commbox Global South, Developing Countries

Global South, Developing Countries

Filter

426

Sort by:

Direction:

External Link (91)

Google Scholar (57)

WorldCat (49)

The Handbook of Health Communication in the Global South
Deep Insights

Thomas Tufte, Vinod Pavarala, Eliza Govender (eds.)

Wiley (2027), xxix, 418 pp.

"This Handbook presents 27 chapters across four thematic sections, drawn from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Collectively, these chapters set out a rich collection of perspectives and research studies on how health communication is theorized, practiced, and contested in a variety of Global South c ... ontexts. Each section is structured around a clear thematic focus, yet together they set out to center critical, participatory, decolonial, and community-focused understandings that challenge prevailing paradigms in health communication. The first section—Critical Perspectives on Health Communication in the Global South—locates health communication in the historical and structural contexts of the Global South. Chapters from Latin American, African, and Asian perspectives revisit the conceptual and epistemological underpinnings of the field, questioning how colonial histories, neoliberalism, and biomedical hegemony inform scholarship and practice. Authors adopt strategies from systematic reviews of the literature in Latin America to ethnographic thought from Ethiopia and theoretical explication of the culture-centered approach. Essential preoccupations cutting across the section are decolonization of knowledge, the primacy of Indigenous voices, and building voice infrastructures to counter hegemonies of health. Whether discussing Chinese midwifery reforms, Indigenous ecologies of health in Latin America, or collaborative projects between North and South researchers, these chapters collectively argue for rethinking health communication as a project deeply embedded in struggles for justice and epistemic diversity. The second section—Participatory and Community-Centric Approaches to Health Communication—brings together grounded accounts of community-driven health communication, demonstrating how participatory practices reframe both health and communication. Case studies from across Brazil, South Africa, India, Malawi, and Tanzania focus on women, children, youth, and persons with disabilities. Theater and community media are discussed as key mechanisms for establishing dialogue, deconstructing taboos, and negotiating social norms on sexual and reproductive health, and maternal and child health as well as pandemic responses. Concepts like Ubuntu in South Africa and bem-viver in Brazil, and feminist praxis in India, demonstrate how locally embedded epistemologies enrich health communication for social transformation. The section highlights how marginalized populations assert agency, whether it is resisting donor-led interventions, forging new “healthy publics,” or amplifying youth voices, thereby situating participation not merely as methodology but as political praxis. Section three on Responses to Health Communication Challenges shifts to recent issues in health communication in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, offering empirica lcase studies on ageism, vaccine hesitancy, disinformation, digital health, and youth mental health. From the elderly people in El Salvador organizing against ageism, to Luhya epistemologies of epilepsy in Kenya and to COVID-19 disinformation spread, also in Kenya, the articles feature both some unique health-related vulnerabilities and innovative approaches to addressing them. Digital transformations are given special focus: how Kenyan mothers utilize AI-powered chatbots for postpartum depression, the emergence of China’s short video platforms such as Douyin, and the spread of health influencers in India. The findings demonstrate how cultural norms, structural inequalities, and trust influence attitudes and responses to health. Through their anchoring of lived experiences, the chapters resist a one-size-fits-all approach, rather providing contextually informed insights into how communities respond to pressing health emergencies. The concluding section of the Handbook—Decolonizing Methodologies for Health Communication—presents methodological developments toward decolonizing health communication scholarship. South Asian, African, and Indian Ocean Island contributions place center stage a range of participatory and culturally situated methods. Issues range from participatory transformative research with Indians and Pakistanis living with severe mental illness, LGBTQ+ healthcare communication experiences in India, and the application of mother tongues like Kreol Morisien in Mauritius during the time of COVID-19. African contributions discuss digital ethnographies of indigenous healing among Botswana, Ghanaian proverbs on community radio and their communicative functions, and refugee women’s narratives of exclusion in Nairobi. Collectively, these chapters highlight epistemic justice, linguistic inclusion, and resistance to hegemonic paradigms. They illustrate decolonial methods as not merely methodological decisions but moral obligations, aiming to reclaim voice and agency for subaltern groups and to remap the future direction of health communication scholarship." (Overview of the handbook, pages xxv-xxvi) more

Download (108)

Quadrennial Report 2022-2025: Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists

Antonia Eser-Ruperti, Ka Kio Mok, Xu Jing, Olivier Van Bockstael (eds.)

