Strengthening of civil society in Latin America: What are we talking about?

• In Event: Strengthening Civil Society Under Political Pressure

Abstract

The challenge and necessity of "strengthening civil society" in Latin America is a crucial issue that has been on the agendas of a large majority of social actors in the region, both at the regional, national and local levels, for several years. More recently, the issue has resurfaced with force as an antidote to the progress made in several countries in the region to reduce civic space through clearly repressive measures, retrograde narratives and legal, economic and tax regulations. The relevance of the issue, in terms of strengthening democracies, is beyond dispute. Now, what are we talking about when we talk about "strengthening civil society"? The answers are diverse, both in terms of "what is civil society" and the multiple meanings of the term "strengthening". From these answers, other questions are also derived, such as what are the best strategies to strengthen the civil society, who should be the main actors involved in doing so, what are the expected results of the different strategies and, ultimately, how they can be sustainable in the long term. Democracies in the region depend as much on how "markets" behave and the nature of their political regimes, as well as, preponderantly, on how civil societies can intervene in the processes of development and democratic construction.
In order to investigate these issues, we developed a research project in Uruguay that aims to contribute elements to this regional discussion. Our research objectives, in light of the above, are: 1) to survey the diverse public and private experiences of "strengthening civil society" in Latin America; 2) Analyze and draw conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of the strategies applied; 3) Propose a path of intervention for Uruguay that can be viable, effective and sustainable.
Our methodological proposal includes a variety of quantitative and qualitative tools that allow us to know the situation in depth while facilitating the preparation of a final proposal.
To this end, we carried out: 1. An exhaustive survey, through various sources of secondary information (research reports, articles, websites, etc.), of experiences, funds and programs for the strengthening of CS in its multiple manifestations, at the national, regional and international levels. 2. The analysis and systematization of these experiences. 3. Open interviews and consultations with public bodies (national and local), companies and business associations, foundations, cooperation agencies and international and multilateral organizations. 4. A brief survey of Uruguayan civil society organizations to gather their feedback on the main interests and needs in terms of strengthening.
We aspire that the main contribution of our research will shed light on the best strategies to strengthen democracy, social participation and sustainable development.

References

Leilah Landim and Andrés Thompson, “Non governmental organizations and philanthropy In Latin America: an overview”, Voluntas, March 1996
Adolfo Castillo e Jorge Osorio, Desarrollo sustentable y fortalecimiento de la sociedad civil. Una visión desde el Fondo de las Américas-Chile, revista POLIS, 2/2002
Fortalecimiento de la sociedad civil
en América Latina: Una mirada desde Uruguay,
Andrés Thompson (ELLAS), ISTR conference, Sao Paulo, 2023

Authors

• Andres Thompson, ELLAS

• Anabel Cruz, Instituto de Comunicacion y Desarrollo (ICD)

• Analia Bettoni, Instituto de Comunicación y Desarrollo (ICD)