News
September 2008
New book
Civil Society in Algeria: The Political Functions of Associational Life
Andrea Liverani
May 2008
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Centre for Civil Society Seminar: Foreign Aid, Civil Society and Human Welfare in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan
On 22 May 2008, the Centre for Civil Society held a seminar on Foreign Aid, Civil Society and Human Welfare in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The seminar examined the diverse perspectives of civil society actors and organisations engaged in development in Kyrgyzstan. Charles Buxton, INTRAC Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, discussed trends in NGO-donor relations in Kyrgyzstan. Babken Babajanian, LSE Centre for Civil Society, examined the impact and relevance of community driven development projects and the ‘social mobilisation’ strategy supported by international donors in rural Kyrgyzstan. Medet Tiulegenov, Open Society Institute, Bishkek, identified some of the problems and opportunities in relation to the state funding of NGOs providing social services to vulnerable groups. Mathijs Pelkmans, LSE Department of Anthropology, examined the role and implications of evangelical aid to Muslim Kyrgyzstan. The seminar was attended by scholars and development professionals working on Central Asia.
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Professor James Scott's lecture, Why Civilisations Can't Climb Hills: a political history of statelessness in Southeast Asia, is now available as an mp3 (19 mb; approx 81 minutes)
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Jeremy Lind was interviewed by Carina Kamel, CNBC Africa correspondent, on the impacts of post-9/11 counter-terrorism measures, laws and practices on civil society in Kenya. The interview is to air on the CNBC flagship show Markets Africa on May 21, 2008.
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Jude Howell and Jeremy Lind gave a public address at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) on ‘Civil Society, Aid and Security in Kenya Post-9/11’.
- You can now read the abstracts of March's European Development Aid and NGOs: Changing Notions of Civil Society in "North" and "South" Workshop here.
April 2008
Jude Howell presented the keynote address at the Provost’s Forum on International Affairs at the University of Iowa on April 18, 2008. The theme of the forum was ‘Civil society and terrorism: the impact of counter-terrorism policy and law on civil society in comparative perspective’. Jeremy Lind and Jude Howell also presented a paper on ‘Civil society, security and aid in the post-9/11 context: the cases of Kenya and Afghanistan’ at the same forum.
March 2008
Armine Ishkanian, lecturer in NGO Management in the Centre for Civil Society and the Social Policy Department, has just published her latest book, Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia, Routledge (March 2008)
This volume considers the challenges of democracy building in post-Soviet Armenia, and the role of civil society in that process. It argues that, contrary to the expectations of Western aid donors, who promoted civil society on the assumption that democratization would follow from the establishment of civil society, democratic regimes have failed to materialize, and, moreover, a backlash has emerged in various post-Soviet states.
Armine Ishkanian explores how far the growth of civil society depends on a country's historical, political and socio-cultural context; and how far foreign aid, often provided with conditions which encouraged the promotion of civil society, had an impact on democratization. Based on extensive original research, including fieldwork interviews with participants, Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia considers various democratisation initiatives in recent years, and assesses how far the Armenian experience is similar to, or different from, the experiences of other post-Soviet states.
Click here for details on how to request a copy
February 2008
New Publications
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The backlash against civil society in the wake of the Long War on Terror
Jude Howell, Armine Ishkanian, Ebenezer Obadare, Hakan Seckinelgin, and Marlies Glasius, Development in Practice, Volume 18, Number 1, February 2008
- Voluntary Sector Working Papers
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How does one voluntary organisation engage with multiple stakeholder views of effectiveness? - Sarah Mistry
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Can the Compact guard the independence of voluntary organisations and the autonomy of their stakeholders? - Jonathan Roberts
January 2008
- The ESRC Non-Governmental Public Action Programme, directed by Jude Howell at CCS has appointed two new international visiting fellows, Enrique Peruzotti and Giovanni Scotto
Both Enrique and Giovanni will be giving a Thursday lunchtime seminar at LSE 12.30 - 1.45 on 14th February and 28th February respectively - details will be appearing on the CCS website shortly.
