JBS Vol 11. Num 1. 2009 - NGOs, Clientelism and the Makings of Social Change

NGOs in Bangladesh are a unique phenomenon globally, and both academics and practitioners have spent
considerable time trying to grasp their significance and role. To a great extent our analysis and understanding of
NGOs have relied on formal reports, evaluations and documentation of different NGO activities. This article offers
a different perspective. It attempts to understand the „real world of NGOs‟ and argues that their deeper significance
is to be found in the many informal and everyday practices of the social actors that operate in and around the
NGOs. These informal practices usually go unnoticed by observers and are rarely reported in official documents.
Drawing primarily on the experience of a national NGO, the article focuses on three areas where informal practices
and decisions are evident: political mobilization, brokering skills and opening up new livelihood opportunities. The
analysis of these practices reveals that the success of the NGO relies as much on its capacity to negotiate or
manage these informal arenas as it does on its more formal „development activities‟. There is no shortage of NGO
writings in Bangladesh and yet what we know of these organizations is still considerably less than what we do not
know. This article points to new lines of enquiry that will help us understand their real and ongoing significance in
Bangladesh and globally.