The role of 'stillness' and 'nostalgia' in sustainable development: Asking different questions in communication for development

In this paper I will focus on a diachronic notion of 'stillness' evoked through media and communication for development practices. I consider how notions of voice and listening might be understood as moments of stillness in a fast moving and mobile world. I draw upon Bissell and Fuller's (2010) idea of stillness as referring to practices and states of contemplation, halting, reflecting and stepping back from the fully social flow of life. I also draw on Seremetakis (1994), whose work points to the occasional stilling of the senses paying an important personal and social role in the context of official cultures and memories. I’m interested in the ways in which practices of voice and listening can be thought about as achieving stillness, and what this means for the ways in which we research communication for development.