The Sustainability Imperative in Media Development

This book critically examines how the media assistance and broader "development" sectors have appropriated the catch-all concept of sustainability, originally rooted in economic and environmental fields, to suit their agendas. Analysing 289 project evaluations conducted globally between 1999 and 2019, it scrutinizes the tacit discourses underpinning what Pierre Bourdieu termed “the imperialism of the universal” in fostering media systems in the Global South. The book reveals how processes of self-legitimation operate within an increasingly competitive aid market, highlighting a shift from "post-missionary" approaches to business-driven models.

Michel Leroy has been active in media action for over 25 years, both as an implementer and as a consultant. A member of an international research programme on media action, he holds a doctorate from the University of Dortmund. He is now a researcher focusing on the social impact.