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Communication at the Crossroads of Development, Public Diplomacy and Soft Power

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Communicating National Image through Development and Diplomacy

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change ((PSCSC))

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to develop a theoretical basis for better understanding the intersections between public diplomacy and development communication. Both activities involve theories of influence over social change in foreign countries, whether those changes are attitudinal, behavioral, or socio-political. Both involve a voluntary transfer of resources (e.g. money, knowledge, technology) from an actor promoting a specific cause or agenda to a group or organization in a foreign country. Both seek to stimulate and deliver desired policy outcomes through an active civil society and private sector, and both ultimately support what is believed to represent the common good. Both are strategic, planned, and intentional. Through an analysis of how these objectives overlap, the chapter lays a theoretical groundwork for considering how development communication and public diplomacy can be considered as tools of soft power.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.state.gov/r/.

  2. 2.

    http://www.prsa.org/aboutUs/officialStatement.html.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    James Pamment

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  1. James Pamment
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Correspondence to James Pamment .

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  1. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    James Pamment

  2. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Karin Gwinn Wilkins

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Pamment, J. (2018). Communication at the Crossroads of Development, Public Diplomacy and Soft Power. In: Pamment, J., Wilkins, K.G. (eds) Communicating National Image through Development and Diplomacy. Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76759-8_2

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