The NGO sector in India: historical context and current discourse

Sheth, D. L.; Sethi, Harsh

doi:10.1007/bf01398670

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…For example, as Aradhana Sharma (2014) argued, scholars and activists in India engaged in a critical evaluation of NGOs earlier than did those within Europe or North America. One of India's leading political scientists, Rajni Kothari (1986), argued that NGOs were often used in readying local communities for world capitalists, and Sheth and Sethi (1991) pointed out that NGOs often displaced earlier local traditions of volunteerism and citizen mobilization.…”

Section: Ngos As Research Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engagements with a Productively Unstable Category: Anthropologists and Nongovernmental Organizations

Lewis¹,

Schuller²

2017

Current Anthropology

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The category "NGO" (nongovernmental organization) is notoriously hard to fix. The term NGO-which defines these organizations in terms of what they are not-masks great diversity and assumes an unproblematic boundary. The use of the term persists, in no small part because several different types of actors involved in a range of fields depend on what we call the "productive instability" inherent to the NGO category. As a discipline, given our history and methodology, anthropology and anthropologists are uniquely poised to grapple with the ideas and practices associated with the inherently unstable category of NGO. Rather than attempting to fix the category or contest the boundaries implied by it, anthropologists are instead beginning to interrogate the meanings behind the contestations themselves.Rather than attempt precise classification or bemoan the uncertainty, we contend that the NGO category is "productively unstable." We argue that productive work lies ahead in charting similarities and differences within NGOs across aid and activism. This task mirrors an inherent messiness for both NGOs and anthropologists as we grapple with dilemmas of engagement. Such a critically engaged anthropology of NGOs also stands poised to offer useful guidance to the discipline as it struggles over "relevance" in this new century.

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Section: Ngos As Research Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engagements with a Productively Unstable Category: Anthropologists and Nongovernmental Organizations

Lewis¹,

Schuller²

2017

Current Anthropology

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“…We have an excellent start in mapping the non-profit field in recent books (Clark, 1991;Carroll, 1992;McCarthy, 1992;Fisher, 1993), articles in Voluntas (Diaz-Albertini, 1991;Sheth and Sethi, 1991;Whiting, 1991), and monographs from the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies (Atingdui, 1993;Kandil, 1993;Landim, 1993;Pongsapich, 1993;Sen, 1993). We have an excellent start in mapping the non-profit field in recent books (Clark, 1991;Carroll, 1992;McCarthy, 1992;Fisher, 1993), articles in Voluntas (Diaz-Albertini, 1991;Sheth and Sethi, 1991;Whiting, 1991), and monographs from the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies (Atingdui, 1993;Kandil, 1993;Landim, 1993;Pongsapich, 1993;Sen, 1993).…”

Section: Ngos In Developing Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-governmental organisations in international development: trends and future research priorities

Smith

1993

Voluntas

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North Atlantic NGOs have significantly increased their role in international development. They have expanded their activities beyond relief to include a more structural approach to third-world poverty and have attracted increasing amounts of government subsidies for their work overseas. They have also begun to engage in education of their home populations about global poverty and have established close ties to an emerging network of third-world NGOs who channel their resources to the grassroots poor abroad. In the post-Cold War era, North Atlantic NGOs enjoy some unique opportunities to expand their work due to the increase of third-world democracy and free-market economies, but they also face some critical challenges ahead -balancing periodic relief efforts with long-term development programmes, resisting pressures by governments to use NGOs for their own purposes, upgrading the quality of development education at home, and finding ways to relate to third-world NGOs as more equal partners. These and other challenges (for example, improving institutional capacities of North Atlantic NGOs to handle increasing demands, and relationship between third-world NGOs and grassroots organisations) need the attention of scholars in the years ahead.

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“…The common themes of the NPO sector for this period are discussed by Sheth and Sethi (1991). As they point out, the church-based NPOs received patronage from the colonial state to intervene in social and religious life of the indigenous population.…”

Section: Common Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chowdhury states that planners under the the leadership of Jawharlal Nehru and a voluntary social worker, Durgabai Deshmuk, felt that social work should be left to the voluntary sector, with the state providing technical and financial support. Sheth and Sethi (1991) view the close relationship and dependence of the Gandhian NPOs on the state as the demise of a vibrant sector of Gandian organisations. The CSWB was the first instance when the NPOs began to get access to funds to implement projects.…”

Section: Common Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Concurrent with these new trends, the more radical types of action groups began to disintegrate by the mid-1980s, although Sheth and Sethi (1991) claim the continued existence of such NPOs. Concurrent with these new trends, the more radical types of action groups began to disintegrate by the mid-1980s, although Sheth and Sethi (1991) claim the continued existence of such NPOs.…”

Section: Types Of Npos Primary Activities Founding Members and Theimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non-profit organisations in India: historical development and common patterns

Sen¹

1992

Voluntas

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The article documents the history of the Indian voluntary or non-profit sector involved in socio-economic development of the country. Specifically, three questions are addressed. What type of voluntary organisations existed at what periods of history, and what were their primary activities? Who were the founders, and what were their motives? Can we detect common themes or underlying patterns in the way in which the Indian voluntary sector has developed? Or in other words: what is the institutional genesis of the non-profit or voluntary sector in India? The findings are based on multiple sources -literature review, interviews and observation, and information requested through the marl. The article differs from most historical studies on Indian non-profit organisations because it takes an analytical approach by d r a w i n g from c o n t e m p o r a r y literature on such organisations.

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The NGO sector in India: historical context and current discourse

Cited by 32 publications

References 1 publication

Engagements with a Productively Unstable Category: Anthropologists and Nongovernmental Organizations

Engagements with a Productively Unstable Category: Anthropologists and Nongovernmental Organizations

Non-governmental organisations in international development: trends and future research priorities

Non-profit organisations in India: historical development and common patterns

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