Civil Society

INTRODUCTION
What is Civil Society?
 Civil Society is a non-government and non-market group
of social actors
 Includes grassroot associations, social movements, human
rights organisations, community based groups and the
likewise. E.g. NGOs like BRAC
 They play a crucial role as an intermediary between
government and the public
 Civil Society is also known as the
third sector

Private Civil Public

Sector Society Sector

Figure- Civil Society as an intermediary between public and private sector

Civil Society is constituted in the three-way dynamics between state, the market and 'private
relations'

Market
State
Place
Civil
Society

'Private
Relations'
Roles of Civil Society

 CivilSociety was expected to play a variety of roles in

regard to the state
 Providing an institutional counterweight to state power
 Reproducing the social values, norms and social
interactions that permeate state and society
Civil Society's rise to prominence

 Western Thinking- a sphere that can balance out central

nation state power while fostering social relations of trust
and mutual aid that supports economic growth
 Civil Society rose to prominence in the above context as
neoliberal economic restructuring and the disarticulation
of sociopolitical institutions threatened to undermine
Washington Consensus
Western and Neoliberal views

 Throughout modernisation, the cultural and social

structures in place in former colonies were frequently
perceived as barriers to successful adoption of Western
features including a vibrant Civil Society
 Neoliberalismviewed beneficiary population as natural
communities that regulate social behaviour
Rise of Civil Society
and NGOs
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs ):
► The civil society organizations (CSOs) in liberal political
theory is assumed to act as a check and balance between
state power and challenges the ubiquitous practices of
state power through alternative policy development.
► TheCSOs is also an opportunity to create a equilibrium
between a top down approach and all inclusive approach .
CIVIL SOCIETY- WAY IT WORKS :
► Civil Society is also involved with non-violent and empowerment
challenges to exclusionary regimes associated with figurehead such
as Gandhi and Paolo Freire
► Theconcept of involving the CSOs has risen the support of moving
away from elite’s stereotypes of wealth sharing practices
► Communities’ local knowledge of natural resources and agro
ecological systems overrides the western form of development and
create newer ideas of development through the basis of alternative
development ideas and practices.
Civil Society And assimilation with the state

