Assessing the 'Arrival of Democracy' in Central America

__Abstract__ Review Essay. In the 1970s and 1980s, Central America was associated with military governments, revolutionary movements, civil war, extreme inequality, and authoritarianism in the ‘backyard’ of the United States. Broad social mobilizations and political repressio

Novos desafios para os atores da sociedade civil brasileira em un contexto de mudancas na cooperacao internacional

Intro A pesquisa conduzida pela FGV sobre cooperação internacional e a arquitetura financeira das Organizações da Sociedade Civil (OSCs) brasileiras (CEAPG & ARTICULAÇÃO D3, 2013) tem gerado resultados importantes. Auxiliam no melhor entendimento

Latin America Policies of European NGOs: Recent Trends and Perspectives

Summary: Many Latin American partner organisations that received support from European donor NGOs in recent years for contributing to structural poverty alleviation had expected that these agencies will gradually withdraw from the Latin American region. It is feared that funding will decrease and t

Maatschappelijk organisaties, de weg kwijt?

__Abstract__ Dit paper over Nederlandse maatschappelijke organisaties beperkt zich tot de gesubsidieerde particuliere organisaties binnen de internationale samenwerking voor ontwikkeling (OS). De rol van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (Buza) is van grote invloed geweest op de professionalisering en de beleidskeuzes van de particuliere OS-sector. Nu subsidiering steeds meer onder vuur ligt, zoeken ontwikkelingsorganisaties hun heil op de charimarkt dan wel op de zakelijke markt. Dit lijkt ons de weg van de minste weerstand; het leidt bovendien af van de kern en de meerwaarde van hun mandaat. Ontwikkelingsorganisaties doen er beter aan anticyclisch te denken en hun oorspronkelijke politieke opdracht te hervinden: weerwerk bieden, misstanden aan de kaak stellen en oplossingen zoeken in de verbinding tussen mondiale problemen en de Nederlandse samenleving. Dat kun je niet aan de markt overlaten. Wij zijn dan ook van mening dat de overheid dit ruimhartig moet subsidieren, en dat ontwikkelingsorganisaties daarvoor moeten gaan vechten

Civic driven change: a narrative to bring politics back into civil society discourse

Politics is central to development discourse, yet remains peripheral. And, over some twenty years, a civil society narrative has not fulfilled its potential to ‘bring politics back in’. Reasons can be found in conceptual confusion, in selectivity in donor thinking and policies towards civil society and in the growth-driven political economy of NGO-ism. Remedies for the political lacunae are being sought through a focus on rights, citizenship and leadership that show valuable, focused progress.This paper examines a comprehensive complement to such efforts referred to as civic driven change (CDC). Originating in a grounded empirical approach, the constituent principles and elements of CDC offer a lens that can both sharpen and deepen insights and advance analysis of socio-political processes. As a work in progress, a CDC narrative is illustrated by reference to contemporary examples of citizen action that play out at multiple sites of governance

Introducing Civic-Driven Change

Background The CDC initiative started from a conviction that the mix and nature of today’s global problems requires a wider range of solutions than those coming from government and market. A missing story is one of people themselves acting as citizens to change the society they live in, not as needy beneficiaries, participants, political clients or economic producers and consumers, but as agents of their own future. Finding out what such a story might look like has been the guiding objective for the core group of ten internationally recognized practitioners, analysts and writers. But the CDC story arising from their work is a starting point for a much bigger task. This is to take forward the challenge of promoting a public debate about the role of citizens - from all walks of life and active in civil society organizations and other spheres - to explore ways in which international cooperation can embrace a different approach to development

Citizenship and the politics of Civic Driven Change

Nation states are premised on the legitimizing presence of a polity comprised of citizens. The politics of this relationship is central to discourse on how societies evolve. Yet in the discipline of international development studies the topic remains peripheral. Reasons can be found in conceptual confusion, in selectivity in donor thinking and policies towards civil society and in the growth-driven political economy of NGO-ism. Remedies for the political lacunae are being sought through a concerted focus on people’s rights, citizenship and qualities of leadership that all show valuable progress. This chapter will examine a comprehensive complement to such efforts referred to as civic driven change (CDC). Originating in a grounded empirical approach, the constituent principles and elements of CDC offer a lens that can both sharpen and deepen insights and advance analysis of civic agency in socio-political processes. As an ontologically grounded normative proposition, CDC allows exposure and examination of ‘uncivil’ forces stemming from contending claims on citizenship. These factors are typically ignored or denied in an historical harmony model of societal change. A CDC narrative is illustrated by reference to contemporary examples of citizen action that play out at multiple sites of governance

(Re)locating civil society in the politics of civic driven change

Abstract Politics is central to development discourse yet remains peripheral. And, over some twenty years, a civil society narrative has not fulfilled its potential to ‘bring politics back in’. Reasons can be found in conceptual confusion, in selectivity in donor thinking and policies towards civil society and in the growth-driven political economy of NGO-ism. Remedies for the political lacunae are being sought through a focus on rights, citizenship and leadership that show valuable, focused progress. This article examines a comprehensive complement to such efforts referred to as civic driven change (CDC). Originating in a grounded empirical approach, the constituent principles and elements of CDC offer a lens that can both sharpen and deepen insights and advance analysis of socio-political processes. As a work in progress, a CDC narrative is illustrated by reference to contemporary examples of citizen action that play out at multiple sites of governance

Civic-driven change and aided development

The Civic-Driven Change (CDC) Initiative provides a story and frame of reference which can add value to the work of (private) aid agencies. However, aid agencies vary, and the stage of development of this understanding - which competes with other methods - is such that a first engagement with CDC would be for agencies to critically reflect on their ‘being’ and ‘doing’ as civic agents of change. In focusing on what this might mean in practice, this briefing paper draws on essay 10 in the CDC volume and complements others policy briefs. It is not prescriptive. Illustrations of what CDC could entail for development strategy, principles and practices can help initiate public discussion, foster organizational debate and invite ‘rediscovery’ of civic agency in aided development

Transforming Activisms 2010+: Exploring Ways and Waves

The waves of civic activism unfolding since late 2010 at a global level are striking. In major cities of the world, streets and squares have been filled with self-organized citizens demanding attention for social and political rights. The protest images have been televised, downloaded and quickly distributed - seemingly diverse sites and types of activisms being rapidly connected and speaking to each other. Does this scale and momentum signal a tipping point in a 'globalization of disaffection'? Are we witnessing the emergence of a new age-cohort of activists, similar to the '1968 generation'? What were the common elements, and what energy was driving the activisms of the squares and the blog spots? This Introduction to the Forum Debate section will try to position the notion of 'Activisms 2010+' in terms of its nature and relevance to current debates about citizen-led socio-political change. We argue that contemporary activisms constitute a distinct shift in the character of civic engagement as they surf on waves created by the increased availability and use of social media, and by a common set of rights-based demands