Can NGOs Make a Difference?: The Challenge of Development Alternatives($82.52Value)

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Can non-governmental organisations contribute to more socially just, alternative forms of development? Or are they destined to work at the margins of dominant development models determined by others? Addressing this question, this book brings together leading international voices from academia, NGOs and the social movements. It provides a comprehensive update to the NGO literature and a range of critical new directions to thinking and acting around the challenge of development alternatives. The book's originality comes from the wide-range of new case-study material it presents, the conceptual approaches it offers for thinking about development alternatives, and the practical suggestions for NGOs. “This book offers a novel and reflective framework for revisiting NGO's efficacy in fashioning alternative forms of development in the post-NGO boom period. Against current security agendas, the authors envision types of NGO practice, orientation, and focus that that hold out hope for their foundational mission of "being alternative."” ― Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “This is a timely addition to the literature on non-governmental organisations and development. Up-to-date, critical and historically informed, its seventeen chapters are written by a potent combination of both well-known experts and original new voices.” ― David Lewis, London School of Economics and Political Science “These essays ... provide a number of useful insights into the NGO world.” ― North South Magazine Anthony J. Bebbington is Professor of Nature, Society and Development at the University of Manchester. Sam Hickey is lecturer in the International Development at the University of Manchester. Diana C. Mitlin is an economist and social development specialist at the University of Manchester. Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives By Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey, Diana C. Mitlin Zed Books Ltd Copyright © 2008 Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey and Diana C. Mitlin All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-84277-892-0 Contents List of Figures and Tables, viii, Acknowledgements, ix, PART I Critical Challenges, 1 Introduction: Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey and Diana C. Mitlin, 3, 2 Have NGOs 'Made a Difference?' From Manchester to Birmingham with an Elephant in the Room Michael Edwards, 38, PART II NGO Alternatives under Pressure, 3 Challenges to Participation, Citizenship and Democracy: Perverse Confluence and Displacement of Meanings Evelina Dagnino, 55, 4 Learning from Latin America: Recent Trends in European NGO Policymaking Kees Biekart, 71, 5 Whatever Happened to Reciprocity? Implications of Donor Emphasis on 'Voice' and 'Impact' as Rationales for Working with NGOs in Development Alan Thomas, 90, 6 Development and the New Security Agenda: W(h)ither(ing) NGO Alternatives? Alan Fowler, 111, PART III Pursuing Alternatives: NGO Strategies in Practice, 7 How Civil Society Organizations Use Evidence to Influence Policy Processes Amy Pollard and Julius Court, 133, 8 Civil Society Participation as the Focus of Northern NGO Support: The Case of Dutch Co-financing Agencies Irene Guijt, 153, 9 Producing Knowledge, Generating Alternatives? Challenges to Research-oriented NGOs in Central America and Mexico Cynthia Bazán, Nelson Cuellar, Ileana Gómez, Cati Illsley, Adrian López, Iliana Monterroso, Joaliné Pardo, Jose Luis Rocha, Pedro Torres and Anthony J. Bebbington, 175, 10 Anxieties and Affirmations: NGO-Donor Partnerships for Social Transformation Mary Racelis, 196, PART IV Being Alternative, 11 Reinventing International NGOs: A View from the Dutch Co-financing System Harry Derksen and Pim Verhallen, 221, 12 Transforming or Conforming? NGOs Training Health Promoters and the Dominant Paradigm of the Development Industry in Bolivia Katie S. Bristow, 240, 13 Political Entrepreneurs or Development Agents: An NGO's Tale of Resistance and Acquiescence in Madhya Pradesh, India Vasudha Chhotray, 261, 14 Is This Really the End of the Road for Gender Mainstreaming? Getting to Grips with Gender and Institutional Change Nicholas Pialek, 279, 15 The Ambivalent Cosmopolitanism of International NGOs Helen Yanacopulos and Matt Baillie Smith, 298, 16 Development as Reform and Counter-reform: Paths Travelled by Slum/Shack Dwellers International Joel Bolnick, 316, PART V Taking Stock and Thinking Forward, 17 Reflections on NGOs and Development: The Elephant, the Dinosaur, Several Tigers but No Owl David Hulme, 337, Contributors, 346, Index, 351, CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey and Diana C. Mitlin 'Not another Manchester book on NGOs!' some bookstore browsers will comment on spotting this text. The short response, of course, is 'Yes, another one.' The longer response is thi