Principles of Participatory Communication in Practice:

The Saint John Project

Robert B. Scott, Ph.D.
Department of Film and Photography
Ryerson Polytechnic University
Toronto, Canada.

One of the most important developments in participatory communication in the 1960s was the establishment of the Challenge for Change Program by the National Film Board of Canada. The Program took the position that all citizens in Canada should have access to the actual means of media production so that they could tell their stories from their own points of view. In fact, utilizing the approach of its now famous Fogo Island project, the Program actually loaned inexpensive small format systems to groups interested in bringing about social change in their particular communities. By providing citizens with equipment, the Program hoped to give, as its slogans proclaimed, "a voice to the voiceless."[1]

One application of the Challenge for Change process and ideology -- The Saint John (New Brunswick) Project, which ran from 1966 into the 1970s, became, by Challenge for Change standards, the most successful, the most unique but at the same time the least publicized venture undertaken under the program. Saint John, a large seaport on Canada's east coast, was at the time faced with a variety of problems brought on by major economic depression and rising unemployment. The city had been run for three centuries by a few local families, and the media -- newspapers, television and radio -- were firmly in the hands of the establishment. City council's only method of dealing with the problems was to eradicate them by undertaking massive urban renewal, demolishing whole blocks of tenements at a time. Without adequate public housing to replace them, many low-income families ended up living in the most deplorable conditions. Local landlords capitalized on the housing shortage by raising rents. In the meantime, social service agencies seemed incapable of dealing with the mounting social problems. Saint John was a city in distress.

The following account outlines the questions raised and the strategies employed by a group of citizens in their attempt to deal with the problems in Saint John. This is not a prescriptive formula for social action to be applied slavishly to any situation but a case study of one attempt to deal with a pressing and specific social problem which may prove informative for current community development practitioners. [2]

1. Involvement and commitment

How could one get involved ? A better question is: Why get involved at all? Is it merely to look good, to satisfy one's own interests or guilt and to pursue personal ambitions, or is there some higher altruistic purpose that compels one to help? It is important to know the answers because the trust that people begin to place in the process and the organizers requires a commitment far beyond being a week-end social worker. One must be prepared to spend months and years being involved. Participatory communication is action, not talk.

2. Motivation

The basic motivation for many involved in social change projects arises from a genuine belief that people can solve their own problems if given the tools to communicate their concerns and a methodology for community action. This "bottom-up" approach is built upon a number of principles that continue to inform the participatory development movement to this day:

: 1. The democratic ideal of equality applies to all citizens
: 2. All citizens have the right to participate directly in decisions that affect them directly
: 3. All citizens have the right of access to all public media
: 4. A community should determine the limits of social change only after full and open consultation with all its citizens
: 5. Indigenous knowledge within a community should be considered as useful as imported information
: 6. The community is the essential social unit
: 7. Preservation of the dignity of the individual is the paramount obligation of the community

3. By invitation only or intervention

Having committed oneself to involvement, should one wait to be invited into a neighbourhood or are there circumstances that require some pro-active intervention from outsiders? In the Saint John case, it would have been immoral not to interfere in what was an obvious example of exploitation and social injustice. For anyone with a social conscience, the situation cried out for some intervention. This is of course a moral choice and one has to accept the consequences of entering into a process which might disrupt a community.

4. Initial organization strategies

How representative of the community is the organization? Is it democratically constituted? If not, then the organization can be criticized for not being a legitimate voice for a constituency. In the Saint John situation, it was clear that there was no group or even individuals among the tenants ready to stand up to those exploiting them. It required some "outside" intervention and support from those with some political or economic clout and some social standing willing to use their influence. The impetus came from a number of like-minded professionals (teachers, lawyers, doctors, clergymen) who banded together to influence city administration to seek some viable solutions. From our current position we might regard them as a group of middle class, white, male "do-gooders."but they were nevertheless the first members of the larger community to come forward.

5. Specialists and Untrained Personnel

Specialists in community organizing and media production must feel free to respond to the

particular situation, relinquish their control and adapt their skills. Prescribing specific methodologies and approaches to a social change project may be a mistake. In fact, the common sense and practical knowledge of untrained participants may be more beneficial in dealing with the exigencies than theories that have not been tested in the field and that could divert the process. For example, at the beginning of the the Saint John Project, it was obvious that the dogmatic application of abstract ideas would have quickly brought the project to an end. In fact, many of the strategies employed derived not from the "outsiders" but from the tenants themselves. The same was true for the way that the media were used.

6. Risk and responsibility

Social action is not without risk. For example, getting wider representation from low-income constituencies such as working mothers, the poor, the unemployed, proved dangerous especially when any tenant perceived to be involved in social action risked being evicted. In fact, how does one go about organizing those who are struggling to find a voice when both parties risk recrimination and reprisals? (There were instances in fact when organizers were physically threatened and their property vandalized and stolen.)

