Carolina Matos - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Videos by Carolina Matos

Talk delivered for the De-Colonising Development event for practioners LIDC

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List of publications by Carolina Matos

Health care for Women International , 2025

The pushback on women’s health rights, particularly when it comes to more vulnerable groups like... more The pushback on women’s health rights, particularly when it
comes to more vulnerable groups like indigenous women, has
necessitated new approaches for targeted communication
strategies by health NGOs on sexuality and reproductive health
rights (SRHR). To assess indigenous women’s understanding of
health communications on SRHR, the researchers conducted
focus groups with the comadronas of Saving Mothers in
Guatemala to explore their reception to these messages. Our
results underscored the difficulties of access of these groups to
quality information on reproductive health matters, placing lim
its on their capacity to navigate a complex (and manipulated)
media landscape on SRHR. Based on our findings, the necessity
to foster partnerships between NGOs, indigenous women’s
groups, researchers and government to enhance health literacy
skills, engaging with communities so as to co-create communi
cations material that attends specifically to their needs is
highlighted

Young adults across platforms

, US. Matos' research is the area of gender, media and development and international communicatio... more , US. Matos' research is the area of gender, media and development and international communications. She investigates the role of communications for social change in processes of development, paying particular attention to structural inequalities of gender, race and class. A previous journalist, Matos is the author of four books, various chapters and articles, including the book Gender, health communications and reproductive health in international development (McGill Queen's University Press, 2023).

International Journal of Media and Cultural Politicstics, 2024

How do young members of disadvantaged communities in countries like Brazil, which have been affec... more How do young members of disadvantaged communities in countries like Brazil, which have been affected by attacks from far-right populist politicians on women's rights, make sense of messages on reproductive health in the misinformation age? Two focus groups were conducted in 2021 in collaboration with the Brazilian NGO Reprolatina to assess how disadvantaged women's groups from Campinas, Sao Paulo, were making sense of messaging on reproductive health within a highly politically polarised local context. The findings revealed also how many women from lower income groups are exposed to a lack of information, as well as even 'myths', around fertility treatments and reproductive health matters in the mediated public sphere. The results showed how these groups of women from different age groups felt that there is need for better coverage of reproductive health, and of 'scientific' information on health matters more generally, both in the mainstream media as well as online. This study concludes in favour of improving health literacy approaches, as well as the overall communications on sexuality and reproductive health.

Revisita de Comunicacao Dialogica, 2021

November, 2020

Women in developing and developed countries can still suffer from constraints on their ability to... more Women in developing and developed countries can still suffer from constraints on their ability to exercise their reproductive rights, being subject to gendered norms and forms of control over their bodies and encountering various difficulties to accessing healthcare services. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) thus continue to matter for the advancement of gender equality, whilst communications when strategically used can shape support for progressive policies. This project seeks to advance research on gender development and advocacy communications for social change. A core question asked here is how can communications be better used for advocacy on SRHR? Making use of a mixed methods approach, this research engages with a sample of 52 feminist and health NGOs, located in both the North and the South. In depth interviews with gender experts from the organizations were combined with a survey applied to the communication professionals, followed by content and discourse analysis of their institutional websites and social media engagement. This paper provides a condensed examination of the early research findings and core theoretical frameworks, arguing over the need to deconstruct discourses around SRHR under challenging times and concluding that NGOs need better communication strategies and practices in their advocacy communication efforts.

Rosalind Gill: " we don't just want more cake, we want the whole bakery! " 1 Rosalind Gill: " não... more Rosalind Gill: " we don't just want more cake, we want the whole bakery! " 1 Rosalind Gill: " não queremos só mais bolo, queremos a padaria inteira! "

Books by Carolina Matos

McGill Queen's University Press, 2023

To this day, women globally are subjected to forms of control over their bodies, and their abilit... more To this day, women globally are subjected to forms of control over their bodies, and their ability to exercise their reproductive rights in particular is still constrained. Amid a rise of challenges to the advancement of women’s rights, including the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States, sexual and reproductive health rights are at the forefront of conversations about the advancement of gender equality.

