IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/soudev/v1y2006i1p77-99.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

NGOs, Politics and Grassroots Mobilisation

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Devine

    (Department of Economics and International Development University of Bath)

Abstract

Since the early 1980s non-governmental organisations have become a major phenomenon in development, and a focus of attention for academics and practitioners alike. The study of NGOs tends to emphasise their role in the delivery of welfare services and pays less at-tention to their political significance. This despite numerous claims about the contribution of NGOs to civil society and democracy. The article draws on ethnographic research carried out in Bangladesh to explore in more detail the NGO–politics nexus. It demonstrates that there is a strong but complex link between NGOs and politics. On the one hand it confirms the political nature of NGO intervention and activity. On the other hand it highlights how the organisation of politics through NGOs reproduces clientelistic forms of action. This apparent paradox runs counter to most of the assumptions underpinning NGO research. The article closes by exploring this paradox and offering illustrations of how it may actually be an effective form of social action for the poor.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Devine, 2006. "NGOs, Politics and Grassroots Mobilisation," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 1(1), pages 77-99, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:1:y:2006:i:1:p:77-99
    DOI: 10.1177/097317410500100104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097317410500100104
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/097317410500100104?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blair, Harry, 2005. "Civil society and propoor initiatives in rural Bangladesh: finding a workable strategy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 921-936, June.
    2. Sarah C. White, 2002. "Being, becoming and relationship: conceptual challenges of a child rights approach in development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(8), pages 1095-1104.
    3. Bratton, Michael, 1989. "The politics of government-NGO relations in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 569-587, April.
    4. Fox, Jonathan A, 1994. "The Difficult Transition from Clientelism to Citizenship: Lessons from Mexico," Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper Series qt4n4746hk, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa Cruz.
    5. Wood, Geof, 2003. "Staying Secure, Staying Poor: The "Faustian Bargain"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 455-471, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joe Devine & Timothy Hinks & Arif Naveed, 2019. "Happiness in Bangladesh: The Role of Religion and Connectedness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 351-371, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mary Ann Brocklesby & Mary Hobley, 2003. "The practice of design: developing the Chars Livelihoods Programme in Bangladesh," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(7), pages 893-909.
    2. Laura Camfield & Kaneta Choudhury & Joe Devine, 2009. "Well-being, Happiness and Why Relationships Matter: Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 71-91, March.
    3. Mitlin, Diana & Hickey, Sam & Bebbington, Anthony, 2007. "Reclaiming Development? NGOs and the Challenge of Alternatives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1699-1720, October.
    4. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Quoc, Hoang Dinh & Munkung, Nuchanata, 2011. "Social capital and loan repayment performance in Southeast Asia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 679-691.
    5. Jean–Luc Arregle & Bat Batjargal & Michael A. Hitt & Justin W. Webb & Toyah Miller & Anne S. Tsui, 2015. "Family Ties in Entrepreneurs’ Social Networks and New Venture Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(2), pages 313-344, March.
    6. Leonard, David K. & Bloom, Gerald & Hanson, Kara & O’Farrell, Juan & Spicer, Neil, 2013. "Institutional Solutions to the Asymmetric Information Problem in Health and Development Services for the Poor," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 71-87.
    7. Hicken, Allen & Leider, Stephen & Ravanilla, Nico & Yang, Dean, 2018. "Temptation in vote-selling: Evidence from a field experiment in the Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Erik Thorbecke, 2004. "Conceptual and Measurement Issues in Poverty Analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2004-04, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Diana Mitlin, 2011. "Shelter Finance in the Age of Neo-liberalism," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(6), pages 1217-1233, May.
    10. Franco, Jennifer C., 2008. "Peripheral Justice? Rethinking Justice Sector Reform in the Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1858-1873, October.
    11. Ella Schmidt, 2006. "Sustainable Community for Sustainable Development," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 22(4), pages 379-400, December.
    12. Mosa Moshabela & Shira Gitomer & Bongiwe Qhibi & Helen Schneider, 2013. "Development of Non-Profit Organisations Providing Health and Social Services in Rural South Africa: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
    13. Dawood MAMOON & Silvia HERNANDEZ, 2017. "Principle-agent analysis of technology project (LINCOS) in Costa Rica," Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, KSP Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 320-351, December.
    14. Nicola Banks, 2016. "Livelihoods Limitations: The Political Economy of Urban Poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 266-292, March.
    15. Kenju Kamei, 2021. "Incomplete Political Contracts with Secret Ballots: Reciprocity as a Force to Enforce Sustainable Clientelistic Relationships," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(2), pages 392-439.
    16. Hackl, Andreas, 2018. "Mobility equity in a globalized world: Reducing inequalities in the sustainable development agenda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 150-162.
    17. Brass, Jennifer N., 2012. "Why Do NGOs Go Where They Go? Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 387-401.
    18. Edwards, Michael & Hulme, David, 1996. "Too close for comfort? the impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 961-973, June.
    19. Khac Giang Nguyen & Quang Thai Nguyen & Thanh Tung Nguyen, 2017. "Does Growth in Non-profit Institutions Improve Government Transparency? A Case Study from Vietnam," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 286-295, May.
    20. Thomas Dufhues & Gertrud Buchenrieder & Hoang Dinh Quoc, 2012. "Social capital and loan repayment performance in Northern Vietnam," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 43(3), pages 277-292, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:1:y:2006:i:1:p:77-99. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.