Civil society in Mozambique: NGOs, religion, politics and witchcraft. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kleibl, Tanja; Munck, Ronaldo
• Is Part Of: Third world quarterly. Volume 38:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 203
• Page End: 218
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: Comparative politics -- civil society -- conflict and security -- East Africa; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 909.09724
• DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2016.1217738
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6597

Abstract

Abstract: Our aim is to problematise the dominant discourses and practices around civil society from a Southern perspective. We first examine critically, from a broadly Gramscian perspective, the way in which the concept of civil society has been deployed in development discourse. This highlights its highly normative and North-centric epistemology and perspectives. We also find it to be highly restrictive in a post-colonial Southern context insofar as it reads out much of the grassroots social interaction, deemed 'uncivil' and thus not part of duly recognised civil society. This is followed by a brief overview of some recent debates around civil society in Africa which emphasise the complexity of civil society and turn our attention to some of the broader issues surrounding state-society relations, democracy and representation in a Third World context, exemplified through our case study research in Mozambique, Inhassunge district (Zambézia Province). The privileging of Western-type Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as drivers of democracy and participatory development in Mozambique have considerable implications for current debates around good governance, civil society strengthening and social accountability programmes and strategies.