The last few months, I must admit I have been struggling with getting things clear in my head. Sometimes it feels as if every time I read a new article, I want change my research questions.
One thing is clear, though: I want to find out too much, at the same time. I want to find out what civil society means in the context of Africa and Malawi, I want to learn more about how international development actors such as INGO’s work with local actors, and I want to know more about what effect this has. AND, I want to explore the role of children and young people within civil society in developing countries. I wish I was writing a book and had three years of research ahead of me.
As I was reading, thinking, and banging my head against the wall, I found that AGE was an interesting factor, and one which often seemed ignored in the literature and research on civil soceity. There are more youth now in the world than ever, and most of them live in developing countries. This presents risks as well as opportunities. Large groups of frustrated youth have been the driving force in regime changes during the last few years. How does this change how we conceptualise civil society? How do young people in developing countries see themselves within civil society, what role can youth organisations play in development?
This might seem as if I am broadening out even further, but I hope that it can be a way of narrowing down my research focus. By focusing on particular youth organsations and networks, and explore how they work with and are supported by other actors such as INGO’s such as Plan and other local organiastions, I hope I can shed light on an area of high relevance to development work as well as issues such as governance and participation more generally. How do such youth organisations understand civil society and their own role within it? Does the organisations become strengthened as a result of working with INGO’s? If so, how, and if not, why not?
CSO strengthening - buzzwords or bottom-up development? 