In Retrospect: NGO’s

When it comes to NGO’s the concept of development gets battered to pieces, pieces in the sense that it is most likely that one NGO would be able to address only a handful of aspects of development. The concept of development being broken up into pieces, but yet still they do play an important and integral part in the processes of development.  

Over the last semester one of the most important aspect in the concept of NGO’s and development that I have come to better understand is the that there are always certain models that are the underpinning of NGO’s like the business oriented model to fund: Oxfam, or the social equality one: ROTA and much more.

Yet more so the most important aspect that has been brought to light is the fact that in no way are the beyond the domain of the political, they do have a direct link with that. But, what is dependent is that this link is usually quite complex owing to the directionality that prevails circumstantially owing to the operations and environment of the NGO’s.

It has also been a very analytical study in light of the fact that it has illustrated the very intricate relationships that are created by the process and the way they influence and operate in varying circumstances. It has been highly influential in shaping my understanding in context of ‘NGO’s’ as a whole rather than a singular entity.

Article in Focus: Fisher, W. F. “DOING GOOD? The Politics and Anti-politics of NGO Practices” Annual Review of Anthropology, 27 (1997) 439-464

As the title suggests, the article is based upon exploring the relationships between NGO’s and politics, but through the dimensions via which they tend to interact with the processes: society in its totality, not just civil society.

The article assess the impacts that globalization has played, important enough to create a new niche that has been specifically oriented towards them. Yet more so it shows the various kinds of interaction and impact they have, from the political to the apolitical. Dissecting across the various lines in society in the sense that they happen to show the various generations of organizations that have evolved.

The approach of this article is well suited and organized towards exploring analytically the issues that surround NGO’s as it explores the environment and frameworks within which they operate. It addresses all relevant aspects largely, with the exception of how they sometimes fail to achieve their ultimate aims. The lack of retrospective analysis in depth is what makes it clear that it does not take that approach rather chooses to focus on the other aspects.

The clarity in the focus is what makes it an excellent article to be used in a critical analysis essay, although that is only possible when it is referred back to along with other articles. As that balances the approaches and provides the perspective evidence that can lead to deductive reasoning based conclusions.

Negative Impacts of NGO’s on development

NGO’s are at the very centre of the world issues when it comes to development today; they have come to command significant influence in many areas. This has been largely due the economic and social upheavals of the last two decades that have brought about this phenomenon. However it is not totally true that they have a wholly positive impact upon the communities they work in.

This most common criticism arises from the fact that they illustrate the externality crisis; which is that external factors may not have the same fact in bringing about the necessary results that with change from within. The rampant growth of NGO’s in places like Africa, Palestine, Haiti and many others has shown this. 

Essentially the issues that have brought about this criticism are rooted in the fact that imposition of ideas in a hasty manner like the case of the agricultural revolution being illustrated by the Italians only further strengthens the argument. However the other aspect of this is also rooted in the funding and the tags that are attached by it, thus dictating the pace and directions; when such factors are combined it only shows the overarching influence of politics in a sector that should essentially be non governmental.

Problems like these are omnipresent, but the way they have manifested and shown up has been circumstantial owing to the operating environment of the organizations.

Democracy, Governance, Transparency and Accountability in NGO’s

The notion of development is essentially a contested and plural one, thus paving the way for the questions that have come to symbolize the question about what development really is? However there are some non-economic form of development that are essential and thus must be given equal attention and importance. One such issue is the issue of socially inclusive development. This is in light of the fact that there are NGO’s that work in the developed countries to address such issues, issues of social inclusiveness that are often thought to be missing in such places generally.

However the focus here is not on the economics of development but on the universality of the concept, that development is something that has to be everywhere and for everyone. This case makes for an excellent illustration of the fact that there is nothing that is only singular and thus not addressing issues which may considered to be Eurocentric or non Eurocentric. As the issues that ROTA seeks to address are of importance everywhere, although how they may be interpreted may vary.

