AbstractsPolitical Science

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS AND DEVELOPMENT POLICIES: IDENTIFYING AND EXPLAINING STRATEGIES. THE CASE OF THE WORLD BANK'S NARMADA DAM PROJECT. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their efforts to influence international environment and development policies have been the subject of interest to a number of scholars throughout the last decade. However, little systematic research has been conducted on the strategies adopted by NGOs, and no theories have been developed so far. The aim of this thesis is to contribute with a first step towards theory-building by developing an analytical framework for identifying NGO strategies and the circumstances or factors that can explain NGOs' choice of strategies. The subject of the thesis is NGO strategies for influencing World Bank development policies. Criticism has been directed in particular on the environmental and social impacts of World Bank development projects. This study analyses NGO strategies in the case of the giant Narmada Dam Project in India with a focus on two NGOs: the Indian grassroots organisation Narmada Bachao Andolan and the US Environmental Defence Fund. First, their strategies are identified and categorized corresponding to three analytical dimensions of strategy choices: The choice between conflict or cooperation oriented strategies towards the World Bank, between the building of alliances among NGOs or unilateral strategies, and between direct or indirect strategies. Second, three independent variables are examined in order to find explanations for the chosen strategies: The nature of the problem confronted by the NGOs, the nature of the NGOs themselves, and the nature of decision-making authority which is sought influenced, in this case the World Bank. The analysis identifies transnational and cross-sectoral alliances among NGOs, and conflict-oriented strategies towards the World Bank as dominant strategies, while the NGOs tried to influence the decision-making process both directly, and indirectly through media, public opinion, and World Bank member-state governments. Several aspects of each of the independent variables can explain these choices. Regarding the nature of the problem, the Narmada project's controversy, complexity and fragmented decision-making process are identified as explanatory factors. Important aspects of the NGOs' nature that contribute to explaining their choices of strategies are their goals, values, and the means of influence available to them. Finally, the nature of the decision-making authority seems significant for explaining strategies. World Bank-specific factors that can illuminate certain choices of strategies are the lack of formal possibilities for NGO participation in the Narmada case, the role of the Bank's Executive Directors and their accountability to member-states, and the Bank's dependence on member- state funding. The causal links which have been found between the various aspects of the independent variables and NGO strategies must be seen in relation to each other, i.e. it seems reasonable to…