Human rights play a crucial role in today's international relations. They provide standards to which states must conform when dealing with their own citizens. Non-governmental human rights organizations remind states of their obligations in that field. Without this, human rights would have drifted to the bottom of the international agenda.

Against an international context where NGOs are still seen, in contrast to many official development agencies, as the saviours and sources of hope for an otherwise disappointing development process, Dorothea Hilhorst provides for the first time an empirically rooted and theoretically innovative understanding of the everyday politics, actual internal workings, organizational practices and discursive repertoires of this kind of organization. Her evidence and insights lead to a different picture of NGOs from the one prevailing in the literature. Hilhorst develops a model of NGOs not as clearcut organizations, but often with several different faces, fragmented, and consisting of social networks whose organizing practices remain in flux, is helpful to understanding not just these bodies, but official development agencies too.

NGOs have proliferated in number and become increasingly influential players in world politics in the past three decades. From the 1970s, with the access of social movements and private NGOs to local and international institutions, NGOs have enjoyed an opening to bring impact global policy debates. Yet NGOs find themselves highly constrained in bringing their material and epistemic resources to bear in the security arena where their activities normally must be authorized by states, or international organizations acting with authority delegated from states. They also find their activities, particularly in the security arena come frequently under attack as lacking accountability or lacking legitimacy, as NGOs are self-appointed private actors, often representing only themselves, they are seen by many as self-appointed meddlers in transnational affairs, This book provides a comprehensive and accessible analysis whether, or the extent to which, NGOs can contribute as private actors to authoritative governance outcomes in the security realm, and thereby help mitigate armed violence by plugging governance gaps in this arena that state actors, or international governmental organizations (IGOs) either neglect, or can better address with NGO assistance. This book examines the current and future issues surrounding this objective in four sections: (i) a practitioner's perspective of the potentials of conflict governance NGOs, (ii) global civil society and legitimation of conflict governance NGO activities, (iii) conflict governance NGOs as norm entrepreneurs and norm diffusion in global governance (iv) conflict governance NGOs in action.

The Rise and Fall of the Garvey Movement in the Urban South provides the first detailed examination of the Universal Negro Improvement Association's rise, maturation, and eventual decline in the urban South between 1918 and 1942. It examines the ways in which Southern black workers fused locally-based traditions, ideologies, and strategies of resistance with the Pan-African agenda of the UNIA to create a dynamic and multifaceted movement. A testament to the multidimensionality of black political subjectivity, Southern Garveyites fashioned a politics reflective of their international, regional, and local attachments. Moving beyond the usual focus on New York and the charismatic personality of Marcus Garvey, this book situates black workers at the center of its analysis and aims to provide a much-needed grassroots perspective on the Garvey movement. More than simply providing a regional history of one of the most important Pan-African movements of the twentieth century, The Rise and Fall of the Garvey Movement in the Urban South demonstrates the ways in which racial, class, and spatial dynamics resulted in complex, and at times competing articulations of black nationalism.

Why are nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) so successful in today's world? How do they empower themselves? This insightful book provides important new perspectives on the strategic thinking of NGOs, the way they identify themselves, and how they behave. Raymond L. Bryant develops a novel theoretical perspective around the concept of moral capital and assesses that concept through in-depth case studies of NGOs in the Philippines. such perceptions can translate into social power. Bryant examines the ambiguous qualities of NGO strategising, the ways in which the quest for moral capital is bedevilled by the need to compromise with political and economic elites, and the possibilities for NGOs to achieve political goals as moral leaders. in the Philippines and, more significantly, in terms of the contribution it makes to wider debates about NGOs. Jonathan Rigg, University of Durham

This book explores the limits of NGO influence and the conditions that constrain NGOs when they participate in international negotiations Through an empirically rich study of the UN World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS) this book conceptualizes structural power mechanisms that shape global ICT governance and analyses the impact of NGOs on communication rights, intellectual property rights, financing, and Internet governance. The institutional framework of UN negotiations makes it easy for states to exclude NGOs from crucial meetings and to neglect their most relevant demands, in part explaining why NGOs had only limited influence on the policy outcomes of the WSIS in Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005, although high numbers of NGOs participated. Using a critical perspective, Dany demonstrates that despite the far-reaching participation rights for civil society actors, structural power mechanisms continued to limit the influence of participating NGOs and this contradicts the widely held assumption that extensive NGO participation necessarily increases NGO influence on the policy outcomes. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, global governance, the United Nations, and global information and communication politics.

