Researching Development NGOs Global and Grassroots Perspectives

This book offers a critical insight into how the study of NGOs can be more theoretically grounded and methodologically creative. The role of NGOs in global development has been the focus of considerable research and scholarship for the last four decades. More recently, scholars and NGO practitioners have begun to explore their relationships and how research can better inform practice and vice versa. This book addresses questions arising from such research, including: how different theoretical perspectives can be applied to the study of NGOs; what kinds of data can be used when trying to better understand NGOs; and what methods can be used in studying NGOs. Rather than evaluating the impact of NGO work, this is a book about how researchers and practitioners can better understand what NGOs do and how they operate. Bringing together work from a range of NGO researchers working across diverse disciplines and at varied stages of their academic careers, the collection is supported by recent case studies in the field as well as ‘dilemma boxes’ and discussion questions in every chapter. As such, Researching Development NGOs is an essential resource for postgraduate students of Research Methods in Development Studies, NGOs and Development Management as well as practitioners wanting to find out more about the sector.

1. Introduction: Researching development NGOs Susannah Pickering-Saqqa PART 1 Working together 2. Working together: NGOs, academics, practitioners and researchers Kathryn Kraft Dilemma Box 1: How to avoid unequal research partnerships between NGOs and academics, UK Jennifer Eggert Dilemma Box 2: The Re-education of a Fish and Chips Researcher, Somaliland Hamda Mohamed Discussion Susannah Pickering-Saqqa PART 2 Working with theory 3. Re-theorizing and Researching Non-Governmental Development Organisations Jonathan Makuwira 4. Playing power games: Analysing a Chinese non-governmental organisation’s practice in Mathare, Kenya Yi Wang 5. What happened to domestic programmes? The intriguing case of Islamic Relief Worldwide Susannah Pickering-Saqqa Dilemma Box 3: Fundraising for an NGO working with youth prisoners, Brazil Cally Magalhães Dilemma Box 4: The role of NGOs in Ethiopia Endalkachew Yaregal Discussion Susannah Pickering-Saqqa PART 3 Working with data 6.A New Materialistapproach for NGO research: The NGO-research Assemblage Emma Jones 7. Promoting linguistic inclusivity in NGO work Angela Crack 8. Using theatre as a data collection tool in menstrual health research in rural India Meera Tiwari and Allan Brimicombe Dilemma Box 5: Volunteering and Sustainability at Otra Cosa Network, Peru Juany Murphy Dilemma Box 6: Technologically mediated citizen-led welfarism in Nigeria Boluwatife Ajibola Discussion PART 4 Working with Methods 9. Historical Research of International NGOs and Global Development: Historiography, Methods and Critical Discussion Andrew Jones 10. Unlocking perceptions of civil society using photo elicitation: a case study from the Central African Republic Sarah Thomas 11. Rethinking NGO activism in light of postcolonial and decolonial feminist perspectives: evidence from sexual harassment interventions in Bangladesh Arunima Kishore Das Dilemma Box 7: Relevance and access – challenges for students researching NGOs, Denmark Emma Munk Byrne Dilemma Box 8: Research in NGOs: in house or external? India Swati Saxena Discussion and Conclusions

Susannah Pickering-Saqqa is Senior Lecturer in International Development and NGO Management at the University of East London where she has taught since 2009. She previously worked for Uluda? University (Turkey), the British Council (Bangladesh and Palestine), The Commonwealth Foundation, the Mayor of London and Muslim Aid. Her research and teaching interests include our changing understandings of ‘development’, the domestic programmes of INGOs, faith-based NGOs and the dynamic nature of NGO practice. She supports the work of the Mothers’ Union and PalMusic UK through their development committees.