Surviving the ‘Civil Society Dilemma’: Critical Factors in Shaping the Behaviour of Non-Governmental Actors

Abstract

In market-based economies it will always be difficult for those non-government organisations that espouse non-market values to flourish without being compromised in ways that have a damaging impact on their objectives and credibility. Positioned within civil society between state and market, non-governmental actors are permanently trapped between a desire to enhance community well-being and an inability to shape the context in which to do so. Thus they find that, although recent policy developments have provided opportunities for greater influence in a number of countries, taking advantage of such opportunities, whilst appearing to fulfil their mission, can lead to co-option and a betrayal of core values. Finding solutions to this ‘civil society dilemma’ is further complicated by adaptations to the shifting demands created by economic and political change. In this chapter, we focus on recent developments in the relationship between the state and civil society in two countries, examining the ways in which, in different contexts, non-governmental actors have attempted to address this dilemma.