Description
Book Synopsis'This book is valuable for and beyond the international development industry. It deftly leads a non-specialist through the maze of ideas and arguments plaguing the concept of civil society, and critically examines how and what happens, when the international aid system tries to turn confusing and complex political theory into effective development policy and practice fitting the individual preconditions and historical trajectories of the worlds varied nations. The comparative evidence, analysis and recommendations on offer are essential reading for anyone attempting to understand or ''build'' someone else's - as well as their own - civil society, especially when justifying the use of tax payers' money to do so.'
ALAN FOWLER, CO-FOUNDER, INTRAC
'This book will be really useful to numerous readers, 011 a subject becoming ever more topical in the world of development and beyond. It puts order into the deeply confused debate about civil society, describes what the aid donors are doing to pursue their new goals, offers four penetrating case studies, and concludes with sensible suggestions for future policy. The authors have made a practical and lucid assessment of the huge civil society literature; they have also contributed valuably to it, and deserve to he listened to.'
PROFESSOR ROBERT CASSEN, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
Northern governments and NGOs are increasingly convinced that civil society will enable people in developing countries to escape the poverty trap. Civil Society and the Aid Industry, the product of extensive research by the prestigious North-South Institute in Canada, makes a critical appraisal of this new emphasis in the aid industry. It explores the roles of Northern governmental, multilateral and non-governmental agencies in supporting civil society, presenting in-depth case studies of projects in Peru, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Hungary, and gives detailed policy recommendations intended to improve the effectiveness and appropriateness of future projects.
Originally published in 1998
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
About the Research Team
The Editor
The Authors
The Advisors
Acronyms
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
Introduction: All Roads Lead to Rome
Alison Van Rooy
Why Bother About Civil Society?
Origins
1. Civil Society as Idea: An Analytical Hatstand?
Alison Van Rooy
What is Civil Society?
Keeping Analysis Separate from Hope
2. Out of the Ivory Tower: Civil Society and the Aid System
Alison Van Rooy and Mark Robinson
What is Civil Society Supposed to Do?
What is the Aid System Doing?
What Next?
3. Hungary: Civil Society in the Post-Socialist World
Ferenc Miszlivetz and Katalin Ertsey
The Metamorphosis of Civil Society
Mapping Donor Interventions:
Do they Matter in the Big Picture?
4. Sri Lanka: Civil Society, the Nation and the State-building Challenge
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu
Mapping Civil Society
Mapping Donors
Civil Society and the Aid Industry
Conclusion
5. Kenya: The State, Donors and the Politics of Democratization
Wachira Maina
Civil Society in Africa
Civil Society and the State in Kenya Today
Donor Support for Civil Society
Reconstructing the State, Donor and Civil Society Relationships
6. Peru: Civil Society and the Autocratic Challenge
Pepi Patron
Mapping Civil Society in Peru
Mapping Northern Donor Intervention
Ideas About Power Relationships
7. The Art of Strengthening Civil Society
Alison Van Rooy
What We Found
Theory
The Aid Industry
'Strengthening' Civil Society
The Impact on Donors
Bibliography
Index
