Civil Society and Regional Governance by Anders Uhlin

Author:Anders Uhlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: undefined
Published: 2012-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

The NGO Forum on ADB has the same pragmatic view. One of its key members says: “I am in Manila so it is most efficient to talk to the Board, but demonstrations by other groups are very useful too” (Interview, 10 December 2010). Hence, the difference between insiders and outsiders should not be overstated. In civil society advocacy focusing on IOs the same people who are part of delegations negotiating with IO officials often also organize demonstrations. For the NGO Forum on ADB, the distinction between inside negotiations and outside protests is not even relevant. The Board of the NGO Forum decided to abolish the term “inside-outside strategy,” which activists thought was a false dichotomy. “If you want to stop a project or policy you do whatever you have to do. It does not matter if you are inside or outside,” argues a leader of the NGO Forum on ADB (Interview, 19 March 2009). The NGO Forum on ADB is engaged in a lot of formal and informal lobbying, making use of all political opportunities available. But the civil society network is also engaged in outside protests. When member organizations prefer to stage demonstrations without trying to talk directly to ADB, representatives of the NGO Forum facilitates such protests (Interview, Representative of NGO Forum on ADB II, 17 November 2011).

Even when insiders and outsiders do not represent the same organization, there is often a deliberate division of labor and coordination between CSOs focusing on inside and outside advocacy respectively. Activists point out that insiders and outsiders have to be connected. Those invited to do inside lobbying should represent the outsiders. As one activist puts it: “If I take part in lobbying I do not only represent myself or my organization, but at least the network, so I bring the aspirations of those outside. We have mobilized many people and then only two or three are allowed in” (Interview, Representative of DebtWatch Indonesia II, 26 October 2011). Similarly, an activist concerned with migrant labor rights within ASEAN argues that “there must be communication [between insiders and outsiders]; they must not ignore each other” (Interview, 10 April 2012). Activists favoring outside strategies argue that these create political space and strengthens the position of those doing inside lobbying.

Whether it’s the WTO or the IMF, World Bank, or ADB, you know, there were inside strategies of CSOs, and we respected their work, but we were mainly on the outside because that is where we really excel. I think our work, has made ADB and IMF, and the World Bank much more sensitive to accountability issues, which, then, gave insiders the space to try to create some mechanisms of accountability. (Interview, Representative of Focus on the Global South, 16 November 2011)

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