Enrique Peruzzotti is a Professor of Political Science at Di Tella University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a residential fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Studies in Washington DC, a Fulbright fellow at Columbia University, and a residential fellow at the Bellagio Study and Conference Center. His research concentrates on the role played by civil society at strengthening and improving representative institutions in Latin America. He has published Enforcing the Rule of Law. Social Accountability in the New Latin American Democracies and numerous articles on civil society, accountability, participation, and Argentine politics.
Enrique's NGPA research proposal is entitled Rethinking the Links between Participation and Representation: constituent politics and representative government in Latin America
Giovanni Scotto is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Università degli Studi di Firenze. He teaches Conflict and mediation theories in the Undergraduate Program and coordinates a one-year Master’s program in Social and Intercultural Mediation.
Among his publications: Peace Training. Preparing Adults for Peacework and Nonviolent Intervention in Conflicts, Cluj-Napoca (Romania): PATRIR 2007 (with Robert Rivers, eds.); Friedensbildung in Mostar. Die Rolle der internationalen NRO, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2004; Conflitti e mediazione, Milano: Paravia Bruno Mondadori, 2003 (With Emanuele Arielli).
At LSE Giovanni Scotto works on the role of non governmental public actors – both local and international – working on conflict transformation in the context of the present international situation, characterised by the “global war on terror”. He will deal with two case studies: Kosovo and Afghanistan.
December 2007
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Jude Howell and Jeremy Lind organised a workshop on ‘Aid, security and civil society in eastern Africa since 2001’ in Nairobi Kenya on 4 December, 2007.
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Jeremy Lind presented on ‘The wealth of women? Social analysis of a Cash for Work programme in north-eastern Turkana District (Kenya)’ to staff in the Oxfam GB Kenya and Regional Horn, East and Central Africa programmes in Nairobi on 7 December, 2007.
November 2007
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Professor Jude Howell was quoted in the Straits Times, Singapore on women in Chinese politics.
'Bamboo ceiling' in Chinese politics
Women politicians in deeply patriarchal China face a 'bamboo ceiling', said Professor Jude Howell, director of the Centre for Civil Society at the London School of Economics and Political Science. 'There's a limit to how far they are allowed to progress. This has to do with perceptions of the 'low quality' of women and a deeply rooted cultural preference for males,' she said. (Source: LexisNexis)
October 2007
Jude Howell published a new article, 'Village elections in China: recent prospects, new challenges', in Etudes Rurales, Jan-June 2007, 179, pp 213-234
Global Civil Society Exhibition
The Global Civil Society Yearbook has invited cartoonists, graphic novelists and comic strip artists from around the world to contribute work to an exhibition on themes relating to Global Civil Society. The exhibition is in the Atrium of the Student Services Centre, LSE from 11 October to 29 November, Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm. Entry is free.
John Gibson has joined the Centre as a Research Officer , working on the themes of contemporary political protest and social movement activism, particularly that associated with alter-globalist protests.
Ben Jones has joined the Centre as a Lecturer in Social Policy. His research is concerned with civil society organisations and their relation to the state.
There is more information about their research and publications in the Who's who section of the site.
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Jeremy Lind will be working with the Humanitarian Programme of Oxfam GB in Kenya in October and November to assess the social impacts of cash and food aid transfers in Turkana, northern Kenya.
