COMMUNICATION IN MICROFINANCE
An Exploratory Case Study

Irina Gendelman and Giorgia Aiello
University of Washington

Research Problem

We believe that the field of communication can contribute a large body of scholarly work to the concerns and issues of development. Additionally, neoliberal approaches to development should be examined from the communication perspective in order to understand the effect of globalization on developing nations. As the rhetoric of neoliberalism places a focus on self-help or the idea of entrepreneurship and hard work (Treanor), criticism arises that international NGOs tend to cover up “government inaction or indifference to human suffering” (Pearce, 2000, p. 20). There is a question of whether the actions of NGOs are determined more by their official donors than the needs of their beneficiaries. This is a question of accountability that reflects relationships of power and works to reinforce and/or undermine social norms. Pearce (2000) describes the difference between what she calls “northern” and “southern” NGOs as the major source of last decade’s debate about power structures in development issues.

Communication scholarship can explore many of these problems by examining the discourse between institutions and beneficiaries. Mission statements, outreach models, media and presence in virtual and physical public space (e.g. web and/or physical location) all act as evidence to inform this research. These resources are important indicators of discourse on development. Microfinance NGOs are particularly relevant to this research because they offer a clear set of relationships between global donors and local recipients, as well as between local organizations and individual beneficiaries.

Microfinance is a practice of banking directed at those people who do not have access to traditional banking systems, because of their lack of credit and poverty. The idea behind microfinancing is to provide access to capital in order to stimulate the local economy without promoting a welfare system. This relies on the neoliberal notion of providing tools for empowerment rather than mere assistance. Neoliberalism has been used interchangeably with globalism in that it relies on free market and supports such organizations as IMF and the World Bank (Treanor).

As a result, microfinance practices can be seen from a twofold point of view: on one hand they are transnational, non-governmental attempts to solve local poverty and distribution imbalance at a global level; on the other hand, however, microfinance can be also seen as a product of the post-colonial and global imperialism. The study of communication is especially relevant here because it can contribute to the debates, illuminate these relationships of power and highlight their points of negotiation. To uncover these relationships, our interest lies in how global and local organizations talk about their vision, how they construct their recipients and how they interact with one another.