NGOs, Local State and Communities at Subnational Level: The Case of Mangwe District

This chapter interrogates NGO work at a subnational level, and how NGOs relate with localised state structures. It begins by contextualising what NGOs are, and how they fit into the theory of civil society. The chapter follows a case study approach, where interventions by several non-governmental organisations operating in a rural district are critically analysed using Gramsci’s ideas of subalternity and rural intellectuals. It is therefore a chapter that analyses modes of power in a tripartite relationship involving the community, NGOs and the state. The moral authority developmental NGOs command in the psyche of a rural villager almost makes them a de facto spokesperson of the poor in communities where they operate. But as Spivak has poignantly asked, can anyone in a position of power speak on behalf the subaltern? In many ways the chapter complicates dominant discourse that most often portrays a confrontational relationship between the state and civil society in Zimbabwe. Some of the conclusions in the chapter concern the collaborative modes of engagement between NGOs and the party-state structures, and how these have cushioned villagers against the negative impact of a receding party-state, while simultaneously encouraging the party-state to be lazy as NGOs perform roles that the state must fulfil. In addition, gatekeeping processes by state structures and traditional authorities have ensured that the party-state not only monitors and disciplines what NGOs and communities do, but also directly benefits by being legitimised through attaching itself to NGO interventions. While working collaboratively is commendable because it facilitates integrated development, the chapter shows that this simultaneously opens up civil society to the agendas of the ruling elite, and many organisations get instrumentalised to influence social developments and opinions on the ground, in the process making NGOs part of the hegemony-building machinery of the party-state.