Sue Bradford takes up residence as Massey University’s activist at CARE

“Activists and academics are not typical bedfellows, but Sue Bradford is making sure the two parties can learn from each other.

The well-known activist and former Green Party MP is the activist in residence at Massey University in Palmerston North for a week. Bradford was asked about a month ago by professor Mohan Dutta​, who is the dean’s chair of communication for the new Centre for Culture-Centred Approach to Research and Evaluation, to take the position.

The two are producing a paper on the partnership between academics and activists in struggles of the oppressed.  Universities often have an artist in residence, but having an activist is not as common. “This question around the relationship between people who are active outside in grassroots organisations and how people inside the universities can work together is quite fraught and difficult because there are often problems,” Bradford said. “But there are also huge advantages to both. It has never been an easy path in this country.”

She said this week was an opportunity to explore the relationship between activists and academics.”Often, academics are seen as people that come in and do research on us, do their PhDs on us.” She wasn’t given any instruction about what she could do while being the activist in residence. Bradford said there wasn’t the same level of political activity in this generation of students as there had been in the past.

On Wednesday, she spoke to students about her background in the 1980s and 1990s working with an unemployment workers group and unions, and on Thursday she held a workshop with Manawatū activists and students. At 2pm on Friday she is speaking about social movements and her history in and out of Parliament, having previously been an MP for 10 years.

“It’s a completely new experience but at the same time I’m into new experiences and finding out about new people.”

Bradford said the CARE centre worked on transforming structures through communication, culture and community, and that’s what she had spent her life doing, so was keen to be involved. Bradford works for the Kotare Trust in Auckland, which does research in education for social change in Aotearoa.

Dutta brought the CARE centre with him to Massey from the National University of Singapore and he is a leading scholar for health communication and is a researcher of indigenous rights and activism. He said the work of CARE was about creating communication platforms for democratic spaces so communities in disenfranchised places had a voice. The centre also looks at poverty and health for migrants and refugees.”

Article Source: www.stuff.co.nz 

Article Link: https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/107443172/sue-bradford-takes-up-residence-as-massey-universitys-activist 

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CARE Activist in Residence: Public Talk by Dr. Sue Bradford- Live Streaming

Wednesday 3rd OCTOBER, 2018, 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm

Public Talk: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, PARTY POLITICS, AND STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION: NAVIGATING A PATH FORWARD IN CHALLENGING TIMES

GLB3.08 | Geography Building, Manawatu campus | MBS1.42 Massey Business School Seminar Room, Auckland campus | 5D12 Communication Lab, Wellington campus

Mediasite: https://webcast.massey.ac.nz/Mediasite/Play/491fa9258f244193a9172fb0fefc9f9c1d

Please click on the URL link for more media related articles on Sue Bradford 

Fortifying Migrant Workers in Singapore

With our “Respect Our Food Rights” campaign launched last year, we partnered with DSM and BOP Hub to address the micronutrient deficiencies faced by our Migrant Construction Workers in Singapore due to the poor quality meals they received. This video below showcases the soft launch of the ‘45Rice’ project in delivering micronutrient-rich rice to this migrant community and eventually the wider public at large in Singapore. The concept of “Hidden Hunger” is introduced and they addressed the issue through the strategy of producing and supplying this micronutrient-rich rice. Our Director, Prof Mohan Dutta, was present to give his insights about the event and the fortified rice that was served.

Prof Mohan and the Deconstruction of the News Hour Debate on Feb 10

So what makes up news? Prof Mohan analyses an episode of the “News Hour Debate” to address the role of the Indian media in cooking up the anti-nationalism debate in India. By providing a few points to lay out the criteria of what makes news, Prof Mohan then deconstructs the Feb 10 episode and goes on to highlight the role of the media in shaping the national conversation and in driving public opinion in a one-sided manner. He also addresses how the media here serve as propaganda tools of the state. Watch the clip below.

