Caught in the crossfire' : NGOs, between states, donors and grassroots communities: a socio-political analysis based upon case studies of two British NGOs development programmes in Pakistan

This dissertation aims to enhance our critical appreciation of the
complexities of social change and the NGO phenomenon in the
development process. The international development sector is a multi-actor
arena within which NGOs interact with donors, states and grassroots
communities. The growth of the NGO is studied through a socio-political
analysis of British NGO projects in rural Pakistan. The relationships
between macro and micro level actors are examined to reveal hierarchical
structures of power which perpetuate inequalities and poverty. This analysis
examines the development landscape and the roles of different actors from
a post-structuralist perspective. With the application of Foucauldian notions
of power/knowledge and dipositif (apparatus), the dominant development
discourse is critiqued with particular focus on the neo-liberal reinterpretation
of the participatory paradigm. It is argued through qualitative
research findings that the autonomy of mainstream NGOs is compromised,
at the cost of organic relationships with the vernacular. This investigation
also provides an historical account of events which later contributed
towards the 11 th September 2001. It questions the extent to which the power
struggles between the Pakistani state and NGOs during the mid 1990s and
the international aid system contributed towards the funding of political
elements with network links to the Taleban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan
and Pakistan.

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