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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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FROM POVERTY TO POWERgovernments and private philanthropists have poured money in<strong>to</strong>CSOs, especially the kinds of organisations they recognise: urban,middle class-led, and modern, such as credit associations, women’sgroups, law societies, business associations, or local developmentNGOs. They have sometimes given succour <strong>to</strong> CSOs that are littlemore than vehicles for relatively educated people <strong>to</strong> access funds whenother jobs are scarce. In the process, they have ignored kin, ethnic,religious, or age-based groups, even though these often have deeperroots among much larger numbers of people, especially in the poorestcommunities.Being ignored by funders may be no bad thing. Some donorgovernments deliberately use funding <strong>to</strong> defuse radical social movementsthat threaten vested interests. Other donors undermine thepotential of CSOs by making them administra<strong>to</strong>rs, rather than irritants.According <strong>to</strong> two authorities on the subject, ‘Donor civil societystrengthening programmes, with their blueprints, technical solutions,and indica<strong>to</strong>rs of achievement, run the risk of inhibiting and ultimatelydestroying that most important of purposes of civil society, namelythe freedom <strong>to</strong> imagine that the world could be different.’ 80Active participation contrasts sharply with the idea that peopleshould express themselves simply through what they consume (‘I shop,therefore I am’) or how they vote, and with a more technocratic visionof citizens as passive consumers of state services delivered by wise andwell-trained administra<strong>to</strong>rs.At its best, an active and progressive civil society can be profoundlytransforma<strong>to</strong>ry, enhancing the lives of both participants and societyas a whole, empowering poor people <strong>to</strong> demand change and <strong>to</strong> holdtheir rulers accountable. Over time, active citizenship can make statesmore effective. When states are absent, civil society organisations canstep in<strong>to</strong> the breach <strong>to</strong> keep at least some level of services operating.But CSOs are not a magic path <strong>to</strong> development, nor are they asubstitute for responsive, effective states capable of delivering tangibleand sustained improvements in people’s lives. In practice, developmentrequires both.66

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