[FEBRUARY TALKS] Dr Binod C Agrawal and Dr Tejaswini Niranjana

Last month, CARE invited Dr Binod Agrawal and Dr Tejaswini Niranjana to give a talk on their research they have done in India. Dr Binod shared with us his research on how satellite communication technology has performed and developed in India while Dr Tejaswini presented her research on the process of becoming a woman in India in the age of globalisation. You can watch the recordings of both talks below. Enjoy!

[12 FEBRUARY] DR BINOD C AGRAWAL PROMISES AND PERFORMANCES OF SATELLITE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA

[24 FEBRUARY] DR TEJASWINI NIRANJANA THE REORGANISATION OF DESIRE: CULTURAL LIVES OF YOUNG WOMEN IN GLOBALISING INDIA

[DAY03] Communication for Social Change: Intersections of Theory & Praxis

For the final day of our conference, we had a plenary by Dr. Raka Shome and Dr. Ambar Basu on the topic of “Open Dialogue on Subalternity” and one in the afternoon with our collaborators from HOME and Project X addressing the topic on “Academic-Activist Partnerships in Creating Spaces for Social Change”. We also had 2 panel sessions where the presenters shared their research work on the themes of “Communicating for Social Change” and “A Culture-Centered Approach to Social Change”. We ended the conference with a closing keynote by Mr P.V. Satheesh from the Deccan Development Society.

Plenary 03 – Open Dialogue on Subalternity

Panel 03 – Communicating for Social Change: In Action

Plenary 04 – Academic-Activist Partnerships in Creating Spaces for Social Change

[DAY02] Communication for Social Change: Intersections of Theory & Praxis

For the second day of our “Communication for Social Change: Intersections of Theory & Praxis” conference, CARE had the honour of having Professor Collins O. Airhihenbuwa as the opening keynote speaker along with Dr. Ambar Basu and Professor Barbara Sharf to deliver the plenary sessions. We also had 2 different panel sessions on “Theoretical Articulations of Social Change” and “Social Change Methodologies” presented by different speakers from around the region.

Leadership for Social Justice in Global Health Communication: Why Culture Matters

Plenary 01 – Culture-Centered Method: Postcolonial Interrogations

Panel 01 – Theoretical Articulations of Social Change

Plenary 02 – Gun Violence as a U.S. Public Health Concern: A Case of Narrative Inattention

Panel 02 – Social Change Methodologies

A Workshop with Professor Teresa Thompson

We were graced with the presence of Professor Teresa Thompson who shared with us her insights and experiences on various aspects of health communication. Spanning over 3 days, the workshop has given the participants a chance to interact with Professor Thompson and share their related experiences with her. If you have missed the workshop, here is your chance to catch up with what you have missed.


DAY 01 – Health Communication: Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary, Transdisciplinary Covering the history of the development of the field of Health Communication and the many perspectives that are brought to bear in the study of the interrelationships of communication, health, and health care delivery, this workshop will also emphasize relevant publication outlets and key trends in the field. Practical application and dissemination of research will be an important focus.


DAY 02 – Health Risk Communication: New Challenges for the World Health Organization The World Health Organization is undertaking the development of empirically-based risk guidelines for addressing health epidemics and natural disasters. This workshop will focus upon the directions this project is taking and how these guidelines will be used.

DAY 02 – Health Communication Campaigns: Audiences, Messages, Effects Health campaign research has grown to be one of the biggest areas of areas of study in Health Communication. This workshop will emphasize theoretical bases for campaigns, the development and testing of messages, and implementation of change initiatives.


DAY 03’s session was not recorded as it was a sharing session between Prof Teresa and the participants.

Prof. Mohan on “Health Information Inequality”

In this video, Prof. Mohan addresses the issue of Information Inequality within the context of policies and agreements that impact human health. There are only certain information that is made accessible to the public regarding these policies and the decisions made within agreements usually involve very little public participation. Prof Mohan argues that these two elements have very important health consequences that are not being argued about, and thus the need for more democratic spaces.