germany’s postmigrant society. Traditionally, Communication for Social Change has focused on institutional inclusion and development contexts mainly in the Global South. This chapter argues for expanding its conceptual horizon to address communicative inequalities and exclusions prevalent in the Global North. Central to this discussion is the concept of communicative power, understood as the capacity of marginalized groups to create meaning, visibility, and agency through their own communicative infrastructures and practices. Drawing on examples from Germany and Europe, the chapter highlights how marginalized communities emerging from conditions of exclusion actively create their own publics and communicative spaces that challenge dominant narratives and reshape collective understanding. These grassroots processes exemplify how communicative power operates from below, enabling social transformation by contesting structural inequalities and building autonomous, self-organized visibility. Ultimately, it redefines communication as a social capability for the collective creation of meaning and as a foundation for more just and plural societies.

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Communication for Social Change in the Global North: The Case of Germany

  • Kefa Hamidi

摘要

This chapter critically rethinks Communication for Social Change from the perspective of Germany’s postmigrant society. Traditionally, Communication for Social Change has focused on institutional inclusion and development contexts mainly in the Global South. This chapter argues for expanding its conceptual horizon to address communicative inequalities and exclusions prevalent in the Global North. Central to this discussion is the concept of communicative power, understood as the capacity of marginalized groups to create meaning, visibility, and agency through their own communicative infrastructures and practices. Drawing on examples from Germany and Europe, the chapter highlights how marginalized communities emerging from conditions of exclusion actively create their own publics and communicative spaces that challenge dominant narratives and reshape collective understanding. These grassroots processes exemplify how communicative power operates from below, enabling social transformation by contesting structural inequalities and building autonomous, self-organized visibility. Ultimately, it redefines communication as a social capability for the collective creation of meaning and as a foundation for more just and plural societies.