(introduction...)

The end of the Cold War brought an old concept and vocabulary of civil society into the forefront of international development. Civil society gained renewed prominence from within processes associated with the disintegration of the Soviet Union (Siegel and Yancey, 1992).⁵ It has since become an organizing framework and pivotal element in a new development agenda for this decade (Robinson, 1994). This ancient "city" concept has been reconstructed and deconstructed in a virtual industry of academic studies and donor-oriented publications, including civic "atlases" (CIVICUS, 1997). This paper does not analyse what the concept means to different observers, relevant references can be found in the footnotes.⁶ Of importance is that the aid system has closely associated civil society with its political and social development objectives. It is therefore necessary to see how the concept has been interpreted. In addition, we need to understand what NGDOs are in relation to a social development agenda as part of civil society. These tasks form the core of this section.

⁵ It could be argued that an appreciation of the emergence of citizen's organizations and their significance as development actors preceded the Soviet implosion. Some observers had already pointed to a barefoot revolution (Schneider, 1988), others talk of an "emerging sector" (Salamon and Anheier, 1998a).

⁶ An array of explanations and interpretations of civil society (and NGDOs) is to be found. Key-texts are: Blaney and Pasha, 1993; Gellner, 1994; Kumar, 1993; Lipshutz, 1992; Wood, 1990. Useful texts on the relationship between civil society, development and the aid system are: Bernard et al., 1998; Biekart, 1999; van Rooy, 1997; Whaltes, 1998. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not market actors are "civic". Although not resolved, the implicit notion in donor approaches is of "modular" or free citizens in a modernized economy. This perspective is of little relevance for the world's poor. They know little distinction between their economic and non-economic selves as landless labourers, petty traders, hawkers and beggars. They do not "detach" themselves from citizenship when they work for subsistence and re-enter civil society when they stop. Erring on the side of caution and inclusion would suggest including all non-state actors within civil society. This has not been the definition used in this study, but the issue requires more debate and clarity if poverty reduction is a central goal of social development. For our purposes, civil society can be understood as the realm of citizen's informal and formal private association to pursue non-economic interests and goals.