How Edutainment Can Bring about Social Change
INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO FIGHTING POVERTY ARE CENTERSTAGE IN THE FOURTH EPISODE OF THE CLARITY IN A MESSY WORLD PODCAST, WITH ELIANA LA FERRARAPeople do not like to be told what to do. Thus, social change in developing countries can be better brought about by using media and edutainment than by lecturing people, according to recent, rigorous research by Eliana La Ferrara, Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi Chair in Development Economics at Bocconi.
In the latest episode of the Clarity in a Messy World podcast series, Prof. La Ferrara tells how Rede Globo’s novelas contributed to a demographic shift in Brazil and how MTV’s Shuga tv series demonstrated to have the power to change young people's sexual behavior in Nigeria.
During the podcast, Prof. La Ferrara also explains how development economics is increasingly adopting a scientific approach, similar to that used in clinical trials, to effectively fight poverty. This type of methodology earned the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer.
Clarity in a Messy World, hosted by David W. Callahan, is the Bocconi podcast that looks at the causes behind the most confounding issues of our time. You can follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker, and YouTube.
by Fabio Todesco
