PHA-Exchange> More on The Missionary Position (2)

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> THE MISSIONARY POSITION: NGOS AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
> http://www.fahamu.org.uk/links/resources.html

> Development NGOs operating in Africa have inadvertently become part of the
neo-
> liberal global agenda, serving to undermine the battle for social justice
and
> human rights in much the same way as their missionary predecessors, argues
a
> paper in the July issue of International Affairs. The paper says that the
> contribution of NGOs to relieving poverty is minimal, while they play
> a "significant role" in undermining the struggle of African people to
> emancipate themselves from economic, social and political oppression. In
this
> compromised position, NGOs face a stark choice: They can move into the
> political domain and support social movements that seek to challenge a
social
> system that benefits a few and impoverishes the majority; or they can
continue
> unchanged and thus become complicit in a system that leaves the majority
in
> misery.
>
> Entitled 'The Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa', and
co-
> authored by Firoze Manji and Carl O'Coill, the paper traces the emergence
and
> role of NGOs on the continent from their missionary beginnings through to
the
> discourse of 'development' that emerged in the post-independence period
and the
> later influence of structural adjustment programmes and globalisation.
>
> Beginning in colonial Africa, the paper argues that missionary
organisations
> played a key role in winning the ideological war that supported the
colonial
> apparatus. "While colonial philanthropy may have been motivated by
religious
> conviction, status, compassion or guilt, it was also motivated by fear. In
> Britain and the colonies alike, politicians frequently alluded to the
threat of
> revolution and actively encouraged greater interest in works of
benevolence as
> a solution to social unrest. In short, charity was not only designed to
help
> the poor, it also served to protect the rich."
>
> In some cases, charitable organisations "actively" helped to suppress
anti-
> colonial struggles, as was the case in Kenya, where the Women's
Association,
> Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (MYWO) and the Christian Council of Kenya (CCK) were
both
> involved in government-funded schemes designed to subvert black resistance
> during the 'Mau Mau' uprising.
>
> But independence created a crisis for these organisations because they had
in
> many cases opposed nationalistic tendencies. However, instead of dying a
> natural death they were in fact able to prosper - a result Manji and
O'Coill
> argue was due to the emergence of the 'development NGO' on the national
and
> international stage.
>
> Independence, they argue, had forced missionary societies and charitable
> organisations to reinvent their attitude of 'trusteeship' associated with
> colonial oppression. They did this by replacing white staff with black and
> revamping their ideological outlook by appropriating the new discourse
> on 'development' in place of overt racism.
>
> The difference was in name only, say the authors. Development discourse
was
> flawed from the beginning because non-Western people were defined by their
> divergence from Western cultural standards. "While the vision of
'development'
> appeared to offer a more inclusive path to 'progress' than had previously
been
> the case, in fact the discourse was little more than a superficial
> reformulation of old colonial prejudices."
>
> However, during this time period NGOs were regarded by development
agencies as
> playing a peripheral role in development, with the state assuming
overarching
> responsibility for this role. This meant that the role of NGOs in the
post-
> independent period remained marginal.
>
> This was set to change with a new set of political circumstances that led
to a
> boom in NGOs on the continent. The late 1970s saw the rise to power of
Margaret
> Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the US, with both leaders
championing
> the concept of the minimalist state. According to this outlook the state
had to
> take a backseat in development and create the economic conditions for the
> accumulation of wealth by a minority. The rest of society would begin to
> benefit when growth "trickled down" from the wealthy. This neo-liberal
> agenda "radically" altered the landscape of development practice say Manji
and
> O'Coill.
>
> African countries were at this time heavily in debt and this gave the
> multilateral lending agencies the leverage they needed to impose their
neo-
> liberal policy demands, something that was not always popular with African
> people. Manji and O'Coill argue that unhappiness with economic adjustment
and
> its polices was often widespread and led to demonstrations that were
sometimes
> violently suppressed. The protests in turn led to an attempt by lending
> agencies to present a "human face" to their policies. What emerged was
> the 'good governance' agenda of the 1990s and the decision to co-opt NGOs
and
> other civil society organisations to a repackaged programme of welfare
> provision.
>
> NGOs suddenly found themselves in the situation where they usurped the
state as
> the provider of social services to the 'vulnerable' and became the
> beneficiaries of funds intended to mitigate the inequalities of adjustment
> policies. This had a "profound" impact on the sector and together with an
> increase in their function as a conduit for government aid led to dramatic
> growth in the number of NGOs in Africa.
>
> Globalisation therefore led to a "loss of authority" by African states
over
> social development and policy. At the same time, Manji and O'Coill point
out,
> social conditions worsened because of external controls over areas such as
> health, education and welfare measures and social programmes, tax
concessions
> on profits, liberalisation of price controls, and dismantling of state
owned
> enterprises.
>
> In fact, development appears to have failed, says the paper, with real per
> capita GDP falling and welfare gains achieved after independence reversed.
Per-
> capita incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa fell by 21 percent in real terms
between
> 1981 and 1989. In 16 other Sub-Saharan countries per capita incomes were
lower
> in 1999 than in 1975.
>
> The situation in which NGOs thrived, was therefore one of continued
poverty and
> an increase in armed conflict. "As African governments increasingly become
> pushed into becoming caretakers of what might be described as the
peripheral
> Bantustans of globalisation, are we seeing a return to the colonial
paradigm in
> which social services are delivered on the basis of favour or charity and
their
> power to placate?"
>
> Manji and O'Coill state that NGOs have come to be preferred to the state
as
> providers of services. "Development NGOs have become an integral, and
> necessary, part of a system that sacrifices respect for justice and
rights.
> They have taken the 'missionary position' - service delivery, running
projects
> that are motivated by charity, pity and doing things for people
(implicitly who
> can't do it for themselves), albeit with the verbiage of participatory
> approaches."
>
> Manji and O'Coill use the example of apartheid South Africa to illustrate
the
> choice open to NGOs. NGOs either supported the emerging movements that
aimed to
> topple the Nationalist regime or they kept quiet - a position tantamount
to
> complicity with a system of exploitation.
>
> "The challenge that both local and Western NGOs face in making this choice
will
> be that funding - at least from the bilateral and multilateral agencies -
will
> not necessarily be forthcoming to support the struggle for emancipation.
But
> then, one would hardly have expected the apartheid regime in South Africa
to
> have funded the movement that brought about the downfall of the regime,"
the
> paper concludes.
>
> Published in International Affairs, 78:3 (2002) 567-83.