7. Forming alliances

In achieving "people power", it is important to work with and include agencies which will understand and support social change and thus enlarge the scope of influence of the group. Unfortunately, it became clear early on that Saint John's social service agencies were reluctant to move too quickly or too far in bringing about change. Eventually, however, the group and the Social Services Council hammered out an agreement requesting the involvement of the NFB which would supply equipment to foster communication in the community, along the lines of the earlier Fogo project.

8. Ideology -- go slow or fast?

Working with established agencies which often have vested interests and perceive such community action groups as upstarts may bring participants face to face with basic ideological differences. In Saint John, it was a classic battle. On the one hand, the Social Service Council advocated a "go slow" approach based on the notion that even the smallest amount of change is a giant step forward and can eventually lead a community to greater self-awareness without straining its social, moral, political and economic infrastructures by more extreme measures. On the other hand, those anxious for quicker and more profound change argued for more drastic action of the kind orchestrated by Saul Alinsky, noted union organiser and social activist in the United States. It was he who captured the imaginations and hearts of young radicals of the day with his call to arms: "Isolate the issue, identify the enemy and go to war."

9. Conflict resolution

The mere prospect of utilizing Alinsky-style tactics was enough to scare off many of the original members of the citizens' group. What remained was a handful of diehards who were now free to proceed on their own. While steps might have been taken to bring the two sides together, the differences were really irreconcilable and could lead to lengthy and unproductive bickering. In the meantime, the tenants were becoming more desperate. Thus, it was decided by the remaining organizers to over-ride the importance of achieving solidarity in favour of addressing the immediate concerns of the tenants themselves. Such decisions sometimes need to be made even though they disregard the basic procedures and principles of participatory communication.

10. Organizing for power -- strategies and outcomes

Social change can not go forward without "people power", that is, the power that comes from a group which represents the interests of the majority of its constituents, which has been democratically constituted and which is willing to speak out and assume responsibility for its actions. Freed from the constraints and limitations that the others had insisted upon, the splinter group spent the next year and a half in the process of organizing tenants. As luck would have it, the organizers happened upon a group of tenants on welfare who were willing to talk about their appalling living conditions. This ready-made group eventually formed the nucleus of an action committee, and from this point on, the project moved swiftly to a climax.

11. Media in social change

Media should function as part of the process, not as a means of creating an end product in and for itself. In the Saint John Project, media were used primarily at the organizational stage. Initially, portapack video cameras were set up in local convenience stores and customers were encouraged to speak their minds, but tenants were reluctant to appear on camera or even in the company of organizers for fear of being recognized by landlords and evicted; later, organizers even went directly to homes in the area, but with little success. However, once the preliminary tenants' group was formed, the participants were to taught the use of video cameras to obtain visual evidence of their living conditions which they could then share and thus reach a common understanding of the problem. Video's immediate feedback accelerated this process of involvement. After that objective had been achieved, the real work of face to face, "real time" planning and negotiations with city officials and other representatives of the community effectively made the further use of media irrelevant; however, the mere idea that citizens had continual access to media became an important element in their empowerment.

12. Media literacy

Understanding the power of media is the end goal of access to the means of media production. Although participants in the Saint John Project learned the techniques of media production through praxis, they also extended their awareness of the media as cultural icons and political tools through the process of deciding how the media were to be used.

13. Setting the objectives

Before the group of tenants could take action, they first had discussions focussing on the situation, identifying the issue and developing strategies that would achieve their goal. The organizers functioned merely as facilitators at this point and encouraged the participants to develop their own solutions and to draw on their experience and knowledge of the community at large. Before long, discussion centred on the need to establish a tenants' association as the only viable means by which they could fight for their rights. Establishing a specific objective meant that all the group's energy and activity could be focussed on a common goal. This decision also helped to strengthen their sense of solidarity.

14. Looking for leaders

In participatory communication, one of the goals is to foster local individuals who will eventually assume the position of leaders in their communities. This is an important step in the process of empowerment since citizens have to realize that they, not outsiders, have to take charge of their own destiny. Such individuals will have to act as spokespersons and representatives for the group in negotiations with city and government officials; thus it is important that they be informed, trustworthy and fair in their dealings both with their own constituents and with those who wield power. At the same time they must be forthright and principled and dedicated to achieving the goals of the group. In the Saint John Project, during meetings first among the tenants themselves and then with the larger community, several individuals with leadership qualities began to emerge as possible candidates to lead the group to their goal of the proposed association. Their charisma shone through in these meetings and their fellow members began to see that these individuals were not afraid to voice their concerns. Their behaviour served as a model in the process of empowerment.

