Paralympics as a Tool for Communication for Social Change

Audience Perceptions, Affect and the Social Change Potential in Rural Malawi

Abstract

The Paralympics was broadcast in Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time during the 2020 Tokyo Games. This offered a unique opportunity to approach this phenomenon from a communication for social change perspective. Specifically, in this paper we conceive of the Paralympic broadcasts as a form of Edutainment. This conceptual intervention raises a number of pertinent empirical questions. Would the Paralympics be relevant and meaningful to these audiences? How would this new audience interpret the Paralympics? What are the dialogical processes required to engage communities in processes of change?  Drawing on findings from an action research project, we explore the extent to which the Paralympics can be a useful and relevant platform for addressing disability stigma. We argue that mobile screenings of the Paralympics created a critical awareness and served to spark plans for collective action.