| ID | 151493 |
| Title Proper | Civil society in Mozambique |
| Other Title Information | NGOs, religion, politics and witchcraft |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Munck, Ronaldo ; Kleibl, Tanja |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | 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. |
| `In' analytical Note | Third World Quarterly Vol. 38, No.1; 2017: p. 203-218 |
| Journal Source | Third World Quarterly Vol: 38 No 1 |
| Key Words | Civil Society ; Comparative politics ; East Africa ; Conflict and Security |