Civil Society and the Economy: Greek Civil Society During the Economic Crisis

Academic literature has extensively analysed the impact of political and cultural factors on civil society. However, the influence of economic change on the infrastructure and features of civil society has remained relatively understudied. This article analyses the impact of the economic crisis on Greek civil society and links the findings to the broader academic debate on civil society. On the basis of the Greek case, the article argues that: (1) the density of civil society may be a misleading indicator of its strength if abstracted from the broader economic context and (2) the economy is not merely an external force, enabling or hindering the development of associational activity. It also shapes the nature and patterns of civic engagement and participation.     

Women’s NGOs as intermediaries in development cooperation: findings from research in Tanzania

This article employs research conducted with the Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization in Tanzania to discuss opportunities, constraints, and broader lessons about the role of women’s NGOs as intermediaries in development projects. Findings reveal that women’s NGOs often have insecure positions in development projects and are undervalued by executing agencies because advocating for gender equality is perceived as a “natural” extension of women’s roles in patriarchal societies. Women’s NGOs are “feminised” and consequently trivialised in their role as intermediaries, putting gender equality objectives at risk of attrition or abandonment. Under certain circumstances, women’s NGOs can be pushed out of partnership projects altogether.     

“I know! I live here”: poor women and the work of empowerment

To trace the effects of empowerment programmes in the Global South, attention needs to be focused on the everyday practices of frontline staff, or fieldworkers, who convey empowerment ideas and practices at the grassroots. This is especially critical when fieldworkers work in the marginalised communities where they also live. Instead of looking outward towards a programme’s outcomes, this article turns inward to examine the impact of women fieldworkers’ dual experiences of development on their decisions and practices in the field. The ethnography of women fieldworkers in a government-led women’s empowerment programme for the poor in Delhi, India reveals the uneasy relationship of women’s empowerment to the larger contradictory development paradigm that they work within. Fieldworkers used their experiences as poor women to meet programme quotas, while also side-lining social change in favour of shielding clients from ineffective programme activities.     

Promoting NGO–academic partnerships for population,health, and environment learning

Population, health, and environment (PHE) projects integrate family planning, community health, conservation, and livelihoods activities into a single effort. Despite growing calls for integrated services, relatively little academic research on PHE has been published, which has hampered the development of the approach. This article argues that additional partnerships between academics and NGOs are necessary to further advance learning around PHE. However, such partnerships need not be approached in the same way. The article discusses barriers that currently impede the development of stronger partnerships and adapts (Roper, L. 2002. “Achieving Successful Academic-Practitioner Research Collaborations.” Development in Practice 12 (3–4): 338–345) typology of NGO–academic partnership models to describe how different relationship types are currently leveraged within the PHE community.     

What can we learn from programme reports? Lessons from international forestry programmes

This article discusses the current state of knowledge sharing and reporting by international development agencies and NGOs by examining several major internationally supported forestry programmes in Kyrgyzstan. The programme reporting practices of a selection of international development agencies and their limitations are discussed in light of recent developments in the areas of open data, knowledge management, and global reporting standards. The article proposes that focusing on learning and knowledge sharing rather than merely accountability, as well as building on corporate reporting standards, could help establish an easy-to-use global knowledge pool to eventually ensure more effective, evidence-based international development.     

The implications of the rights-based approach on NGOs’ funding

Existing literature suggests that NGOs that adopt the rights-based approach (RBA) may secure more funds from rights-based donors, otherwise they would face funding cuts from such donors. This article investigates the extent to which RBA affects decisions made by ActionAid, intermediate NGOs, and CBOs on accepting certain funding conditions. Research participants from NGOs stated that RBA limits their funding because many donors prefer service delivery. They are also selective about where they apply for funds. For CBO participants, RBA posed fewer problems in terms of their funding decisions. Intermediate NGO and CBO participants claimed that RBA motivates them to locate alternative funding sources locally.     

The North Carolina Way: emerging healthcare system and faith community partnerships

ABSTRACT

United States healthcare policy has promoted the development of healthcare systems and community partnerships designed to decrease costs and readmissions, particularly for under-served populations. Typically, these partnerships are “hospital-centric”, focused on following in-house clinical costs into the community. Two contrasting large-scale community system models show results from development practices, integrating faith community partnerships that affect healthcare utilisation. This “community to hospital” focus is key to several such initiatives in the US. This article describes local implementation efforts in North Carolina, known as “the North Carolina Way”, and tests assumptions on implementation practices for creating robust faith-community and healthcare partnerships.     

Network development for non-state health providers: African Christian health associations

ABSTRACT

Substantial effort has been put into forming and strengthening national networks of non-state, non-profit health providers in lower- to middle-income contexts. Christian health associations (national umbrella networks of faith-inspired health providers) were first established in the 1950s, and are currently present in an estimated 23 of the 54 countries in Africa. The establishment of CHAs was equally encouraged by faith-based health providers, governments, and external stakeholders. CHAs look different in each context, but perform similar roles: networking diverse institutions and facilities together into a loose system; and establishing a more cohesive sector to simplify and strengthen advocacy and engagement with the government.     

Microcredit and development: a multi-level examination of women’s participation in microfinance institutions

International organisations promote microcredit as a tool for socio-economic development by targeting women’s entrepreneurial capabilities. There is limited research, however, on the variation in women’s participation in microcredit in developing nations. To understand this variation, this article examines the relationship between a country’s gender equality levels and women’s microcredit participation. The results indicate that participation is higher when loans are small; however, with increases in gender equality levels, participation decreases. Women in countries with higher gender inequality are limited to very small loans and questionable economic improvements, suggesting that microcredit needs to be utilised contextually to be an effective developmental tool.     

Beyond disaster framing: exploring multi-mandate INGOs’ representations of conflict

This article examines how and why multi-mandate INGOs represent contemporary armed conflicts in particular ways. Based on empirical analysis of NGO communications and interviews with staff, it finds that these organisations typically adopt a two-track approach to representing conflicts. They use mainstream media to present consequence-oriented accounts to the general public, while utilising alternative channels to represent more nuanced depictions of conflict to more targeted audiences. These alternative forms of communication often aim to disrupt the dominant narratives of conflict produced by influential policy or media actors. Decisions about how to represent conflict are shaped by organisations’ histories, identities and funding relationships.