Civil Society: A Powerful Concept: A critical discourse analysis of the relationship between DFAT and NGOs in Laos
Author
Jensen, Lea Graugaard
Term
4. term
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-05-31
Pages
61
Abstract
This thesis examines how civil society is understood and mobilized in development through a case study of the relationship between Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and NGOs in Laos. It starts from the view that power imbalances in donor–NGO relations make civil society a normative touchstone for what counts as good development. The research question asks how civil society is conceptualized in the DFAT–NGO relationship in Laos and how this discursively shapes development practice. The study applies critical discourse analysis to DFAT documents on civil society and policies toward Laos and combines this with interviews with international NGOs in Laos, including two funded by DFAT and two by another main donor, to probe donors’ ideational influence. Resource dependency and neo-institutional theories are used to explain when organizations conform, negotiate, or contest donor pressures. Findings indicate that DFAT advances a neoliberal discourse of civil society as inherently good and apolitical, which NGOs largely reproduce in their general definitions. However, when characterizing Lao civil society, NGOs depict it as a political arena of power struggle, aligning more closely with a neo-Marxist view. The thesis concludes that NGOs can negotiate donor agendas to some extent, but the neoliberal civil society discourse is so embedded in the development field that both donors and NGOs effectively accept it as true, allowing it to shape development practice.
Specialet undersøger, hvordan civilsamfund forstås og anvendes i udviklingsarbejde gennem et casestudie af forholdet mellem den australske udenrigstjeneste DFAT og NGO'er i Laos. Udgangspunktet er, at magtasymmetrier i donor‑NGO‑relationen gør civilsamfund til en normativ nøgleidé for, hvad der anses som god udvikling. Forskningsspørgsmålet er, hvordan civilsamfund konceptualiseres i relationen mellem DFAT og NGO'er i Laos, og hvordan dette diskursivt former praksis i udviklingsarbejdet. Metodisk kombineres kritisk diskursanalyse af DFATs dokumenter om civilsamfund og Laos-politikker med interviews med internationale NGO'er i Laos, herunder to finansieret af DFAT og to af en anden hoveddonor, for at belyse donorers ideelle indflydelse. Analysen inddrager desuden ressourceafhængighedsteori og neoinstitutionalisme til at forstå, hvornår organisationer tilpasser sig, forhandler eller udfordrer donorers krav. Resultaterne peger på, at DFAT fremmer en neoliberal diskurs om civilsamfund som iboende godt og upolitisk, som NGO'er i store træk reproducerer i deres generelle definitioner. Når de beskriver civilsamfund i Laos, fremstiller NGO'erne det dog mere som en politisk kampplads for magt, i tråd med en neomarxistisk forståelse. Specialet konkluderer, at NGO'er i et vist omfang kan forhandle donorers agendaer, men at den neoliberale civilsamfundsdiskurs er så indlejret i udviklingsfeltet, at både donorer og NGO'er i praksis accepterer den som sand og lader den præge udviklingsarbejdet.
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