Workshop On Civil Society, Security And Development Aid In Eastern Africa Since 2001
December 4th, 2007; Nairobi, venue TBA
Call For Papers (Word)
This workshop will explore how emerging security objectives and strategies in the context of the War on Terror have affected development and civil societies in east and the Horn of Africa. Specific objectives are to understand:
- the politics of aid, security and foreign policy in the region since 2001,
- the changing relationships between donors and civil society groups,
- the effects on humanitarian groups and access to populations in need;
- the impact of counter-terrorism laws and anti-money-laundering on civil societies, particularly in relation to marginalised and poor social groups;
- the responses of civil societies to these downward pressures such as the formation of ad hoc networks and groups opposed to anti-terror laws, renewed organising around human rights and civil liberties and so forth;
Papers are invited on any of these broad issues. Interested academics and researchers are kindly requested to indicate their interest by submitting an abstract of no more than 250 words by November 1st 2007 to J.Lind@lse.ac.uk Applicants will be informed soon afterwards about whether their abstract has been accepted.
September 2007
August 2007
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Babken Babajanian held a seminar on Local Governance and Citizens’ Welfare in Kyrgyzstan, Social Research Center, The American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 10 August 2007
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Nashi: Russia’s youth counter-movement
Dr Armine Ishkanian's article on the Russian youth movement Nashi (Ours) was published on openDemocracy (30 August 2007). It is available at http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/politics_protest/russia_nashi
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European Development Aid and NGOs: Changing Notions of Civil Society in "North" and "South"
This international conference is a joint cooperation between the LSE Centre for Civil Society and the CINEFOGO Network of Excellence under the 6th EU Framework Programme.
March 12th-14th 2008
at Goodenough College, London WC1
Call for Papers
http://www.cinefogo.org/workpackages/wp-37v/wp37v-conference-european-development-aid-and-ngos
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Research broker appointment
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is seeking to appoint a research broker to work with the ESRC's portfolio of international relations and international development research investments to ensure that their research has the maximum impact. The ESRC is advertising the position through various research networks so please feel free to pass on details of the vacancy to colleagues and through the NGPA network.
The research brokers' scheme has been designed to help the ESRC achieve one of its four core strategic objectives: to increase the impact of our research on policy and practice. The broker will take the role of intermediary between researchers and research users by performing a wide range of communication and knowledge transfer activities towards research maximisation, ensuring that the research from the ESRC's portfolio of international relations and international development investments has the maximum impact. The broker will contribute to the wider ESRC Evidence Based Policy and Practice (EBPP) and media/communications strategy.
The research broker will engage with a range of research users, and will need: particular skills in communicating research to a non-academic audience; media networking and as well as having good connections in the Development community in the UK and abroad.
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's leading agency for the funding of research and training in the social sciences. We are an independent organisation, established by Royal Charter, but receive most of our funding through the Government's Office of Science and Technology.
The closing date for applications is 12pm, Friday 28th September. It is hoped that a research broker will be appointed by the end of November 2007 and the successful applicant will be able to start as soon as possible thereafter.
Although the appointment is over a two year period and would involve a commitment of on average five days per month the distribution of work and time commitment may not be evenly spread. The budget that has been made available for the research broker is a maximum of £40k over the two years, with a small additional budget for travel, engagement activities and publications. The research broker will be formally accountable to the ESRC/DFID scheme secretariat through the ESRC's Head of International Development team. There is no application form. Please send a letter of application of no more than 1,000 words explaining why you would be a suitable person for this role, what you believe the priorities for communicating research in this area to be and a proposed timetable of activities for the first year.
Applications should be sent as word documents by email to: Lyndy Griffin in the ESRC Research Directorate at lyndy.griffin@esrc.ac.uk. Any queries should also be directed to Lyndy, direct dial: 01793 413135.
The closing date for applications is 12pm, Friday 28th September 2008.
July 2007
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Babken Babajanian was awarded a Visiting Fellow position at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for conducting research on local governance and community-based welfare provision in Kyrgyzstan, July-August 2007.
June 2007
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Armine Ishkanian wrote the section on ‘Gender Mainstreaming in the Context of Europe, Central Asia and the CIS: Regional Challenges’ for the UNDP publication titled Gender Mainstreaming in Practice: A Toolkit. UNDP: Bratislava. June 2007. Pp 13 - 20
May 2007
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Armine Ishkanian participated in the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute Workshop on ‘International Development Assistance in the Post-Soviet Space', Washington, DC.
