Teaching and Learning Guide for: From Local to Global to Transnational Civil Society: Re‐Framing Development Perspectives on the Non‐State Sector
Authors: McIlwaine Cathy 
Published: July 2008

Author's Introduction

Civil society has become one of the most popular concepts within international development discourses. But, what is civil society? Civil society is defined as an arena of collective social interaction situated between the state, market and household, encompassing a range of non‐state organisations, groups and associations, including non‐governmental organisations (NGOs). The article assesses the range of different interpretations of civil society highlighting its diverse makeup at local, national and transnational scales.

Why has civil society become so important within international development? Democracy and delivery of services. As people organised collectively against totalitarian regimes in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Global South, civil society emerged as a manifestation of democratisation processes. The neoliberal agenda also wanted to capture and channel civil society to foster democracy, but also to take on service delivery functions as the role of the state diminished. This article outlines how these roles relate to two theoretical viewpoints – the Marxist or Gramscian that sees civil society as a site of resistance and counterhegemony, and the liberal democratic that views it as a beneficial force for good.

Civil society in practice. In the 1990s, development agencies championed civil society from an undertheorised liberal democratic viewpoint as a saviour or ‘magic bullet’ as it channels more and more funds via NGOs. But, civil society has increasingly been criticised as undemocratic, unable to reach the poor and unaccountable. This article describes this evolution.

The emergence of global or transnational society. In these days of globalisation, global civil society is increasingly important. This is neither civil society at a global level, nor is it a unified global force for good, lobbying and challenging the neoliberal order. Instead, viewed as ‘transnational civil society’, it is a complex mix of competing, overlapping and intersecting groups that operate beyond national borders for a range of reasons. Especially important actors in transnational civil society are diasporic civil society groups in the form of migrant associations. This article argues that as international migration increases, these groups are growing in economic, social and political importance, yet we do not know very much about them.

Author Recommends

Anheier, H., Glasius, M., and Kaldor, M. (eds) (2004). Global civil society 2004/5. London: Sage.

This book is one of the annual reports on the nature of global civil society produced by the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics. It has a range of interesting articles and is available to download at http://lse.ac.uk/Depts/global/yearbook04chapters.htm

Howell, J., and Pearce, J. (2001). Civil society and development: a critical exploration. London: Lynne Rienner.

This book provides an excellent overview of the theoretical and empirical debates about civil society at a national level. It provides a range of examples from around the developing world.

Lewis, D., and Opoku‐Mensah, P. (2006). Moving forward research agendas on international NGOs: theory, agency and context. Journal of International Development 18, pp. 665–675.

This article is an engaging review of the main themes revolving around civil society and development in relation to international NGOs in particular.

Mercer, C. (2002). NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature. Progress in Development Studies 2, pp. 5–22.

This article is an excellent state‐of‐the‐art review of the relationships between civil society and democratisation from a development perspective. It outlines the main theoretical approaches and assesses them in relation to development policy.

Mitlin, D., Hickey, S., and Bebbington, A. (2007). Reclaiming development? NGOs and the challenge of alternatives. World Development 35 (10), pp. 1699–1720.

This article outlines the issue of why NGOs have been so popular with development agencies and why this popularity is on the wane.

Mohan, G. (2002). The disappointments of civil society: the politics of NGO intervention in northern Ghana. Political Geography 21, pp. 125–154.

This article outlines the main thinking about civil society and then illustrates it with an interesting case study from Ghana.

Munck, R. (2007). Global civil society: royal road or slippery path? Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17, pp. 325–332.

This article is one of the most‐up‐to‐date accounts on the advantages and disadvantages of global civil society.

Useful Links

http://www.jhu.edu/~ccss/ website of the Centre for Civil Society, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. This site reports on policy‐related research on civil society and other more practically oriented projects.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/ website of the Centre for Civil Society, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. This site publishes a range of research papers on civil society and runs academic events.

http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/ website of the Centre for Civil Society, University of Kwa‐Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa. This site provides a Southern perspective on civil society, mainly from a research perspective, but also including practitioners’ news and views.

http://www.civicus.org/ website of CIVICUS (World Alliance for Citizen Participation). This site provides resources, debate and campaigning action. An example of a transnational civil society group.

http://www.civilsocietybuilding.net/ website of Civil Society Building network. This site provides information among network members, most of whom are practitioners and activists.

http://www.un.org/issues/civilsociety/ website of the United Nations (UN) Civil Society unit. This site provides information on projects and policies of the various UN agencies.

http://www.worldbank.org/civilsoceity/ website of the World Bank Civil Society unit. This site provides information on World Bank projects and policies that engage with civil society.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/index.htm/ website of the Global Policy Forum which monitors UN policy and provides opinion pieces on relevant issues. This site focuses specifically on NGOs (rather than civil society) from the perspective of their relationship with the UN.

