Theorizing NGOs

"Over the past three decades, NGOs have spread wide and deep over the social and ecological fabric of the world, yet the maps of this seemingly unstoppable diffusion are few and incomplete to this date. Theorizing NGOs is in all likelihood the most persuasive and successful attempt at mapping this veritable 'age of the NGO.' As women have been, along with the environment, the quintessential object of NGO attention, this focus is crucial to our understanding of how these organizations operate as gendered spaces where a diversity of women subjects are constructed. The lessons for feminism are clear, and they are spelled out in terms of the intricate connections between NGOs, globalization, liberalism, and modernity." - Arturo Escobar, author of Territories of Difference: Place, Movements, Life, Redes "With NGOs playing a growing role in women's rights and women's welfare globally, this excellent and timely collection contributes to our understanding of the implications of this change for feminism. Examining what it calls the 'NGO form,' the book analyzes the ambiguous relationship between NGOs and the state in the context of neoliberalism and new configurations of the public and the private. It considers why gender issues are so extensively handled through NGOs and how the move to NGO-ization is reshaping feminism." - Sally Engle Merry, author of Human Rights and Gender Violence: Translating International Law into Local Justice