This past week, we read two chapters from Women’s Movements in the Global Era as edited by Amrita Basu. The first, by Aili Mari Tripp, was about women’s movements in Africa. The second, by Islah Jad, went into great detail about the complex history and actors involved in the Palestinian women’s movement. An important concept that came up on both was the concept of “autonomy.”
In the case of Africa, autonomy arose as a key factor for the success of women’s organizations and coalitions in addition to women’s movements. This was the result of a myriad of political and social factors. The emergence of multi partyism and resulting decline of military rule in the 1990s lead to the growth of associational freedom (63). Then in the 2000s conflicts …show more content…
The term “NGO-ization” has come up in many of our readings and discussions. In chapter seven on Russian women’s activism, Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom detailed how NGO funded crisis centers in Russia largely geared towards issues of domestic violence and sexual assault are often at the whims of foreign donors who provide unreliable and inconsistent funding (226). The role of NGOs in Indian women’s movements came up in a similar discussion in chapter four as well. According to Poulomi Pal, NGOs in India are funded primarily through international donors, state agencies, or private trusts (135). The action of these NGOs is often influenced by the goals of these third party donors, leading to depoliticization and a lack of true mobilization, both of which are deemed by many feminists as necessary for radical change. This echoes how Jad problematizes the role of NGOs in Palestine. Nevertheless, both Jad and Pal do not wholly write off NGOs as incapable of contributing to women’s movements. Jad brings up the argument that, in the case of Palestine, NGOs “do not respond to a need, but negotiate relationships by convincing the other parties of the meaning of the organizations” (392). This ability to negotiate and convince their donors indicates a certain level of autonomy. Interestingly, one of the two important criteria for determining if an NGO should be considered a part of the women’s movement is “the extent to which they maintain autonomy from both international donors and the state, so that they are in a position to critique these entities if they feel that their core principles are being compromised” (134). Again, autonomy for NGOs and other women’s organizations seems essential in maintaining an agenda and engaging in activism with women’s goals
In the case of Africa, autonomy arose as a key factor for the success of women’s organizations and coalitions in addition to women’s movements. This was the result of a myriad of political and social factors. The emergence of multi partyism and resulting decline of military rule in the 1990s lead to the growth of associational freedom (63). Then in the 2000s conflicts …show more content…
The term “NGO-ization” has come up in many of our readings and discussions. In chapter seven on Russian women’s activism, Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom detailed how NGO funded crisis centers in Russia largely geared towards issues of domestic violence and sexual assault are often at the whims of foreign donors who provide unreliable and inconsistent funding (226). The role of NGOs in Indian women’s movements came up in a similar discussion in chapter four as well. According to Poulomi Pal, NGOs in India are funded primarily through international donors, state agencies, or private trusts (135). The action of these NGOs is often influenced by the goals of these third party donors, leading to depoliticization and a lack of true mobilization, both of which are deemed by many feminists as necessary for radical change. This echoes how Jad problematizes the role of NGOs in Palestine. Nevertheless, both Jad and Pal do not wholly write off NGOs as incapable of contributing to women’s movements. Jad brings up the argument that, in the case of Palestine, NGOs “do not respond to a need, but negotiate relationships by convincing the other parties of the meaning of the organizations” (392). This ability to negotiate and convince their donors indicates a certain level of autonomy. Interestingly, one of the two important criteria for determining if an NGO should be considered a part of the women’s movement is “the extent to which they maintain autonomy from both international donors and the state, so that they are in a position to critique these entities if they feel that their core principles are being compromised” (134). Again, autonomy for NGOs and other women’s organizations seems essential in maintaining an agenda and engaging in activism with women’s goals