Paris: UNESCO (2026), 63 pp.

"[...] the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) has proven critical in providing long- and short-term responses to the threats against information integrity. It strengthens the rule of law through empowering judges, prosecutors, and parliamentarians in prote ... more

External Link (210)

Google Scholar (217)

WorldCat (244)

De Gruyter Handbook of Media and Social Change in the Global South

Kehbuma Langmia (ed.)

Berlin: De Gruyter (2026), xii, 564 pp.

"The birth of the newspapers, radio and television in the 19th century brought various interconnected social, behavioral and cultural changes in the lives of the colonizer and the colonized in the economically ‘developing’ nations. Then in the 20th century and now the 21st century, the birth of ... more

Download (91)

Information Disorder and Resilience in the Global South: Structural Drivers, Governance, Media Literacy, and Fact-Checking

Meli M. Ncube, Herman Wasserman, Ruhiya Kristine Seward (eds.)

Stellenbosch: Center for Information Integrity in Africa (CINIA) (2026), 123 pp.

"This book illustrates the reality that information disorder is not solely a problem of untrue news or toxic speech; it is structural, entwined intrinsically with politics, economics, technology, and culture. The same pattern-including a weak media system with consolidated ownership, fragile regulat ... ion, and global platforms orientated toward engagement rather than truth-stands out from Africa through to Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. These conditions create societies that are ripe for misinformation and disinformation. Solutions, therefore, must reach beyond technical fixes and get to the deeper structures that dictate how information flows. WHY THE PROBLEM IS STRUCTURAL. The information disorder framework of Wardle and Derakhshan (2017) helps us to understand the various ways harmful content can manifest. However, intent is difficult to prove, and harm usually depends on context. In the Global South, information disorder proliferates in conditions where media operate on shoestring budgets, governments systematically limit access to information, and platforms capture advertising markets. These structural weaknesses set up an environment in which false content can spread easily and trust declines. MEDIA CONCENTRATION AND PLATFORM DOMINANCE. Latin America provides an example of how the old patterns of media concentration are merged with new digital disruptions. The old oligopolies of traditional media still dominate, but now platforms like WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook oversee the traffic and revenue that flow to them. Algorithms reward sensational content, while programmatic advertising siphons money away from independent journalism. This is what is currently called ‘digital colonialism’ in Africa: foreign platforms set the rules while local languages and contexts are ignored. Infrastructure projects expand connectivity but deepen dependency when ownership remains offshore. REGULATION: BALANCING INTEGRITY AND RIGHTS. Meanwhile, governments have introduced laws against so-called ‘fake news’, but many are based on vaguely worded provisions that have been used to silence critics. Inconsistency and bias towards Global North languages in platform self-regulation persist. Co-regulation, where responsibility is shared by states and companies under independent oversight, is preferable, but Information Disorder and Resilience in the Global South requires robust institutions and civil society participation. Transparency of algorithms, data portability, and competition measures will be necessary to check the power of platforms. JOURNALISM UNDER PRESSURE. The collapse of the old revenue models and the capture of advertising by platforms have done much to make journalism economically fragile. But this is more than a business problem; it is, importantly, a democratic one. When newsrooms are starved of resources, quality suffers and trust erodes. Hybrid funding models-subscriptions, donations, and philanthropy-help, but these have their limits. Journalism should be considered akin to public infrastructure and supported as such by fair taxation levied on digital platforms, alongside policies to ensure media diversity. FACT CHECKING, MEDIA LITERACY. Fact-checking is indispensable, but it cannot be the sole panacea. It is fraught with political risks, underfunding problems, and maintaining pace with AI-generated output. Programs on media and information literacy show promise, particularly for children, but their effects quickly fade without reinforcement. The Sri Lanka case study further established that practical skills, such as keeping passwords safe, are retained, while habits for verification involving more complexity slowly deteriorate over time. Media and information literacy must be embedded within school curricula and championed through parenting; it must be placed in a local context. SIX PRIORITIES FOR ACTION. To construct resilient information ecosystems, what is required is effort at six points: 1. Support independent journalism with sustainable funding and fair regulation. 2. Incentivize platforms, not just their content, to reduce the spread of harmful material. 3. Localize moderation and infrastructure to counter digital colonialism. 4. Integrate MIL into education and assess long-term impacts. 5. Strengthen networks of fact-checking and connect them with literacy programs. 6. Encourage epistemic diversity through promoting local languages and knowledge systems." (Conclusion, pages 121-122) more