Sample Syllabus

title: non‐state perspectives on development issues: exploring civil society

Week 1: What Is Civil Society?

This session explores what civil society means and discusses the range of different groupings that have been proposed to describe it.

Readings

Bebbington, A., and Bebbington, D. (2001). Development alternatives: practice, dilemmas and theory. Area 33, pp. 7–17.

McIlwaine, C. (2007). From local to global to transnational civil society: re‐framing development perspectives on the non‐state sector. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1252–1281.

Mercer, C. (2002). NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature. Progress in Development Studies 2, pp. 5–22.

Week 2: Theoretical Perspectives on Civil Society

This session outlines the main theories that have been used to describe and explain civil society. It will discuss the liberal democratic approach (which includes the liberal pluralist and neoconservative viewpoints) and the Marxist or Gramscian approach.

Readings

McIlwaine, C. (1998). Contesting civil society: reflections from El Salvador. Third World Quarterly 19, pp. 651–672.

McIlwaine, C. (2007). From local to global to transnational civil society: re‐framing development perspectives on the non‐state sector. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1252–1281.

Mohan, G. (2002). The disappointments of civil society: the politics of NGO intervention in northern Ghana. Political Geography 21, pp. 125–154.

Week 3: Civil Society as a Development Actor I: Roles and Functions

This session explores how civil society and especially NGOs have been increasingly drawn into development policy and projects. In particular, it examines what NGOs actually do on the ground in projects and why they are attractive to donor agencies.

Readings

Edwards, M., and Hulme, D. (1996). Too close for comfort? The impact of official aid on non‐governmental organizations. World Development 24, pp. 961–973.

Howell, J., and Pearce, J. (2001). Civil society and development: a critical exploration. London: Lynne Rienner.

Lewis, D., and Sobhan, B. (1999). Routes of funding, roots of trust? Northern NGOs, southern NGOs, donors, and the rise of direct funding. Development in Practice 9 (1–2), pp. 117–129.

World Bank. (2005). Issues and options for improving engagement between the World Bank and civil society organizations. Washington, DC: World Bank. Downloadable from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/CSO/Resources/Issues_and_Options_PUBLISHED_VERSION.pdf

Week 4: Civil Society as a Development Actor II: Magic Bullet?

This session explores the problems entailed in donors channelling funding through NGOs from the perspective of funders and NGOs. It also explores the more recent disillusionment with NGOs and civil society being viewed as a ‘magic bullet’ for addressing and solving development concerns.

Readings

Edwards, M., and Hulme, D. (1996). Too close for comfort? The impact of official aid on non‐governmental organizations. World Development 24, pp. 961–973.

Lewis, D., and Opoku‐Mensah, P. (2006). Moving forward research agendas on international NGOs: theory, agency and context. Journal of International Development 18, pp. 665–675.

Mitlin, D., Hickey, S., and Bebbington, A. (2007). Reclaiming development? NGOs and the challenge of alternatives. World Development 35 (10), pp. 1699–1720.

Week 5: How Useful Is Civil Society as a Concept and as a Tool for Development?

This session summarises the main debates about civil society at the national level in relation to development debates. It examines whether the recent popularity of the term is justified and the extent to which it is actually possible or desirable to build civil society in countries of the South.

Readings

Lewis, D. (2002). Civil society in African contexts: reflections on the usefulness of a concept. Development and Change 33, pp. 569–586.

Howell, J. (2000). Making civil society form the outside: challenges for donors. European Journal of Development Research 12, pp. 11–22.

Howell, J., and Pearce, J. (2001). Civil society and development: a critical exploration. London: Lynne Rienner.

McIlwaine, C. (2007). From local to global to transnational civil society: re‐framing development perspectives on the non‐state sector. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1252–1281.

Week 6: What Is Global Civil Society and Why Is It Important?

