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.