"Mobile value-added services (MVAS) represent a growing collaboration between the private sector and the development community. In this paper, we examine one such MVAS, the Nokia Usaha Wanita service running on the Nokia Life+ platform in Indonesia, and we assess its impact as an innovative means fo ... r the economic empowerment of businesswomen. Data were gathered through 282 telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of women who subscribed to Usaha Wanita. Our research found evidence that subscribers derived economic benefit from using the service. Subscribers reported that their business profits were greater, because of what they had learned from reading Usaha Wanita content. Women who were subscribers also had higher "good month's" profits as well. Increased profits were positively correlated with frequent reading of the tips and information provided by Usaha Wanita and subscriber perception that the service was useful for business. Women who exhibited entrepreneurial optimism also had greater business profits. Findings suggest that entrepreneurial optimism amplified the effect of mobile phone use on profits." (Abstract) more

"The rise of postmodern theories and pluralist thinking has paved the way for multicultural approaches to communication studies and now is the time for decentralization, de-Westernization, and differentiation. This trend is reflected in the increasing number of communication journals with a national ... or regional focus. Alongside this proliferation of research output from outside of the mainstream West, there is a growing discontent with communication theories being "Westerncentric". Compared with earlier works that questioned the need to distinguish between the Western and the non-Western, and to build "Asian" communication theories, there seems to be greater assertiveness and determination in searching for and developing theoretical frameworks and paradigms that take consideration of, and therefore are more relevant to, the cultural context in which research is accomplished. This path-breaking book moves beyond critiquing "Westerncentrism" in media and communication studies by examining where Eurocentrism has come from, how is it reflected in the study of media and communication, what the barriers and solutions to de-centralizing the production of theories are, and what is called for in order to establish Asian communication theories." (Publisher description) more