This book reveals the complex relationship between elite perceptions and behaviour, and governance, in China. It moves away from existing scholarship by focusing on functionaries, grass-roots elites, leading intellectuals, and opinion-makers in China and by looking beyond the top leadership, makes a significant contribution to our understanding of shared governance and broadened political participation in China. The chapters in this collection explore the elites' role as opinion-makers, technical experts, producers of knowledge, and executives or managers, and pose a number of questions, the answers to which are crucial to understanding future political and economic development in China. What are elite perceptions of governance, inequality and justice; what do the elites mean by good governance; what is the influence of non-Chinese Communist Party elites in policy-making and implementation in China; how have they exerted their influence in the PRC and influenced its direction of future development; and what have grass-roots elites contributed to governance in local communities? Providing a keen insight into the role elites have played in governing China since 1978, this book is a pioneering effort to bring together elite studies and governance studies. As such, it will be highly relevant for policy-makers within international organizations, governments, and NGOs outside China as well as appealing to scholars and students interested in Chinese politics and governance.

A powerful international agenda has defined what constitutes good governance, democracy, and the proper role of the state and civil society in advancing development. As public spending has declined, NGOs have secured a measure of financial security by taking on service-delivery. At the same time, NGOs are a convenient channel through which official agencies can promote political pluralism.But can NGOs play these roles simultaneously? Can they both facilitategovernments' withdrawal from providing basic services for all and also claim to represent and speak for the poor and the disenfranchised? Are NGOs legitimate political actors in their own right?Jenny Pearce introduces papers that describe some of the tensions inherent in the roles being played by NGOs, and asks whether NGOs truly stand for anything fundamentally different from the agencies on whose largesse they increasingly depend.

In this interdisciplinary study of governance, Hyuk-Rae Kim traces how civil society and NGOs have evolved over time, how they differ in motivation from their Western counterparts, and the role civil society NGOs have played in consolidating democracy as the governance system in Korea changes from a state-centric to a contested one. This book presents civil society's rise in Korea through in-depth analyses of today's most pressing issues, in order to chart the shifting role of a formerly state-centric to a contested governance system in modern Korea. With detailed case studies and policy discussions, this book explores the role of NGOs in campaigning for political reform and the eradication of political corruption; the provision of public goods and services; challenging the government's policies on migration; tackling the issue of North Korean refugees and human rights; and the provision of regional environmental governance. These case studies demonstrate that the state is no longer the sole guardian and provider of public institutions and goods and underline the growing role of civil society in Korea. Both a study of contested governance and an exploration of contemporary Korean society, this book will be of imminent interest to students and scholars alike of Korean politics, East Asian politics, governance, and civil society.

As a result of global dynamics-the increasing interconnection of people and places-innovations in global environmental governance haved altered the role of cities in shaping the future of the planet. This book is a timely study of the importance of these social transformations in our increasingly global and increasingly urban world. Through analysis of transnational municipal networks, such as Metropolis and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Sofie Bouteligier's innovative study examines theories of the network society and global cities from a global ecology perspective. Through direct observation and interviews and using two types of city networks that have been treated separately in the literature, she discovers the structure and logic pertaining to office networks of environmental non-governmental organizations and environmental consultancy firms. In doing so she incisively demonstrates the ways in which cities fulfill the role of strategic sites of global environmental governance, concentrating knowledge, infrastructure, and institutions vital to the function of transnational actors.

This book, based on 25 months of anthropological fieldwork, examines activists and activism in Palestinian nongovernmental organizations in Israel. It concentrates on the ways organizations enable certain processes of self-identification based on activists' constructions of modernity.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. By examining how NGOs operate in Southern India in the early 2000's, this book discusses the challenges faced by small, local NGOs in the uncertain times of changing aid dynamics. The key findings focus on what empowerment means for Indian women, and how NGO accountability to these groups is an important part of the empowerment being realised. The notion of community empowerment, in which the 'solidarity' of a group can be a path to individual empowerment, is discussed, as well as analysing how empowerment can be a useful concept in development. Based on case studies of 15 NGOs as well as in-depth interviews with 80 women's self-help groups, the book highlights the key features of effective empowerment programs. The author uses innovative statistical analysis tools to show how a key factor in empowerment of marginalised women is the accountability relationship between themselves and the supporting NGO. The book goes on to discuss the ways that NGOs can work with communities in the future, and recognises the limitations of a donor-centric accountability framework. It provides a useful contribution to studies on South Asia as well as Gender and Development Studies.

