Theorizing NGOs

"During the past several decades, NGOs have spread throughout the world yet until now accounts of their seemingly unstoppable diffusion are few and incomplete. Theorizing NGOs is in all likelihood the most persuasive and successful attempt at mapping this veritable 'age of the NGO.' This collection of essays is crucial to our understanding of how these organizations operate as gendered spaces where diverse 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

“Theorizing NGOs offers timely and insightful perspectives on the intersection between NGOs, women’s experiences of NGOs and feminism across the world. Bringing together scholarly writings on women’s experiences with NGOs from different parts of the globe is definitely one of the highlights of the volume. . . . This volume is a must read for anyone interested in gender and development, and in the anthropology of the state.” - Lipika Kamra, Social Anthropology

"Theorizing NGOs lives up to its ambitious title, and is impressive in its balanced inclusion of diverse perspectives from multiple geographical and authorial positions."  - Crystal Biruk, American Ethnologist

"In representing more than a decade of energetic discussion and debate, this collection provides fantastic evidence of the dynamism and creativity of feminist activism in all of its forms.... It is a welcome and valuable contribution." - Miranda Joseph, Women's Review of Books