Democratization in Africa: NGO Power in Society
Seminar date:
31 May 2001
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* ICCO/Kerken in Actie |
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During the last decade, African societies have been in the grips of the discourse on democratization. New perspectives on democratization have substantially affected both internal politics and international relations. Considerable importance is attributed to multi-partyism, civil society, and the activities of NGO’s. Democracy was held to push the continent's political systems in the direction of more equal, relations of power and to end systems of political and social privilege. To this end, donor policies of western governments and NGOs were revised to reflect these new political priorities. The strengthening of democracy became key objectives in Western aid policies. Moreover, both the changed political circumstances in African societies and the reformulation of Western donor policy inspired African NGOs to adopt the democratization discourse. Also external powers have exhibited considerable optimism about the reformist potential of democracy. A few years after the onset of multi-party rule, however, it appeared that most sub-Saharan political systems continued to be characterized by old patrimonial tendencies, related to underlying political economies and cultures, which were hardly affected by the change in ideological tune. Furthermore, donor optimism has not helped to end confusion over what democracy and democratization actually entail. Without a clear-cut perspective on these problems, Western donors often promote the democratization of African societies without making transparent how it should be obtained. They articulate a strong commitment to assisting African 'civil society' and non-governmental organizations, which are identified as the principal manifestations of African civil activism. The question is, hence, which interest groups African NGOs actually represent and how they relate to the problematic of democracy, and what have they accomplished? Does external funding of their activities result in significant shifts in the representative roles? Can Western donors truly transform the balance of power in African societies, by transferring funds to NGO actors? Are Western donors not promoting a process, which stands little chance of success? This seminar is specifically intended to assemble scholars, policy makers and NGO representatives (African and non-African) for a fruitful exchange of views. The different participants will debate on the various perspectives that currently affect the discourse of democratization in Africa. The seminar is jointly organized by the African Studies Centre, ICCO and 'Kerken in Actie' Programme: |
| Chair: | Dr. Mirjam de Bruijn, ASC | |