In a collaborative pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals? Reflections on development CSO-practices in Africa

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Civil society organizations (CSOs) continue to be significant third-sector actors in international development both locally and in North-South partnerships. Accordingly, CSOs are expected to contribute to achievement of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a myriad of ways. While the civil-society enthusiasm in development is long gone and critical contributions have questioned their roles and practices, CSOs continue to be a part and parcel of the organizational fabric of development, the dynamics of which should be investigated in their own terms through localized investigations. Drawing from coordinators’ recent research projects (see Crack 2023; Footit et al. 2020; Holma & Kontinen 2022; van Wessel & al. 2023), the panel provides critical reflections on CSO practices grounded in empirical investigations is diverse locations in Africa. The contributions touch CSOs’ North-South collaborations and relationships with donors as well as with communities, government, and private sector; all fundamental collaborations that supposedly enhance the realization of SDGs and facilitate peoples’ resilience in the face of multiple and enduring crises. The contributions discuss how the international development language and ‘buzzwords’ translate into local notions and practices, how CSOs perform their role as mediators between a variety of actors, and how they need to strike balance to maintain legitimacy vis-á-vis different audiences. It further reflects the implications for decolonial, anti-racist, and contra-neoliberal critical reflections on CSOs in contributing to SDGs, when it comes dynamics of collaborations and contextual organizing. The four presentations provide empirically grounded analyses, which invite the panel audience to engage in joint reflection on the topic.

References

Crack, A. (2023). Promoting linguistic inclusivity in NGO work. In S. Pickering-Saqqa (Ed.), Researching Development NGOs: Global and Grassroots Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Researching-Development-NGOs-Global-and-Grassroots-Perspectives/Pickering-Saqqa/p/book/9780367489458
Footitt, H. A., Crack, A., & Tesseur, W. (2020). Development NGOs and Languages: Listening, Power and Inclusion. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51776-2
Holma, K. & Kontinen, T. (eds) (2022). Learning, Philosophy, and African Citizenship. Palgrave McMillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-94882-5
van Wessel, M., Kontinen, T. & Bawole, J. (eds) (2023) Reimagining civil society collaborations in development. Starting from the south. Oxon: Routledge.

Sub Unit

• Other Third Sector related topics

Individual Presentations

• Does sustainable development make sense 'on the ground'? Participatory translation and anti-racism for the third sector - Angela Crack, University of Portsmouth

• Do NGOs help the poor or aid state nonchalance? Evidence from a rural community in western Uganda - Karembe Ahimbisibwe, University of Jyväskylä

• Agricultural Public-Private Partnership Successive Uncertainties: Implications for the Third Sector in Tanzania’s Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor Partnership Initiative - Judith Kahamba, University of Jyvaskyla; Xiuli Xu, China Agricultural University, College of HumaniDes and Development Studies

• Logics of legitimation: African development CSOs as hybrid organizations - Tiina Kontinen, University of Jyvaskyla