Chapter 5: Contingency, Complexity, Possibility: Palestinian NGOs and the Negotiation of Local Control in Educational Development

Current wisdom in the international development community promotes the inclusion of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in national-level policy making, in the belief that their presence at the negotiating table will strengthen state-civil society relationships; support locally-driven, culturally-sensitive development; and contribute to innovation (Clark, 1997; De Senillosa, 1998; Stromquist, 1998; Whaites, 1998). At a broader level, some scholars and NGO activists also argue that such moves towards partnership and cooperation provide avenues for local negotiation with globalization that have hitherto been closed to many state-based actors. Others, however, counter that, although it is promoted as a means to greater equity, parity, and flexibility in development, greater state-NGO-donor collaboration in fact sacrifices local control to the constraining funding requirements and universalistic approaches of international assistance agencies (Archer, 1994; Bebbington & Ridell, 1997; Edwards & Hulme, 1996; Hulme & Edwards, 1997; Steiner-Khamsi, 1998). In addition, they assert, the movement of NGOs into the policy realm as official partners of governments undermines their traditional role as (often oppositional) advocates for the marginalized and the disempowered. Mainstreaming NGOs, these critics claim, dilutes their power to act in the interest of the local populations they were established to serve, and in the long-term may in fact act against the diversity, vitality, and relevance that are ostensibly so valued by proponents of closer partnerships among development actors (Blair, 1997; Clayton, 1994; Korten & Quizon, 1995).