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Civil Society and Aid in Africa: A Case of Mistaken Identity?

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The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa

Part of the book series: Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies ((NCSS,volume 20))

Abstract

Both the understanding and measurement of civil society in Africa exhibit severe distortions. One result is a gross underestimation of the significance of endogeneity in the forms and applications of civic agency. A concomitant consequence is the (mis-)allocation of international assistance to exogenous ‘semi-detached’ forms of civil society, which relying on overly western and overly optimistic expectations of their roles in development. In the words of an African proverb: ‘a foreigner sees only what he already knows’. Through the lens of aid channels to an externally conceived African civil society, this chapter applies a historical approach to unpack a messy conceptual, empirical and policy terrain. It illustrates the biases and gaps between foreign perception and lived reality in terms of associational functionality and associational formations on the continent. This analysis calls into question an implicit assumption of aid agencies that ‘deep’ civil society is not a player in the ethnic and other factionalisms that shape the socio-political process of governance in many African countries. In order to reach a more subtle and realistic appreciation of development reality, a case is made for re-thinking foreign aid to civil society in terms of proportionality between its exogenous and endogenous expressions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://futurechallenges.org/local/cash-back-remittances-from-the-african-diaspora/. Accessed 18 August 2012. Though changing, the fact that remittances are often applied to consumption rather than development is irrelevant to the extent that this type of finance supports the material base from which associational life is driven.

  2. 2.

    http://worldbank.org/civilsociety/. Accessed 18 August 2012.

  3. 3.

    http://www.aideffectiveness.org/busanhlf4/en/countries/africa/581.html. Downloaded 7 August 2012.

  4. 4.

    http://bigpushforward.net/archives/1700. Accessed 22 August 2012.

  5. 5.

    http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/development-aid-total-official-and-private-flows_20743866-table5. Accessed 23 August 2012.

  6. 6.

    http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/development-aid-grants-by-private-voluntary-agencies_20743866-table3. Accessed 23 August 2012.

  7. 7.

    www.worldbank.org/civilsociety/.

  8. 8.

    http://www.oecd.org/development/aidstatistics/42139250.pdf. Accessed 7 Aug 2012.

  9. 9.

    http://www.wateraid.org/documents/annual_report_and_financial_statements_201011.pdf. p. 7.

  10. 10.

    See; www.africangrantmakers.org.

  11. 11.

    See Alliance Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 3, Focus on … Living with the Gates Foundation.

  12. 12.

    http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm. Downloaded, 17 August 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Alan Fowler DPhil.

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  1. Alan Fowler DPhil.
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Correspondence to Alan Fowler DPhil. .

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  1. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

    Ebenezer Obadare

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Fowler, A. (2014). Civil Society and Aid in Africa: A Case of Mistaken Identity?. In: Obadare, E. (eds) The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies, vol 20. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8262-8_23

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