Water users of the Platte River Basin have long struggled to share this scarce commodity in the arid high plains, ultimately organising collectively owned and managed water systems, allocating water along extensive stream systems, and integrating newer groundwater with existing surface-water uses. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act brought a new challenge: incorporating the habitat needs of four species-the whooping crane, piping plover, least tern, and pallid sturgeon-into its water-management agenda. This book tells of the negotiations among the U.S. Department of the Interior, the environmental community, and the states of Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska that took place from the mid-1970s to 2006. Ambitious talks among rival water users, environmentalists, state authorities, and the Department of the Interior finally resulted in the Platte River Habitat Recovery Program. Documenting how organisational interests found remedies within the conditions set by the Endangered Species Act, describing how these interests addressed habitat restoration, and advancing sociological propositions under which water providers transcended self-interest and produced an agreement benefiting the environment, this book details the messy process that took place over more than thirty years. Presenting important implications for the future of water management in arid and semi-arid environments, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in water management, as well as academics interested in the social organisation of common property.

This book examines the role of NGOs in development projects on the African continent. It explores the challenges and the contradictions in the relationship between the NGOs, the supporting agencies, and the African people. It is intended to provide guidance for civil society organizations and their client groups who struggle to find viable means to collaborate with NGOs, the private sector, and public sector. This books argues that increased knowledge and cooperation is essential to the achievement of sustainable development. Therefore, community based organizations and public servants must consider whether they possess the necessary resources as well as the economic opportunities before they embark on any activity. Sustainable development activities might not be useful or reasonable for every rural community in Africa. One thing is very clear; the forces of globalization or sustainable development do not respect cultural boundaries. This book clearly states that for African nations to succeed they must find alternatives to centralized powers of national government. In addition, this book examines the transformation of several sub-Saharan African nations in the twenty-first century. African nations must reevaluate their concept of leadership, which rests on the notion that good leaders are born, not made. Therefore, there should be a greater emphasis on the development of political and managerial skills through formal education and industrial training. NGOs and civil societies could play a vital role in this transformation and, therefore, the future of Africa.

Over the past two decades, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have exploded in number and emerged as a new force in international and transnational politics. Why, however, do some countries nonetheless have more active NGO sectors than others? Using the case of Japan, this book uncovers patterns of convergence and divergence in levels of activism across industrialized countries and offers a two-level political explanation for the rise of NGOs as a global phenomenon. The author argues that activism has been cultivated from "above" and shows the ways in which political structures and processes at the domestic and international level have either encouraged or discouraged activism. Japan, a late developer in terms of its number of NGOs, provided a poor political environment for NGO activism for most of the post-war period. In the past two decades, however, as this situation has changed, NGOs have become a visible player as both critics and partners of the government.. Using the concepts of international political opportunity, norm socialization and transnational diffusion, Reimann traces the ways in which domestic and international politics interact and promote the rise of NGOs globally. This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working in political science, international relations, sociology, policy studies, Asian studies, international development and environmental politics.

By bringing together their respective competencies and resources for the greater good, governments, business, civil society and multilateral agencies have been seeking innovative ways to work together to respond to the myriad global challenges of our time: the impact of climate change; human security; the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and other major diseases; the generation of new investment, entrepreneurship and employment; and financing for development. The appetite for such partnerships appears strong. Over 90% of corporate executives responding to a World Economic Forum survey felt that future partnerships between business, government and civil society would play either a major role or some role in addressing key development challenges. This trend will only be increased by the Western financial crisis and the retreat of the state from many areas of societal concern.

A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via www.tandfebooks.com as well as the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license and is part of the OAPEN-UK research project. By examining how NGOs operate in Southern India in the early 2000's, this book discusses the challenges faced by small, local NGOs in the uncertain times of changing aid dynamics. The key findings focus on what empowerment means for Indian women, and how NGO accountability to these groups is an important part of the empowerment being realised. The notion of community empowerment, in which the 'solidarity' of a group can be a path to individual empowerment, is discussed, as well as analysing how empowerment can be a useful concept in development. Based on case studies of 15 NGOs as well as in-depth interviews with 80 women's self-help groups, the book highlights the key features of effective empowerment programs. The author uses innovative statistical analysis tools to show how a key factor in empowerment of marginalised women is the accountability relationship between themselves and the supporting NGO. The book goes on to discuss the ways that NGOs can work with communities in the future, and recognises the limitations of a donor-centric accountability framework. It provides a useful contribution to studies on South Asia as well as Gender and Development Studies.

This book explores what difference development aid has made to the size, complexity, style of functioning, values and future direction of the NGO sector in India. It does this, first, by giving a comprehensive documentation of the experience of Indian NGOs with foreign aid since Independence. Simultaneously, it also analyses, in a broad historical perspective, some of the issues which are the subject of contemporary debate regarding the voluntary sector and aid, such as who decides ?what? is development and ?how? it should be brought about; whether foreign donors have hidden agendas, and if their aid amounts to cultural imperialism; and whether aid has made NGOs more self-reliant.

The book also looks at the tripartite relationship between NGOs, donors, and governments, examining, for instance, whether the government is justified in imposing restrictions on receipt of funds by NGOs on the grounds that terrorist activities and religiously motivated communal strife are often financed with funds from abroad, with NGOs being used as fronts for both.

