A Framework for Decolonising Strategic Communication in Development and Humanitarian Contexts
Why Knowledge Alone Doesn’t Change Behaviour
Why do people act against what they know is good for them? From malaria prevention to environmental action, information rarely leads to sustained change. In this chapter and presentation, I revisit the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) through the lens of development and humanitarian communication. Drawing on case studies from Uganda, Ethiopia, China, and Ecuador, I argue that behaviour change is not just about attitudes, but about belonging, power, and capacity.
The key insight:
- Attitudes are stories about value
- Norms are stories about identity
- Control is a story about agency
When communication ignores culture, inequality, and structural constraints, failure to act is misread as resistance rather than reality. A decolonised TPB shifts communication from persuasion to participation, centering community ownership, relational ethics, and context driven action. This work invites practitioners to rethink behaviour change not as behavioural engineering, but as the architecture of collective action.
Author: Gyaviira Luwaga
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