Rethinking nongovernmental organizations: Neoliberalism, “nonstate” actors, and the politics of recognition in the United States

Abstract

This article builds on and contributes to the scholarship on social movements and the law by revealing the critical function of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in law and policy in neoliberal times. Building on frame theories in social movement literature, this essay uses the lens of NGO-produced advocacy for binational same-sex couples to consider more broadly the relationship between individual experience, subjectivity, and the discourses and practices employed by NGO actors. It offers an analysis of both how NGOs developed and utilized particular messaging strategies and rhetorical frames to discursively produce a normative image of their constituency, and how constituents navigated and made use of the framing strategies developed by NGOs in their own claims to state rights and recognition. This discussion thus highlights the potentials and the problematics of the NGO model in social movements' efforts toward legal and political change. 1 | INTRODUCTION The nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector in the United States is a complex and frequently misunderstood set of institutions and processes. NGOs take multiple forms and engage in a variety of diverse activities, but the term is generally used to describe "nonstate organizations that are distinct from for-profit business" (Lewis & Schuller, 2017, 635). In practice, the NGO sector has much more complex and intimate relationships with state power and the forprofit financial sector than this characterization implies (Beam, 2016; Bernal & Grewal, 2014; Lewis & Schuller, 2017). Furthermore, NGOs often also operate as social movement organizations, providing important social and legal services and leading advocacy efforts for marginalized populations. For this reason, the NGO sector has been a significant site for the development and implementation of social justice efforts for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer (LGBTQ)-persons and communities in the United States.