National Context and Voluntary Group Membership in 20 African Countries

• In Event: 485 - Section on Sociology of Development Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. States, Bureaucracy, and Civil Society

Abstract

This paper adds an African perspective to current debates about voluntary group membership. Drawing on social capital and resource mobilization theory I derive two sets of hypotheses to test assumptions regarding the impact of individual socio-demographic attributes and religious values, and national development context on active voluntary group membership in 20 sub-Saharan African countries. Multilevel modeling techniques are used to simultaneously assess the impact of individual and country-level factors that shape membership cross-nationally in Africa. Data come from a representative sample of adults (n = 24,259) collected by Afrobarometer surveys in 2008/2009. Findings reveal that in these countries, active voluntary group membership is generally associated with greater social and cultural capital, but not necessarily with more economic capital. The results challenge resource theories of civic participation, by suggesting that Africans are motivated to associational involvement not merely by the resources they possess but also in part by culture, and in part by the reciprocity that comes along with collective group activity. At the contextual level, economic and democratic development does little to stimulate the climate for voluntary group participation, however development aid has a significant impact, adding new insights into the role of foreign aid in fostering civil society in developing countries.

Author

• Sara Compion, Kean University