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NGOs, Politics and Grassroots Mobilisation

Evidence from Bangladesh

Department of Economics and International Development University of Bath

Since the early 1980s non-governmental organisations have become a major phenomenon in development, and a focus of attention for academics and practitioners alike. The study of NGOs tends to emphasise their role in the delivery of welfare services and pays less at-tention to their political significance. This despite numerous claims about the contribution of NGOs to civil society and democracy. The article draws on ethnographic research carried out in Bangladesh to explore in more detail the NGO–politics nexus. It demonstrates that there is a strong but complex link between NGOs and politics. On the one hand it confirms the political nature of NGO intervention and activity. On the other hand it highlights how the organisation of politics through NGOs reproduces clientelistic forms of action. This apparent paradox runs counter to most of the assumptions underpinning NGO research. The article closes by exploring this paradox and offering illustrations of how it may actually be an effective form of social action for the poor.

Journal of South Asian Development, Vol. 1, No. 1, 77-99 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/097317410500100104


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