Download (27)

World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Deep Insights

Washington, DC: World Bank (2026), xxxi, 341 pp.

"This Report is the first comprehensive assessment of what artificial intelligence (AI) means for 6.8 billion people living in low- and middle-income countries. It argues that AI represents a historic opportunity for these countries, potentially enabling them to overcome development challenges that ... have defied solution for decades. Given the scarcity of information on AI’s use in developing countries, the Report sets the ball rolling on closing the gap. It uncovers new facts about how businesses and governments in developing countries are using AI—and identifies the main obstacles to greater and more productive use. AI is a general-purpose technology, or GPT. That puts it in rare company. Steam power. Electricity. Computers and the internet. Each transformed not just one sector, but entire economies, and did so continuously, over decades. Each also followed a pattern: slow and uncertain at first, but eventually reshaping how economies produce and how societies function. AI is following a similar pattern, but on a much faster timeline. It took about 80 years for the steam engine to reach lower-income countries, 40 years for electricity, and 20 years for the internet.1 By contrast, middle-income countries accounted for half of ChatGPT’s global traffic within six months of its launch.2 Rapid diffusion on such a scale has not been seen before. But history also teaches us that the countries that benefited most from previous GPTs were not always the ones that came up with the underlying technology. Those that benefited had built the necessary foundations and moved fast to develop applications on top of them. The countries that did not invest in the infrastructure, skills, and institutions that such technologies required to function benefited less and felt the most pain from disruption. This lesson is directly relevant to AI: The winning approach will take advantage of the new technologies, not seek refuge from them. In only a few years, AI has evolved from making predictions to generating content from text, audio, and video to now autonomously executing complex tasks. As it becomes more powerful and pervasive, its value as a tool for development depends on three factors. The first is capabilities. Unlike computers or the internet, AI can perform complex thinking tasks that guide decision-making and usually require human expertise, such as diagnosing diseases, forecasting weather, or advising farmers. These skills are often in short supply in developing countries, so AI has the potential to fill important gaps. The second is concentration. The most advanced AI models, the chips they rely on, and the data centers that run them are controlled by a small number of companies in just a few economies. This concentration creates dependency risks and affects whether the AI tools available will meet developing countries’ needs. However, this concentration also allows countries to customize AI models without having to spend billions of dollars creating the most advanced AI systems from scratch. The third is complements: the foundations that allow AI to be used safely and effectively. AI works best where reliable infrastructure, good education systems, and strong institutions are present. Developing countries often have shortages in all three. AI, moreover, needs to be customized to the local context because it learns from the data upon which it is trained. How quickly countries build these complements—and how well governments and businesses reorganize to use AI productively—will determine how much and how fast AI improves development. In that respect, AI is no different from GPTs that have come before. Ten years ago, World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends called these prerequisites the analog complements to digital technologies. Today, AI requires both strong analog and digital complements to deliver its full benefits." (Overview, pages 1-2) more

Download (25)

Global Information Society Watch 2026. Free/libre and open source software: Visions of openness from the Global South

Association for Progressive Communications (APC); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) (2026), 68 pp.

"This special edition of Global Information Society Watch offers powerful arguments for the decolonisation of free/libre and open source software (FLOSS). The nine thematic reports published here analyse structural exclusions in the FLOSS community, detail what the FLOSS movement can learn from femi ... more

External Link (226)

AI is here. Are we ready?