This session explores the meaning of global civil society, the alternatives to the use of this term and the reasons why it has emerged as a phenomenon in the last decade.

Readings

Anheier, H., Glasius, M., and Kaldor, M. (eds) (2004). Global civil society 2004/5. London: Sage.

Edwards, M. (2002). Herding cats? Civil society and global governance. New Economy 9 (2), pp. 71–76.

Edwards, M., and Gaventa, J. (eds) (2001). Global citizen action. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner.

Munck, R. (2007). Global civil society: royal road or slippery path? Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17, pp. 325–332.

Week 7: Questioning Global Civil Society

This session provides a critical examination of global civil society in relation to the role which it supposedly plays in the world today. It examines the extent to which it functions in an inherently democratic way or whether it is in fact inherently undemocratic.

Readings

Anderson, K., and Rieff, D. (2004). Global civil society: a sceptical view. In: Anheier, H., Glasius, M. and Kaldor, M. (eds) Global civil society 2004/5. London: Sage, pp. 26–39.

Corry, T. (2006). Global civil society and its discontents. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17 (4), pp. 302–323.

Kaldor, M. (2003). The idea of global civil society. International Affairs 79 (3), pp. 583–594.

Munck, R. (2007). Global civil society: royal road or slippery path? Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17, pp. 325–332.

Week 8: Civil Society across Scales: Summary and Debate

This session summarises the core issues discussed in sessions 1–7. It examines why civil society has been popular at the local, national and global levels, how these levels and scales interrelate, and how this feeds into development policies. It also considers the future for civil society in terms of trying to identify if and where the growth will occur and the nature of this growth.

Readings

Lewis, D., and Opoku‐Mensah, P. (2006). Moving forward research agendas on international NGOs: theory, agency and context. Journal of International Development 18, pp. 665–675.

McIlwaine, C. (2007). From local to global to transnational civil society: re‐framing development perspectives on the non‐state sector. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1252–1281.

Munck, R. (2007). Global civil society: royal road or slippery path? Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 17, pp. 325–332.

For case studies of how civil society operates in different countries and globally see:

National level

McIlwaine, C. (1998). Contesting civil society: reflections from El Salvador. Third World Quarterly 19, pp. 651–672.

Mercer, C. (1999). Reconceptualizing state‐society relations in Tanzania: are NGOs ‘making a difference’? Area 31 (3), pp. 247–258.

Mohan, G. (2002). The disappointments of civil society: the politics of NGO intervention in northern Ghana. Political Geography 21, pp. 125–154.

Rahman, S. (2006). Development, democracy and the NGO sector: theory and evidence from Bangladesh. Journal of Developing Societies 22 (4), 451–473.

Globally

Batliwala, S. (2002). Grassroots movements as transnational actors: implications for global civil society. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 13 (4), pp. 393–409.

Edwards, M. (2001). Global civil society and community exchanges: a different form of movement. Environment and Urbanization 13 (2), pp. 145–149.

Soyez, D. (2000). Anchored locally – linked globally. Transnational social movement organization in a (seemingly) borderless world. Geojournal 52 (1), pp. 7–16.

Yanacopulos, H. (2005). The strategies that bind: NGO coalitions and their influence. Global Networks 5 (1), pp. 93–110.

Focus Questions

Why is civil society an important concept within development thinking?

Which theoretical perspective is the most relevant in explaining the ways in which civil society has been used and promoted by the development community (in terms of donors)?

What have been the advantages and disadvantages of promoting civil society through NGOs in order to (i) promote democracy and (ii) deliver services to the poor in the Global South?

To what extent is global civil society truly global?

To what extent in global civil society truly democratic?

Practical Exercises

Civil society at the country level I

Through a web search identify an NGO in any developing country that receives funding from a donor agency (of any kind). Write a short assessment of how you think this NGO might benefit or be disadvantaged by its involvement with the donor. If you cannot find an actual NGO, create a fictitious profile of one.

Civil society at the country level II

Identify any developing country and write an account of the pros and cons of creating a ‘civil society building’ project there.

Civil society at the country level III

Taking a Gramscian approach to civil society, critique the current way in which the World Bank engages with civil society.

Global civil society

Identify two different types of global civil society networks, alliance or movement. In comparing the two, evaluate the ways in which they works towards democracy building (or not) and act as a force for the better good of the world (or not).