Chapter 2 -Postmodernism, equality and feminism: current contemporary issues What is feminism? ge... more Chapter 2 -Postmodernism, equality and feminism: current contemporary issues What is feminism? gender equality and why it matters Post-modernism and post-feminism: contemporary gender representations Part II Chapter 3 -Gender and the media: international representations and stereotyping The "Third World woman" in the West and issues of stereotyping Post-colonialism and "The Third world women" in international media representations Part III 1 Chapter 4 -"Women in the Third World": contextualising the Brazilian women in an age of globalization Feminists movements and struggles in Latin America and Brazil: from the past to the present The myth of the "Brazilian women": versions of femininity, the body and beauty Chapter 5 -The media, advertising and images of femininity: a case study of images and representations in Brazilian commercials and magazines Gender representations and the Brazilian media: an assessment Advertising and sexism: from female magazines to beer commercials and International Women's Day Part IV Chapter 6 -Feminism, politics and democracy Gender, political philosophy and democracy Feminism, politics and state Chapter 7 -Gender politics, equality and new technologies for development ICTS for development: cyberfeminism, blogging and the Internet Female political representation and gender politics in Brazil Online media activism and new feminist websites: from "Think Olga" to "Blogueiras Feministas" Part V Chapter 8 -Gender, development and democracy: future challenges for transnational feminisms and global gender justice Gender inequality and the media: future challenges and suggestions for reform 2 Constructing avenues for democratic change: the future gender equality in Latin America and Brazil -Concluding remarks Bibliography and references Appendices Interviewees biography List of acronyms 3 Preface and acknowledgements The idea for this book emerged during the course of the research conducted for my previous work on the role of public service broadcasting and the public media in the democratization project in Brazil. One chapter of the book focused on the growing presence and role of new technologies in the country, and particularly the use that female politicians made of social media during the 2010 presidential elections. From the material I gathered then, I saw two important trends 4 developing in Brazil as a result of the re-democratization process: mainly the escalation and intensity of the pressures for social inclusion by various social movements and other civil society groups in Brazil in the last decade, who have been historically marginalised from mainstream society and politics, and the ways in which these demands were increasingly assuming a female face, both in the realm of politics and within wider Brazilian society and everyday life. A lot has changed in Latin America in the last 50 years, including the decline in the traditional hegemony of the US and a shift away from authoritarian forms of government towards more stable liberal democracies which are more socially inclusive and committed to equality. This is a continent which has been traditionally known also for having developed a strong "macho" and male dominated culture, and in the case of Brazil this is present throughout Brazilian society, politics and the media, standing in sharp contrast with a history of vibrant feminist struggles and mobilization. The development of a nation, and the strengthening of its democracy, is closely connected to the ways in which it treats its citizens and grants them citizenship rights and participation. A sustainable and inclusive growth is also dependent on affording more equal opportunities to diverse groups in Brazilian society, thus reducing inequality and advancing the rights of women and other minorities in the polity. Moreover, as Guy Berger, director of the division for freedom of expression and media development from Unesco has argued in the foreword of UNESCO/IAMCR's 2014 report of the Global Alliance on Media and Gender, there is significant scope for the media to make a much more substantial contribution to the advancement of women's rights.

Midia e politica na America Latina

Jornalismo e politica democratica no Brasil

In the aftermath of the dictatorship , Brazil shifted away from the state to embrace market liber... more In the aftermath of the dictatorship , Brazil shifted away from the state to embrace market liberal democracy and global capitalism. The mainstream press in the last 18 years since the end of the military regime has experienced the tensions of attending to the public interest in response to the country's democratisation whilst maximising consumerism approaches to news due to market pressures. The media acquired more credibility amid the growth of press freedom. Public debate and independence from the state also increased and liberal journalism cultures of professionalism and objectivity expanded in newsrooms to the detriment of partisanship routines. Worries concerning the media's adherence to the public interest and the limits imposed on the enhancement of debate are growing though in the light of the continuous predominance of the market in the communication sector. This thesis discusses these realms of conflict by focusing on key historical and political events which contributed to re-shape power structures in Brazil. It debates the role assumed by the press and journalists in the democratisation process (1984-2002). This research has focused on four case studies which include: a) the 1984 direct elections campaign (Diretas Já); b) the first presidential elections of 1989 followed by the 1992 impeachment; c) the elections of 1994, which occurred amid the launch of the real stabilization plan, and d) the 2002 contest which elected the first left-wing government in

Media and politics in Latin America: globalization, democracy and identity

Papers by Carolina Matos

This study examined how women from lower income groups from Campinas Brazil responded to health m... more This study examined how women from lower income groups from Campinas Brazil responded to health messages on sexuality and reproductive health rights (SRHR). As part of the expansion of a larger GCRF i project, two focus groups with various women were conducted in 2021 by the researcher in collaboration with Reprolatina. Applying a feminist standpoint, the study argues for the relevance of focus groups as an important method for 'empowering' participants, connecting individual circumstances to wider societal influences (

Course Design and Development

Media and Politics in Latin America

Media and Politics in Latin America, 2012

Jornalismo e politica democratica no Brasil

As transformacoes ocorridas na sociedade e na politica desde a decada de 1980 sao tema de "J... more As transformacoes ocorridas na sociedade e na politica desde a decada de 1980 sao tema de "Jornalismo e Politica Democratica no Brasil". O livro apresenta a importância da imprensa nessas mudancas e aborda a contribuicao do jornalismo no processo democratico brasileiro. A autora examina quatro periodos politicos distintos do pais: a manifestacao das Diretas Ja em 1984, as eleicoes de 1989, o Plano Real e o governo FHC, em 1994 e, por fim, a disputa presidencial de 2002.