Eva-Maria Verfürth et al.

D+C: Development and Cooperation, issue 4 (2026), pp. 31-58

"AI is already having a profound impact on our daily lives. The key question is who controls the technology. It is not only in conflicts that AI accelerates the spread of deceptively realistic fakes and makes it harder to distinguish reliable information from manipulation. At the same time, it opens ... more

External Link (217)

Google Scholar (249)

WorldCat (215)

Critiquing Generative AI in Africa's Media Ecosystems

Lungile A. Tshuma, Trust Matsilele

London; New York: Routledge (2026), 215 pp.

"The book argues that as technology is a social construct reflecting existing power dynamics, those in the Global South, and in Africa in particular, are bound to be marginalised and have their knowledge, systems overlooked as the Global North dominates technological developments. The birth of AI ha ... more

External Link (93)

Smartphone Distribution Alone Will Never Close the Gender Gap

Wayan Vota

ICTworks, August 11 (2026)

"Surprise! Giving smartphones to women doesn’t work. A rigorous study from Tanzania tracked women who received smartphones through a distribution program and found that only 34% still possessed their handsets after 13 months. Let that sink in. We’re achieving a 66% failure rate on the most basic ... metric possible. The reasons mirror every failed technology intervention I’ve witnessed over two decades in this field. Women lose smartphones through device theft, technical breakdowns, forgotten passwords they can’t reset without computer access, and social restrictions within households. Rural women predominantly receive secondhand feature phones as gifts from male family members, while men upgrade to new smartphones. This hardware gender divide creates what researchers call “complex patterns in work redistribution.” Men transition from unpaid work to formal employment opportunities enabled by smartphone access, while women often shift into unpaid positions. We’re not just failing to close the gender gap—we’re potentially reinforcing existing inequalities by shifting unpaid labor burdens to women. The regional data exposes the limitations of our current approach. South Asia exhibits the world’s highest gender gaps in mobile technology access, with a staggering 32% mobile internet gender gap that has remained virtually unchanged since 2017. In India, 67% of men own mobile phones compared to only 33% of women—a 34-percentage-point gap that constitutes nearly half the level of male phone ownership. The barriers aren’t primarily economic. Research reveals that income and women’s empowerment have similar explanatory power for predicting mobile phone ownership, suggesting that normative and economic constraints are equally important. Phone usage can raise questions about girls’ “purity” before marriage, while social norms dictate that married women’s primary responsibility is household care, leaving few opportunities for socially acceptable “productive” phone use. The WhatsApp gender gap data reveals the same pattern. Women are 38% less likely than men to use internet-based messaging in India, rising to 50% less likely in rural areas. Even when women gain access to smartphones, they use internet services less frequently than men and for narrower ranges of activities, citing safety concerns, affordability constraints, and poor connectivity experiences." (https://www.ictworks.org) more

External Link (244)

Google Scholar (272)

WorldCat (294)

Decolonising Approaches to Users and Audiences in the Global South: Context, Theory and Method

Tarik Sabry, Winston Mano, Andrea Medrado (eds.)

London: Routledge (2026), xvii, 334 pp.

"Including original essays and contemporary case studies spanning Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Asia, this book provides a nuanced double critique of both local and West‑centric approaches, pushing back against historically extractive audience research logics that have marginalised globa ... more

Google Scholar (203)

WorldCat (237)

From Rural Village to Smart Village: Digital Connectivity for Development

Heather E. Hudson

Routledge (2026), 192 pp.

"This book investigates how the rise of information and communications technologies is transforming life for Indigenous communities and those living in rural and developing areas. The global reach of the internet and the proliferation of mobile phones, broadband and social media have created an inte ... more

Download (97)

Launch of the Commbox Open Access Database: Managing Knowledge in Media Development

Michael Unland, Meli Ncube, Ivana Bjelic Vucinic, Christoph Dietz

Aachen: Catholic Media Council (CAMECO) (2026), 19 pp.

