Seizing and Stretching Participatory Space: Civil Society Participation in Tanzania’s Policy Processes

Civil society participation in PRSP processes has become part and parcel of modern aid modities. Assumed benefits include stronger checks and balances, inclusion of marginalized interests, and a broader support base for implementation. This hints at transformative potential. Yet, where governments or donors drive the process, participation hardly ever surpasses a mere consultative role and risks of cooption loom large.

LGBT research update

The LGBT movement in Peru slowly reveals some of its dynamics as Marten van den Berge and his Peruvian colleague Giancaro Cornejo facilitate conversations and workshops with organizations in Lima and in some of the provincial capitals, whilst participating in marches, protests and meetings.

Local democratic governance in fragile states

In late November, Jon Gaventa and Marjoke Oostrom from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) facilitated a PSO hosted workshop about local democratic governance in fragile settings. Dutch NGOs concentrate their discussions on how to adjust their bottom-up strategies to fragile settings to contribute to peace, security and democratic governance, and to reconciliation and justice, but more may be required to (re)build local democracy…

Dialogues of knowledge in action

The Civil Society Building Knowledge programme supports the Kabarole Research Center in Fort Portal, Uganda to elaborate a new initiative that seeks to bring together politicians, policy makers and communities to jointly engage in development dialogue and knowledge generation. Edit Tuboly, Programme Officer at HIVOS, is currently visiting the region and participated in an open space meeting. An impression

Mobilizing social justice - Unlocking the potential for structural change

On the 23rd and 24th of November, the Hivos-ISS knowledge programme organizes a conference on 'mobilizing social justice; unlocking the potential for structural change'

Citizenship narratives in the absence of good governance; Voices of the working poor in Bangladesh

How does the interaction between the poor and civil society organizations effect perceptions of and possibilities for citizenship? Naila Kabeer and Afirul hoque interviewed 70 citizens from rural and urban Bangladesh, belonging to the so called ‘working poor’. Their voices are the backbone of a fascinating IDS working paper which offers plenty of food for thought.

Power in practice

A new CDRA nugget from James Taylor points at the centrality of practice for a more effective development sector. The burgeoning development knowledge industry and the steady stream of evaluations risk distracting us from what we already know.

Just another Emperor

The mainstream civil society debate tends to concentrate on the dynamics between civil society organizations and the state. Yet, in a globalizing world, state power is increasingly migrating away to trans-national actors that often straddle the traditional private/public divide.

Research as intervention

This week, key actors from 3 social movements in Central America have come together in Santiago Atitlan to reflect on the participative research process that they have been engaged in since last year. During the week, members of the civil society building knowledge team are blogging about their impressions. Here, Remko Berkhout, share his impressions of the first workshop day