15. Counter tactics

Often those in power will try various strategies to outflank emerging groups to undermine their quest for power and equality. It is therefore necessary to be creative and forthright and provide a good offense as a defence. In the Saint John, almost immediately, the landlords headed off the tenants' initiative by establishing the South End Improvement Group. To deflect criticism about its lack of concern for housing issues, the Improvement Group formed a tenants' sub-committee. To their chagrin, one of the original project workers was elected as chair, whereupon he immediately withdrew so that the tenants themselves could run the committee. This tactic brought landlords and tenants face to face, and for the first time, the tenants were able to bring attention to their plight in a public forum.

16. Withdrawal

Outside organizers have an obligation to step aside and let local citizens assume control of organizations that have evolved from the project. This is an essential step in the process of local participants' achieving independence and self-determination. In the Saint John Project, the tactic of turning over the Tenants' Committee to the tenants themselves was a symbolic but practical gesture in the move toward the tenants' empowerment. Withdrawal also brings with it some obligation for continued involvement after the people have taken full control

This is to indicate that the organizers have not lost interest in the project and the people themselves. Subsequently, some of the organizers did relocate while others who stayed provided support when requested.

17. Sustainability

Once an organization has begun to function on its own, it is important that it seek support from government agencies in order that it can carry on with its work. Part of its credibility rests on its being seen as representing the interests of a disadvantaged group and not merely an extension of the prevailing power structure. That is why within several months the Tenants' Committee seceded from the Improvement Group and established its own autonomous organization which went on to become a powerful voice for all the disadvantaged residents in the area. In the next several years, the Tenants' Association obtained government grants to help develop a day care centre, a health clinic and more adequate public housing.

The Saint John Project ended in a doubly ironic way. First, the city eventually levelled the whole area in the name of urban renewal and thus eliminated the problem of dealing with low-income housing for good. Second, the Canadian government cancelled the Challenge for Change program when some politicians realized that here was a government agency essentially providing citizens with the tools to criticize the very government that was funding the program. Though the Saint John Project produced no documentary film or video, no photo essays, no research papers, it did advance our understanding of the place of media in social change and introduced several new principles that have now become part of participatory development communication process.

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What can we learn from a project thirty years after the fact? Certainly, the need for participatory development communication still exists, since many communities at home and around the world continue to live with gaping social and economic inequities. Participatory communication is a viable approach engaging people in the democratic struggle for self-determination. In fact, as we move deeper into globalization, it may be more important than ever to strengthen local communities simply as a way of preserving their cultural uniqueness in a period of increasing homogenization. The focus on participation of all citizens implies developing strategies of collaboration, co-operation and sharing rather than conflict and confrontation. As tribal cultures learned long ago, the process of negotiation and compromise is the secret of survival. Curiously these are the values central to the ideology on which Internet culture is based. But can the principles of participatory communication be translated to new media like the Internet? Yes, if one can judge from the proliferation of community-based Websites, chat spaces, newsgroups and bulletin boards advocating more participatory modes of interaction and networking. But there still remains a niggling doubt that these virtual communities are simulations only, and that as much as we embrace the new technologies of communication, we move away from dealing face to face with the problems of the real world. As Michael Heim suggests: "Unfortunately, what technology gives with one hand, it often takes away with the other. Technology increasingly eliminates direct human interdependence....Because machines provide us with the power to flit about the universe, our communities grow more fragile, airy and ephemeral, even as our connections multiply."[3] And what of the issue of access to these new media? Cameron Bailey argues that millions are excluded from ownership of the means of participation simply because of their class or race, and he quotes Karen G, Schneider: "[T]he information-rich, however well meaning, have largely determined and prioritized the issues of the information revolution according to their own vision and realities."[4]

A better question to ask is whether or not these new media can in fact be used in any way that is useful in the day to day, "real time" struggle to organize and deal with the immediate issues facing ordinary people at the most basic level. Until the Internet can claim to do this, it is merely another toy for boys.

NOTES

[1] H. Anthony Williamson, "The Fogo Process: Development Support Communications in Canada and the Developing World" in Fred. L. Casmir, ed. Communication in Development (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. 1991.

[2] Chin Saik Yoon, "Participatory Communication for Development" in Guy Bessette and C.V. Rajasunderam, eds. Participatory Development Communication: A West African Agenda (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre/Penang, Malaysia: Southbound Press, 1996)

[3] Michael Heim, "The Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace," in Michael Benedikt, ed. Cyberspace: First Step (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1993), 74.

[4] Cameron Bailey, "Virtual Skin: Articulating Race in Cyberspace," in Mary Anne Moser, ed. Immersed in Technology: Art and Virtual Environments (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996), 37.