"The commbox combines technology with what I would call a human touch. The platform benefits from digital tools, but it is shaped by people who have spent decades working with media development, communication for social change, journalism support, community media, development communication, and inte ... more

Download (87)

Pathways to Inclusion: Advancing Civil Society’s Role in AI Governance: Evidence from and for the Global Majority

Paola Gálvez Callirgos

Geneva: Globethics Publications (2025), 58 pp.

"This policy brief investigates the role of civil society on AI Governance with particular attention to the Global Majority. The research question explores whether civil society serves as an effective counterbalance to concentrated power in the AI ecosystem to ensure AI systems reflect diverse publi ... more

Google Scholar (323)

WorldCat (304)

Digitaler Kolonialismus: Wie Tech-Konzerne und Großmächte die Welt unter sich aufteilen
Deep Insights

Ingo Dachwitz, Sven Hilbig

München: Beck (2025), 351 pp.

"Das Versprechen der Digitalen Revolution ist die Heilserzählung unsererZeit. Dieses Buch erzählt eine andere Geschichte: Die des digitalen Kolonialismus. Statt physisches Land einzunehmen, erobern die heutigen Kolonialherren den digitalen Raum. Statt nach Gold und Diamanten lassen sie unter mensc ... more

Download (87)

When Fact-Checking Is Not WEIRD: Negotiating Consensus Outside Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic Countries

Otavio Vinhas, Marco Bastos

International Journal of Press/Politics, volume 30, issue 1 (2025), pp. 256-276

"This study unpacks the emerging framework of detection, verification, and correction of falsehoods developed by fact-checkers outside Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries. We explore a series of semistructured interviews carried out in several languages with thirty-seve ... more

External Link (202)

How would a sub-$30 smartphone affect Africa?

James Barton

Developing Telecoms, November 27 (2025)

"African consumers in particular struggle with the cost of 4G-capable devices - the GSMA’s recent Mobile Economy Africa Report for 2025 found that there is still a significant affordability gap, with around 58% of Africans remaining offline because smartphones are too expensive. Together with majo ... more

Download (75)

Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments
Deep Insights

Saiph Savage, Lili Savage

Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2025), 84 pp.

"As AI systems are developed and deployed, they often reflect and reinforce dominant cultural norms, marginalizing non-Western languages, epistemologies, and communities. This report explores the systemic risks associated with algorithmic bias, digital colonialism, and cultural homogenization, while ... more

Download (123)

The Routledge Companion to Global Photographies

Lucy Soutter, Duncan Wooldridge (eds.)

Oxford: Routledge (2025), xxiii, 419 pp.

"In response to widespread demand for more knowledge and insight about contemporary photographies beyond Western centers of production and dissemination, this volume provides a transnational discussion, grounded in dialogue between authors and editors from diverse locations and contexts. Ecological ... more

External Link (337)

Google Scholar (289)

WorldCat (343)

Learning, Digital Skills, and the Global South

Jeffrey James

Cheltenham (UK); Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing (2025), vi, 122 pp.

"With our modern world relying more and more on Internet-based technologies, this timely book takes a renewed look at the ever-increasing digital divide between developing and more technologically advanced countries and the resulting impacts on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Jef ... more

Download (196)

Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States
Deep Insights

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 33 pp.

"Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) face unique development challenges. Higher transportation costs, trade barriers, and limited connectivity impede economic integration. LLDCs rely on neighbouring countries for access to trade routes, resulting in delays and higher costs. These countries also ... more

The Handbook of Health Communication in the Global South Deep Insights

World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence Deep Insights

Digitaler Kolonialismus: Wie Tech-Konzerne und Großmächte die Welt unter sich aufteilen Deep Insights

Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments Deep Insights

Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States Deep Insights

The Handbook of Health Communication in the Global South
Deep Insights

World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Deep Insights

Digitaler Kolonialismus: Wie Tech-Konzerne und Großmächte die Welt unter sich aufteilen
Deep Insights

Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments
Deep Insights

Measuring Digital Development. Facts and Figures: Focus on Landlocked Developing States
Deep Insights