An important contribution to our understanding of social movements and a useful toolkit for organizers. Concrete and practical discussions of how face-to-face communication, group meetings, telephone, printed media (leaflets, posters, newsletters, and so on), mass media, and the Internet are used—as well as the factors that influence their usage and of the functions they serve—make the book invaluable. . . . A sourcebook for movement scholars and activists.
Bert Klandermans, Professor of Applied Social Psychology at Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands The book is aimed to give practical tools to social activists, fund raisers, lobbyists, and other persons who want to have access to the inside of the mass media, in order to disseminate their messages. Communicating for Change is a well-constructed book, following the same methodological structure in each of its eight chapters. Professional advocates and political advisers will find here some inspiring strategies for campaigns (or maybe ways to protect themselves from these aggressive methods). Scholars in media studies, political science, and students in associations will also find many case studies.
Political Studies Review
McHale documents how activists use a wide range of communication forms . . . to enact significant social change. The result of this in-depth, compelling ethnographic study is no less than a groundbreaking grounded theory of communication for social change that serves as both an exemplar for scholars studying communication activism and as a useful handbook that provides practical suggestions for communication activists.
Lawrence R. Frey, University of Colorado, Boulder