► The perverse confluence between neo-liberals and radicals

as mentioned by Diagnino, become more evident.
► TheCSOs then through a newly coined organization NGO
emerged to recalibrate the market state-civil-society.
► NGOs thus for established with a variety of horizontal
positions with professionally developed staff and
management
 NGOs :
• NGOs then also perceived as the support for strengthening civil society
thereby widening and deepening more participation of the grassroots
and marginalized groups to stamp their contribution towards stronger
democracy.
• NGOs become more influential in the policy development through a
wider involvement through service delivery, advocacy for poor and
objectives since 1990.
• But yet the challenges are there in the disagreement between the state
power and the Civil Societies and thereby the NGOs role only be
understandable in the wider context of state retrenchment.
Participation and Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers
Service delivery and elusive community
Participatory Development (PD)
 Participatory Development combines an ethical principle
with efficiency arguments.
 Civil Society Development premised upon western
assumption.
 Participatory Development seeks to give the poor a part in
initiatives design for their benefit.
 Through to the twenty-first century, PD has been strongly
associated with participation in making decision.
► For example, the World Bank funded Indonesian Kecamatan project
introduced village workshops—with additional workshops for women
—in which local stakeholders devised and then ranked various locally
generated project proposals before establishing priorities (Carroll
2009 ).
► Research conducted by several development agencies (World Bank,
CIDA, USAID, IRDP) suggests that there are many benefits to be
gained through the use of PD.
► When compared with traditional forms of development, PD is
sometimes criticized for being costly and slow.
 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
 Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are documents
required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
World Bank before a country can be considered for debt
relief within the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
initiative.
 The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) are a group
of 37 developing countries with high levels of poverty and
debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance
from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank.
 In Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), countries would
think about long-term development and poverty alleviation in a
nationwide strategic frame.
 TheSixth Five Year Plan, as outlined in Bangladesh's Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper, targets strategic growth and employment.
 In Nicaragua, the period after Hurricane Mitch generated active civil
society efforts to contribute to policy design although the scope for
influence was constrained.
Reconceptualizing state
and civil society
BACKLASH AND NEW
DEVELOPMENTS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
 Backlash on civil society
► NGOS WERE SUCCESSFUL IN CREATING BENEFICIAL CHANGE IN
SOME REGIONS, BUT SUCH INSTITUTIONS WERE CRITICIZED
BECAUSE THEY UNDERMINED DEVELOPMENT IN OTHERS.
► FAILURE OF NEOLIBERALISM POLICIES IN LATIN AMERICA CAST
DOUBT ON CSO POLICIES. CSO EXPLAINED THAT MAXIMUM
PRIVATIZATION AND STATE’S WITHDRAWAL IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
WOULD BRING SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
► THE RESULT WAS THAT ECONOMICS GROWTH WAS NOT AS
SIGNIFICANT AS RESULT BROUGHT ABOUT BY OTHER POLICIES AND
IT INCURRED LATIN AMERICA A HUGE DEBT. IN ADDITION IT
INCREASED POVERTY AND INEQUALITY BETWEEN RICH AND POOR.
► NGOS WAS QUERIED ABOUT THEIR ACCOUNTABILITY WHETHER IT
WAS TOWARDS DONOR COUNTRIES WHO HELD THE PURSE STRINGS
LIKE USA AND UK OR THE BENEFICIARIES GROUPS IN THE THIRD
 CSO plans became less relevant for global risks and unanticipated
events- environmental disasters, economic uncertainty and political
unrest.
 Some regions had few NGOs and development projects , yet public
pushed for political and economic reforms. This questioned the
existence of CSOs as a necessity .
 Policymakers disillusioned said “just give money to the poor”.
Examples of such practices can be seen in Latin America , Asia and
in Africa in 2005.
 The ‘Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Reduction Initiative’
program have alleviated 8.3% of some South countries’ total debt (4
out of 33 countries) . This is an outstanding amount of $2.7 billion,
which is about 33% of what USA spends on cosmetics.
Risk and vulnerability
 Socialneoliberals no longer viewed CSOs as sufficient to
prevent low income individuals from falling into poverty.
 CSO therefore tried to connect with beneficiaries as flows of
knowledge. Policies focused on risk avoidance and disaster
management capacity by boosting proactive networking
among public and private institutions.
 Loan for ‘Jamaican disaster management’ cost around $30
millions from IBRD. The major objectives of the program is
to ensure that the public has the necessary information to
protect lives and property.
Challenge of unexpected and
resilience
 NGOs face criticism for using inflexible methods . In Bangladesh
UNDP tried to increase rural women participation in markets.
They failed to take account of local culture and norms.
 Stress on local adaptations occurring in various ways and relying
on experimentation, flexibility and innovation.
 NGOs and GROs consultancy institutions deliver social welfare,
technical assistance and professional advice for risk avoidance in
development
 Many GROs like Gonoshasthaya, Grameen Bank and Proshikha
provide healthcare, education and credit to rural and
underprivileged groups.
Conclusion
DOES CIVIL SOCIETY REALLY MATTER ?
The debates :
 Fundamental concerns about the nature of civil
society and its positions in many political fields;
 Raising questions;
 Questioning our understanding of civil society;
 Does it really matter ;
The contradictions :
 Two groups of society, the group that achieves substantive
citizenship, and on the other hand , a mass of marginalized people
who, it is argued, are never able to achieve full citizenship.
 Postcolonial statecraft and development governmentality;
 The examination of Paraguay's transparency agendas by
anthropologist Kregg Hetherington (2011);
 Arab spring, why it happened and how it rose some questions
about civil society;
Some contributions of civil society in
Bangladesh:
Grameen bank’s microcredit program, saving
millions of people from poverty traps by bringing
the financial services to them;
BRAC and its contribution in the rural
advancements and the empowerment of women in
rural areas of Bangladesh;
Where does it stand now:
How we used to see civil society vs. how we
see it now;
 Falling of from its main purpose and
contradicting itself.
What kind of place does civil society hold
today;