From Local to Global to Transnational Civil Society: Re‐Framing Development Perspectives on the Non‐State Sector

Abstract

This article outlines the meanings of civil society covering theoretical and development policy debates. It traces the evolution of conceptualisations of civil society noting how diversity in type, function and scale are critical in understanding these changes. The role of non‐governmental organisations within development policy is explored highlighting how the euphoria over civil society has been tempered over time, reflecting how Gramscian interpretations have begun to replace neo‐Tocquevillian viewpoints. The article also examines how civil society operates over different scales from local to global to transnational, assessing and critiquing the rise of global civil society or what is more appropriately called ‘transnational civil society’. The article finishes by highlighting the importance of diasporic civil society in relation to migrant groups especially from a development viewpoint as well as the need for more research on this issue. Conceptually, the article argues for a more sophisticated Gramscian interpretation of civil society that also recognises the importance of spatiality in the complex interpenetration between an increasingly extra‐territorialised state and an increasingly transnational civil society. Thus, it presents a re‐framing of development perspectives on the non‐state sector from local to global to transnational scales.

Transnationalism Unbound: Detailing New Subjects, Registers and Spatialities of Cross‐Border Lives

“…‘Home’ spaces are equally transformed through transnationalism (McIlwaine 2007; Mohan 2006, 880). Indeed, the earliest work in this field was based on the significance of hometown associations in both maintaining links across national territories but also in transforming migrant origin spaces (Basch et al.…”

Care, Disability and HIV in Africa: diverging or interconnected concepts and practices?

“…While such PLHA-led activities could be regarded as serving the neoliberal donor-driven agenda of promoting participation and providing alternative service delivery, 47 NACWOLA's experiences suggest that the participation of PLHA, including disabled women living with HIV, in care-giving can have several benefits. It helps to reduce feelings of dependency on family members, thereby alleviating potential tensions and emotional pressures within caring relations and reducing the risk of 'domination' and abandonment.…”

Collective Transnational Power and its Limits: London-Based Nigerian Organisations, Development at ‘Home’ and the Importance of Local Agency and the ‘Internal Diaspora’

“…However, McIlwaine (2007McIlwaine ( : 1274 argues that this celebration of 'diasporic civil society' as 'a potential development saviour' has been based on rather limited knowledge. As Mazzucato and Kabki (2009) assert, there are few studies that combine a substantive focus on diaspora organisations with an empirical exploration of their sites of intervention at 'home'.…”

“…Indeed, where diaspora organisations and their border-spanning activities are addressed, it tends to be within wider studies of migrant transnationalism in which they do not constitute the specific focus of research. Furthermore, such studies have concentrated heavily on the particular context of Latin American and Caribbean migration to the US (McIlwaine 2007;Mercer et al 2008).…”