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Durham E-Theses Enslaving Development: An Anthropological Enquiry into the World of NGO MANNAN, MANZURUL How to cite: MANNAN, MANZURUL (2010) Enslaving Development: An Anthropological Enquiry into the World of NGO, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/340/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Enslaving Development: An Anthropological Enquiry into the World of NGO Ph.D. Thesis Manzurul Mannan A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Anthropology, University of Durham Durham, U.K. 2010 1 Abstract This thesis investigates the conflict of values that occurs in Bangladesh between NGOs and wider society. It examines the dynamics of BRAC, a large NGO, in order to illustrate the dissonance and inconsistencies in development discourse. Tension is evident in development, which is a multi-stranded process, in which each strand may complement or contradict the others. The process may also be understood in terms of the societal change that results from an attempted synthesis of the contradictory, clashing values of Western agency (individualism, equality, market, etc.) and Bangladeshi rural cultural life (community, hierarchy, subsistence, etc.). Development processes, backed by strong finance, introduce Western ideas and theories to the South. NGOs subscribe to a global policy language in transforming these ideas into locally implementable programmes and projects, ignoring the diverse social, cultural and political settings in which they work. When villagers come into contact with these projects, they are pushed towards a sense of individualism, but instead of developing this individualism, they produce a new form of collectivism. In this hybrid environment, actors engaged in development adhere neither to the old values nor to new ones. Projects aimed at modernization, itself, have undergone change from a blue-print approach to a process approach. In reality, top-down approaches are renamed but not reformed into bottom-up approaches. NGO projects targeting women, notably through micro-credit programmes, contribute to the rise of women-only organisations as well as matri-focal groups that constitute a challenge to male-dominated village associations. Micro-credit also polarises the traditional notions of money into moral and immoral money to produce new arenas of dispute. Overall, religious groups oppose such NGO interventions. Conflict occurs within NGOs themselves. This is evident when BRAC, as an organisational entity, seek to accommodate to Western, Bengali and Islamic cultural traits which further generate conflict and are managed by a culture of fear or indulgence. Unless knowledge is shared by both parties there is the strong likelihood of increased conflict to the detriment of both NGOs and the local people. i CONTENT PAGE Abstract i Declaration vii Statement of copy right vii Acknowledgement viii List of Tables x List of Boxes xi List of Diagrams xi List of Photos xii Glossary of Terms xiii Chapter One 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 BRAC and NGOs in Bangladesh 5 1.3 Modern Bangladesh and its Ecology 10 1.4 Development and Transformation of Rural Society 14 1.4.1. Genesis of transformation 16 1.5 Bangladesh: Hierarchical Structure and Values 19 1.5.1 Hierarchy and the structure of society 25 1.5.2 Hierarchy and language 26 1.5.3 Hierarchy and patron-client relationship 28 1.6 Individualism versus Hierarchy 30 1.7 Hierarchical Values and the Structure of NGO Projects 32 1.8 Development and Hybrid Culture 36 1.9 Outline of Chapters 36 Chapter Two: Methodology 2.1 Introduction 41 2.2 Rationale 42 2.3 Experience, Methods and Development Narratives 49 2.3.1 Country Boat Projects 50 2.3.2 Experience at an International NGO 52 2.3.3 Experience at BRAC 55 2.3.3.1 Religious Backlash on BRAC 57 2.3.3.2 Democracy Partnership Programme 62 2.3.3.3 Global Partnership Projects 64 2.3.3.4 Training Division 65 2.4 Experience at an International NGO and European Commission 66 2.5 University, Research and Fieldwork 68 2.6 Discussion 73 ii Chapter Three: History of Development and NGOs in Bangladesh 3.1 Introduction 75 3.2 Phase One: The Gestation Phase (1971-1975) 76 3.2.1 Missionary Voluntarism 80 3.2.2 Family Planning