International NGO Engagement, Advocacy, Activism: The Faces and Spaces of Change

It’s clear that NGOs have proliferated in recent decades. A 2003 estimate is that “close to 90 per cent of all non-governmental organisations have been formed since 1970” (page 2). Their power has also grown and diversified, at least for international NGOs (INGOs) at the top. For instance, World Vision’s budget is bigger than the aid budgets of Australia and Italy combined. And the world’s largest NGO, in terms of numbers of employees and beneficiaries, is the Bangladesh-based BRAC.

The author’s focus is on how publics of the global North interact with development INGOs, primarily those originating in the UK. Yanacopulos argues that as NGOs have grown, professionalized, and internationalized, they have become a key vehicle for people living in the global North to be involved with development. She also contends that we are at a turning point for this involvement, owing to transformations in technology, mobilization strategies, and funding sources.

The book explores these ideas by looking at different spaces for engagement between INGOs and the public: in the political arena, in terms of cosmopolitanism, in mediating North–South relationships, in view of INGOs’ organizational dynamics, and in light of technological advances.

The chapter on INGOs’ digital spaces describes how these spaces have allowed new types of organizations and advocacy. Yanacopulos cites evidence that “slacktivism” does not crowd out space for offline activism, as popularly believed. The two types of activism are not zero-sum, and are often blended.

The rise of digital media is complicating the relationship between an INGO and an individual (which has certain parallels to the relationship between an elected official and a constituent). Previously this was largely one-directional, but digital media has allowed people to insert themselves into communications.

It has also allowed new entities like online campaigning organizations (OCOs) to flourish. In some countries, notably Australia, OCOs like Avaaz and 38 Degrees have been able to amass more public support than traditional NGOs or political parties. Part of this success may be due to OCO campaign issues rising from the membership, rather than being decided on by a select few at the top. Another differentiator is the speed with which OCOs can mobilize supporters. An Avaaz poll can turn a particular issue into a campaign in days.

This is not simply about balancing power relations, as OCO organizing has had concrete impacts. For instance, “Canada’s ex-Liberal party leader Stéphane Dion, who was one of the influential political actors in the Bali climate change negotiations, personally attributed the reversal of the Canadian position to Avaaz, whose campaign methods in Bali he applauded as ‘democracy at work’” (150).

Of course, there are drawbacks to the OCO model, in terms of the lesser attention to expertise, long-term relationship building, campaign issues that are not quick wins, and other factors. However, these charges have also been levelled at INGOs. The two types of organizations appear to have lessons to offer the other – presuming that each is open to organizational learning.

The surge of OCOs raises questions about the model of more traditional INGOs. Are NGOs accountable not just to donor agencies, beneficiaries and participants, but also to the general public in the countries where they are based (and where they may receive a large share of funding)? Participation has become a cornerstone of development activity in the South for many Northern organizations, yet it may be that participation has not also been extended to Northern bases in meaningful ways.

Drawing on the digital space case as well as the other areas explored in the book, Yanacopulos’ conclusion is:

“that INGOs are limited in how they engage northern publics, how they conduct advocacy and how they are politically active around issues of international development…They are limited by many factors…such as their forms of engagement, their nosiness models, and their self-sustaining ambitions. Until they overcome some of these tensions and issues, their positions will be ambivalent and their role in development will remain problematic.”

Further reading:

Allaby, Martin and Christine Preston (2005), “Transferring responsibility from an international NGO to local government: experience from the Yala Urban Health Programme, Nepal”, Environment and Urbanization Vol 17, No 1, pages 249–258, available at http://eau.sagepub.com/content/17/1/249.abstract.

Cameron, John and Anna Haanstra (2008), “Development Made Sexy: how it happened and what it means”, Third World Quarterly Vol 29, No 8, pages 1475–1489, available at http://courses.arch.vt.edu/courses/wdunaway/gia5524/cameron08.pdf.

Participatory Learning and Action (2011), “How wide are the ripples? From local participation to international organisational learning”, Vol 63, available at http://pubs.iied.org/14606IIED.html.

Book note prepared by Christine Ro