Pathways
Development Journal - Power, Movements and Change
2008 - 2009
Lead Researcher: Sonia Alvarez
This special issue of Development originates from work presented at the AWID Forum on the 'Power of Movements' held in South Africa in November 2008.
Resources For This Project
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Beyond NGOization?: Reflections From Latin America, Development 52.2
Sonia Alvarez reconsiders what she had earlier labelled ‘the Latin American feminist NGO boom’ of the 1990s. She offers reflections on how and why, at least in that region of the world, we may be moving beyond it. Alvarez revisits the notion of NGO-ization, then reviews the crucial ‘movement work’ performed by NGOs that was often obscured by that notion. She proposes that Latin American feminisms and other social movements may be moving away from the particular organizational forms and practices – actively promoted and officially sanctioned by national and global neo-liberalism – that characterized NGO-ization in the past. …
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Negotiating Alliances, Overcoming Opposition: Women's Movements and Other Social Movements Roundtable
The Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Programme Consortium (RPC) and the Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts (WEMC) RPC held a public discussion on the theme of building alliances on 13 November 2008 in Cape Town prior to the AWID Forum. The day’s programme included an introduction to the two RPCs by their respective directors, followed by inputs from the RPC members about women’s movements’ encounters with other social movements, after which there was a question and answer session. An internal meeting was held by the two RPCs for members to identify key issues of strategic relevance for building alliances as well as overcoming oppositions, and to formulate strategies for engagement across movements. …
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The NGOization Of Women's Movements And Its Implications For Feminist Organizing
A panel from the the AWID Forum held in Cape Town from 14-17 November 2008. Dzodzi Tsikata discussed how women’s NGOs in Ghana have responded to some of the challenges they face because of NGOization. She recounted the history of NGOization in Ghana and the lessons that women’s NGOs learned from it, and concluded that “while NGOization still remains a huge issue for the women’s movement in Ghana, I think that women’s organisations in Ghana have come to recognize by their work that NGOs are not synonymous with civil society nor with the women’s movement. ” Saba Khatak placed the women’s movement in Pakistan in the larger context of Pakistani politics. …
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Women's Organizing In Ghana Since The 1990s: From Individual Organizations To Three Coalitions, Development 52.2
Dzodzi Tsikata focuses on the progress of women’s organizing in Ghana over the last ten years. It argues that although hampered by challenges of state society relations and organizational weaknesses arising from NGOization, women’s organisations have experienced growth and enjoyed some successes. These can be attributed to the establishment of three women’s rights networks to consolidate their work. …