Problems are present everywhere, especially when it comes to development and thus it is necessary to note that the developed countries too have problems with development. Organizations like ROTA could perhaps help illustrate the depth and root of such problems.

NGO’s are an Impasse to Development: Presentation Review

Post development theory linked in with the case studies from Malawi and Haiti. Two regions that are the perfect ground for analysis of the effect that NGO’s have upon development. The case studies of Malawi and Haiti were really good choices for the analysis, as they not only illustrate the fact that an over presence of NGO’s does not always mean that there is a good intent.

Most clearly the illustration of the quick fix issue that surrounds NGO’s and their approach solving issue in the communities they aim to work with is quite well analyzed. Analytics in the presentation also have brought about some other key issues that we often tend to focus on much less, like how the Red Cross dealt with their priorities in Haiti. Such issues remain at the very center of the debate regarding the NGO’s and their actions as it illustrates their strategies and approaches.

The presentation raised questions about the fact that whether it was truly an idealist notion to believe that NGO’s would come about to help the people in crisis. This is in light of the way they tend to operate and divest the funds that they raise upon appeal to the public and more so the connection how it impacts the subjects of work?

NGO’s are about Development: Presentation Review

 

This presentation gave us a good look into NGO’s and the concepts of liberalism and neoliberalism the link between neoliberalism and NGO’s was clearly established and elaborated upon. But yet more so the fact that was clearly illustrated that they tend to catalyze and partner to go on to work and implement the ultimate ends. The clarity in the explanation ensured that the relations between the two ends theory and practice were illustrated clearly.

A look into the Clinton Health Access initiative made for a good choice as it deals with some of the key issues that need to be addressed where it operates. The only issues as they had themselves found to be problematic were the narrow approach that limited the outreach to the populace owing to social factors. But more so it fits into the larger framework of theories being relied upon: neoliberalism.

Some of the most important concepts such as that of NGO’s being apolitical and the issues of donor funding were looked into which are critical in the issue itself. Most significantly the case study chosen was largely reliable owing to the key ideals as purported by the presentation and was look at critically rather than being looked into singularly as the question at hand permitted.

Group Deliberations

While working together on the presentation after many deliberations we have come to arrive at the fact that inherently a lot of NGOs are there which want to make a difference in the communities where they operate. But, there is one thing that often comes attached to the whole argument and that is that critics attack NGOs all the time calling them means of change that work from the outside rather engaging from within the communities. This is not wholly true as there are NGOs in many places that are run by the people from the very communities they operate within.

Evidence has come to show that NGOs have very often helped make the transition that was taking place politically in many places like post Pinochet Peru, help reach out to the lower masses of society and foster the democratic movement in Indonesia. Although we will be drawing on from these experiences, our larger focus is on ROTA and how it aims to encompass the ideals of an NGO that is democratic from within and looks towards making an impact. This is in line with the fact that very often we fail to recognize that the problems with NGOs mostly occur from the fact that they fail to actively deconstruct the societies they work within.

What Development is...

The essentially contested notion of development has come to be many things to many people, so much so that it has become almost impossible to find a singular/unitary definition to the concept in itself. What begun in the 1940’s with theory of modernization soon was out of line with the understanding of development as with the years became somewhat unacceptable owing to the lack of explanations that it gave.

What is most often questioned is how do we understand development, this is because of the fact that there are many ways to interpret it like GDP, HDI and other such indices as many have pointed out development is not a concept which can be quantified and thus remains abstract in certain terms. Yet more so what we have seen in the past few decades is also a shift in the development agendas that have dominated the decade; like 1970’s saw a focus on sustainable development, 1980’s on the environment and now we see the focus on climate change mitigating the effects.

Not only does this illustrate the evolutionary nature of the process of development but rather goes on to show that over time evolution in the realm of development changes the way we look at development itself and how we approach it. This is what has been behind what we see as something normal today like the NGO’s filling up the cleavages that exist between the government and the society as a result of the change in how the state functions today.

Hopper, P. ‘Understanding Development’ Polity (2012)