Mobile Discourses

Considered the most accessible Information Communication Technology (ICT) ever to emerge, mobile phones are being recommended by international organizations as an essential tool for treating development problems, despite barriers and the lack of evidence of benefits. This book relies on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of reports of the World Bank, the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme to unveil how these intergovernmental organizations articulate their discourse of advising mobiles to improve life. Their main rationale is also compared with previous development and ICT for development (ICTD) theories. Three excerpts from each report were evaluated: the executive summary, the section concerning the impacts of mobiles on development and the chapter highlighting policy recommendations. The analysis found that the three institutions have aligned discourses that exalt and differentiate the impact of mobile phones even more than that of other ICTs. Textual strategies are employed to minimize barriers, project failures and the lack of evidence of outcomes and, in contrast, to highlight easy solutions to these.

Maria Paola de Salvo,MSc in Media, Communication and Development.