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Gender and Civil Society, by Jude Howell and Diane Mulligan is now out in paperback and available from the web address below.
www.routledge.com/paperbacksdirect
More information about the book.
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Dr David Lewis, Social Policy, gave a public lecture on Crossing the Boundaries Between ‘Third Sector’ and State: comparative analysis of life-work histories in UK, Philippines and Bangladesh at Yale University on 24 April. The lecture was part of the Yale Program on Non-Profit Organizations (PONPO), organised by their Department of Management. Dr Lewis’ book The Management of Non-Governmental Development Organisations was recently translated into Chinese and published by Wu-Nan Publishing (2007). Mentioned in LSE News & Views (pdf).
April 2007
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Babken Babajanian gave a paper on Citizenship and Informal Networks in Post-Soviet Armenia, Association for the Study Nationalities World Convention, Columbia University, NYC, 14 April 2007
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Babken Babajanian wrote the paper 'Promoting Institutional Change in Post-Soviet Armenia: Is Social Capital the ‘Missing Link’?' NGPA Working Paper No1, LSE, 26 April 2007.
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Armine Ishkanian guest edited a special issue of the Central Asian Survey on 'Social Policy in Central Asia', Vol. 25 No. 4, December 2006. The special issue, which was published in April 2007, also included a chapter by Ishkanian titled 'Social Policy and Development in Central Asia and the Caucasus'
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Armine Ishkanian gave a talk titled ‘Democracy Building and Civil Society in Post-Soviet Armenia’ at the Annual Association for the Study of Nationalities World Convention, Columbia University, New York City.
March 2007
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Babken Babajanian held a seminar on ‘Social Welfare in Post-Soviet Countries: Between Formal and Informal’, Public Seminar on ‘What Hinders Eastern European Development?’, LSE, 8 March 2007
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Ford Foundation Award
Professor Jude Howell and Dr Jeremy Lind, Centre for Civil Society (CCS), have been awarded US$80,000 from the Ford Foundation.
The project - Securitisation of aid and non-governmental public action in eastern Africa.
The research provides an in-depth analysis of the effects of global and regional security concerns on aid policy and practice towards civil society in east Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and countries of the Horn (Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia). The research will advance theoretical work on the politics of civil society and development, and more specifically the complex processes whereby global politics, international security and international aid policy intertwine with regional politics and the shaping of local civil societies. It is also expected that the research will contribute towards the development of practical strategies and policies for civil society organisations to pursue their activities effectively in the changing global political context since 2001. The study builds upon an ESRC-funded project on the ‘Global war on terror, non-governmental public action and aid’.
In fieldwork carried out in the past year, Professor Howell and Dr. Lind gathered detailed qualitative insights into the effects of new counterterrorism structures and the securitisation of aid on policy and practice around supporting civil society in Afghanistan, India and Kenya. The award from the Ford Foundation will support developing academic links with four senior and middle-level east African scholars, as well as exchange visits and a writing workshop, to analyse the broader regional dimensions of shifting global political priorities and how they intersect with political divisions and debates in eastern Africa. The research will produce recommendations and reflections on how to organise around marginalized interests and communities in a changing global political context. Findings from the research will be published in a special journal issue and as well as an edited volume.
January 2007
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WORKSHOP ON AID, SECURITY AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE POST-911 CONTEXT: CALL FOR PAPERS
27th – 29th June 2007; Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London
The Centre for Civil Society will be organizing an international workshop on ‘Aid, security and civil society in the post-911 context’, to be held from June 28-29th, 2007 at Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square in central London. Contact Chris Pallas at C.L.Pallas@lse.ac.uk for more information.
More details (Word)
December 2006
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Armine Ishkanian was the invited speaker at a breakfast meeting held on 13 December 2006 at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. Her presentation was titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities facing Civil Society in the former Soviet States’.
News archive
Last updated 19 June 2008 ^
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