Re-examining 'Civil Society': Modelling North/South NGO relationships with reference to a Ghanaian case study

The multilateral aid community has prioritised the development of “civil society”,conceptualised as a social space separate from the state, since the 1990s. This is because it isseen as a space in which political checks and balances to the state can be nurtured,entrepreneurship can thrive and where assistance to the poorest can best be implemented.NGOs are seen as key “civil society” actors, promoting empowerment, enterprise and pro-poor development. This conceptualisation is problematic for many reasons. At the nationallevel, it ignores the ways in which state and civil society can be said to be mutuallyconstituting. At the global level too, it ignores the impact of globalisation on economies andthe influence of international NGO transnational actors on the direction of southern NGOs.Previous studies of northern Ghana have considered some of these issues. This paper looks atthe more neglected issue of the impact of transnational NGO actors on the direction ofSNGOs. It does this through examining “actually existing” civil society, as Mamdani wouldhave us do. It uses a case study of a service-providing Presbyterian NGO. The paper arguesthat the relationship between this NGO and its Northern counterparts can be captured usingRhenman’s typology of organisational dependence, which also illuminates the SNGO’soptions for change. The implications of this for the notion of an independent NGO sectorwithin a “civil society” characterised by freedom of social action are explored.