Accountability and Inaction: NGOs and Resource Lodging in Development |
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| Authors: | Matthew Harsh Paul Mbatia Wesley Shrum |
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| Institution: | 1. is Postdoctoral Associate at the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University. He holds a PhD in science and technology studies from the University of Edinburgh. His research explores the social and political contexts of science and technology in Africa, focusing on agricultural biotechnology, nanotechnology and information and communication technologies. He can be contacted at Arizona State University, PO Box 875603, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA;2. e‐mail: mharsh@asu.edu;3. is Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Department of Sociology, University of Nairobi, Kenya. He attained his PhD at Indiana University, USA in 1996 and has taught sociology at the University of Nairobi since 1989. His academic interests are in two domains: sociology of development and sociology of science and technology. He can be contacted at Department of Sociology & Social Work, University of Nairobi, PO Box 30197, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya;4. e‐mail: pmbatia2002@yahoo.com;5. is Professor of Sociology at Louisiana State University and Secretary of the Society for Social Studies of Science. He has investigated the educational and research systems of Kenya, Ghana and Kerala (India) since 1994. He can be contacted at Department of Sociology, 126 Stubbs Hall, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA;6. e‐mail: shrum@lsu.edu |
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| Abstract: | From the late 1980s, research on NGOs had a normative focus and was vulnerable to changing donor preoccupations. This article contributes a new conceptual approach, analysing the practices through which relationships and resources are translated into programmes and projects. The theoretical justification for this move combines the new ethnography of development practice with a re‐agency approach to transactions across time and space. The study is based on data including thirty hours of video ethnography involving interviews and field visits with Kenyan NGOs in a variety of sectors. The analysis focuses on the problem of accountability that emerged through the interactions of donors and state corruption. We argue that NGOs operating in capital cities often provide organizational solutions to this problem. Depending on donor preferences, varying amounts of resources become ‘lodged’ or absorbed in ‘capital NGOs’ as they provide accounts of programmes that satisfy donors. However, no matter the donor preferences, capital NGOs provide accountability independently of increased action with communities or increased resources transferred to them. We conclude that the institutionalization of the NGO field as a well‐grounded specialization depends in part on the degree to which researchers can sideline the stories generated in inter‐organizational contexts such as workshops and policy meetings, and substitute understandings based on accounting practices, resource flows and social ties. |
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