Over the past two decades, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have exploded in number and emerged as a new force in international and transnational politics. Why, however, do some countries nonetheless have more active NGO sectors than others?

Using the case of Japan, this book uncovers patterns of convergence and divergence in levels of activism across industrialized countries and offers a two-level political explanation for the rise of NGOs as a global phenomenon. The author argues that activism has been cultivated from "above" and shows the ways in which political structures and processes at the domestic and international level have either encouraged or discouraged activism. Japan, a late developer in terms of its number of NGOs, provided a poor political environment for NGO activism for most of the post-war period. In the past two decades, however, as this situation has changed, NGOs have become a visible player as both critics and partners of the government.. Using the concepts of international political opportunity, norm socialization and transnational diffusion, Reimann traces the ways in which domestic and international politics interact and promote the rise of NGOs globally.

This book will be of interest to postgraduate students and academics working in political science, international relations, sociology, policy studies, Asian studies, international development and environmental politics.

This book details the history of the alter-globalization protests over the last decade and the attempts by various groups on the global left to build alternatives to neoliberal development through the mechanism of the World Social Forum. Gautney analyzes ongoing contests over political organization and strategy among three of the most prominent groups on the contemporary left--social and liberal democratic NGOs, anti-authoritarian (anarchist) social movements, and political parties. Highlighted are the challenges these groups face in developing new, egalitarian social institutions and democratic political programs in the midst of turbulent times.

Focusing on NGOs that work in the areas of rural development, women, and children, the authors' goal is to shed light on the contributions of the sector in the spheres of social welfare, empowerment, service, and rural development. In addition, the problems and difficulties experienced by NGOs are analyzed and explained. This important new book traces the rise of NGOs in India and their transformation over the years, revealing the importance of NGOs in India's development after Independence.

Beginning with a detailed history of voluntarism in India and examination of NGOs around the world, the authors provide the framework for examining NGOs in India as a force contributing to development. They then focus on partnerships and cooperation between NGOs and the government, advocacy and policy implications of NGO activity, accountability within organizations, approaches to problems and delivery of services, NGO life cycles, and the need for a code of ethics within NGOs. Case studies on NGOs designed to assist women, children, and rural development are presented and discussed in the context of development in general and improving the quality of life for all Indian citizens. This careful and comprehensive examination is a unique addition to a growing field of literature on India.

This volume brings together some of the most recent scholarship on government and civil society. It examines the axis of the relationship between national governments and civil society organisations (NGOs) by highlighting commonalities as well as differences among four key regions in the world. Using the stability vs. instability framework, the book explores a range of pertinent issues, including human rights, development, foreign policy, state-building, regime change, governance frameworks, wars and civil liberties. It studies diverse situations, from those entailing comprehensive cooperation to those involving politically contentious and revolutionary activities. With case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, global politics, international relations, sociology, development studies, global governance and public policy, as well as to those in the development sector and NGOs.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have emerged as crucial actors in peacebuilding processes in post-conflict zones, contributing to the liberal state building project. NGOs, like any other organizations, have certain strengths and weaknesses, and face tradeoffs and contradictions in peacebuilding. Given increasing NGO experience in peacemaking and peacebuilding, this volume examines their relatively positive record, as well as the constraints, limitations, and sometimes contradictory impact of their activities and interventions.

This collection brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars exploring how development financing and interventions are being shaped by a wider and more complex platform of actors than usually considered in the existing literature. The contributors also trace a changing set of key relations and alliances in development - those between business and consumers; NGOs and celebrities; philanthropic organizations and the state; diaspora groups and transnational advocacy networks; ruling elites and productive capitalists; and between 'new donors' and developing country governments. Despite the diversity of these actors and alliances, several commonalities arise: they are often based on hybrid transnationalism and diffuse notions of development responsibility; rather than being new per se, they are newly being studied as engaging in practices that are now coming to be understood as 'development'; and they are limited in their ability to act as agents of development by their lack of accountability or pro-poor commitment. The articles in this collection point to images and representations as increasingly important in development 'branding' and suggest fruitful new ground for critical development studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.

This book is for anyone interested in capacity building with NGOs and other civil society organisations. It provides an overview of trends and current thinking about NGO capacity building, the challenges and constraints. It also addresses the difficult issue of why, despite all our knowledge and experience, capacity building interventions commonly fail to meet expectations. Capacity Building for NGOs analyses some of the cultural and contextual constraints that undermine our ability to implement appropriate and effective capacity building interventions. It concludes that not only is effective capacity building possible but it can also have a real and tangible impact. This book is about what works in practice and how best to ensure our investment in capacity building is timely, appropriate and successful.