Programme 82 3.2.3 Village Cooperative Movement 83 3.3 Phase Two: Consolidation Phase (1975-1990) 84 3.4 Phase Three: Globalisation and NGO Industry 97 3.4.1 NGO Industry and New Direction 101 3.4.1.1 Market Economy: Transformation of Money into Capital 101 3.4.1.2 NGOs: Market Driven Agencies for Mass Production 103 3.4.1.3 NGOs and Parliamentary Democracy 105 3.4.1.4 NGOs and Human Rights 109 3.5 Government and NGO Politicking 110 3.6. Discussion and Reflection 116 Chapter Four: NGO, Programme and Projects 4.1 Introduction 118 4.2 Project Context 120 4.3 The Project History of the Rural Development Programme of BRAC 121 4.4 The Project History of Five Small NGOs 124 4.5 NGOs: Projects, Programmes or Organisations 126 4.5.1 1970-1990 132 4.5.2 1990 – beyond 2000 137 4.6 Organisation, Programme and Project Linkages 139 4.7 Organisational Strategic Plan 140 4.8 Project and Programmes 143 4.9 Donors and Projects 146 4.9.1 Project, Process or Movements 147 4.10 Why Projects Evolve, Succeed and Fail 151 4.11 Discussion and Reflection 154 iii Chapter Five: BRAC and Organizational Culture 5.1 Introduction 156 5.2 Bengali Culture and Organisation 157 5.3 Organisation and Reproduction of Culture 158 5.3.1 Indigenisation of Western Culture 159 5.3.2 Reproduction of Bengali Culture and Practices in BRAC 165 5.3.2.1 Promotion of fear 165 5.3.2.2 Loyalty 166 5.4 The Economics of Staff Retention 178 5.4.1. Economic Value of BRAC Staff 183 5.5 Sign of Change 186 5.6 Discussion and Reflection 188 Chapter Six: Cooperative Antagonism. Researchers versus Managers 6.1. Introduction 190 6.2. Development Research and Its Context 191 6.3. Status of Development Research in Bangladesh 194 6.4. NGO Power Structure 198 6.4.1 Anthropologist and Multi-disciplinary Team 200 6.4.2 Anthropology and Power-structure of NGO 207 6.5. Problematic Relationship between Research and Development Management 209 6.5.1 The problem of researcher in development organisation 214 6.5.2. The problem of managers in understanding research 217 6.6. The „Field‟ 220 6.7. Strategic Research and Development 223 6.8. Discussion and Reflection 226 iv Chapter Seven: Society and Village Organisation 7.1 Traditional Social Structure 228 7.1.1 Descent and Kinship 228 7.1.2 Samaj 232 7.1.3. BRAC and Village Organisations 238 7.1.3a A new area where people have no knowledge of BRAC 240 7.1.3b People are aware of BRAC 243 7.1.3c Trickle down from existing VOs 246 7.2 VO Formation and Dynamics 247 7.3 VO, New Sphere and the Rise of Matri-focal Group 252 7.4 VO versus Samaj 262 7.5 Discussion and Reflexion 265 Chapter Eight: Microcredit and Morality of Money 8.1. Introduction 267 8.2. Culture and Money 269 8.2.1 Money: Individual, Culture and Samaj 270 8.2.2 Money: Moral or Immoral? 273 8.3. Traditional Saving Practices 276 8.4. Microcredit and Savings 278 8.4.1. Women and Notion of Savings 280 8.5. Credit and Households 282 8.6. Credit, Culture and Religions 285 8.7. Microcredit and Women 288 8.8. Multiple Morality: causing debate on moral and immoral money 295 8.9. Women‟s new position in social structure and miskin 297 8.10. Individualism and Collectivism 300 8.11. Discussion and Reflection 302 v Chapter Nine: BRAC and The Making of Religious Opposition 9.1. Introduction 304 9.2. Context of Conflict 306 9.3. The Network of Religious Organisations 309 9.4. BRAC‟s Failure to Comprehend the Religious Situation 314 9.4.1 Encountering Village Power-Structure 316 9.4.2 Sericulture and the Common Resources 316 9.4.3 Education 319 9.4.4 Male Staff and Female Beneficiaries 322 9.5. Hybridity, Fiction and Invoking Fear 323 9.6. The Role of Pro-NGO Religious Leaders and Small NGOs 327 9.7. The Crisis in the Macro-context 330 9.8. Scaling Up the Conflict: Toward the Phoney War 331 9.9. Mobilisation of NGOs 338 9.9.1 Training of Trainers 339 9.9.2 Module Development 339 9.9.3 Identification of Anti-progressive Forces 340 9.10. External Mobilisation and Alliance Building 342 9.11. NGO Politicking and Islamic Microfinance 345 9.12. Discussion and Reflexion 348 Chapter Ten: Conclusion 10.0. Development, Discontent and Discourse 350 Appendix 1 366 Appendix 2 372 Bibliography 373 vi Declaration This thesis has been composed by myself and it has not been submitted in any previous application for a degree.