Waltzing with the powerful: Understanding NGOs in a game of power in conflict-ridden Mindanao (2017)

Type of Content
Journal ArticlePublisher
Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific StudiesISSN
2463-641XCollections
Abstract
This paper examines the agency of non-government organisations as liberal peace agents and power players in Mindanao—a hybrid political community in the southern Philippines with a legacy of protracted armed conflict. The paper focuses on the mechanisms employed by development NGOs in managing and engaging with formal and informal power-holders, brokers and gatekeepers in conflict-stricken communities. This is an original study that utilises first-hand information gathered through intensive field research in different communities in the southern Philippines. Robust interviews with experts were conducted among local, intermediate and international NGO workers, officials of the Philippine Government, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, university academics, military leaders, donor agencies and traditional local leaders in Mindanao. Semi-structured interviews were used, most being conducted in Manila and major cities of Mindanao. Ethnographic field observation was also carried out to produce a thick and rich description of the current situation in conflict zones. The paper presents a power map to illustrate the hybrid nature of the socio-politico regime, preserved by longstanding conflict. The map sketches the nodes and intensities of power that highlight the dominance of warlord clans in Mindanao
Rights
CC BY 4.0Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Corridors of power, liberal peacebuilding and hybrid regimes : understanding development NGOs in a game of power in the Mindanao conflict.
Espesor, Jovanie Camacho (University of Canterbury, 2019)Using critical ethnography and participatory research methodologies, this thesis elucidates the conundrum in the peacebuilding literature, namely, why hybrid peace formation is characterised by tensions, dilemmas and ... -
Showing Japan's Face or Creating Powerful Challengers? Are NGOs really partners to the government in Japan's foreign aid?
Nanami, Akiko (University of Canterbury. School of Political Science and Communication, 2007)This thesis is exploring interactions of Japanese NGOs to be influential in official foreign aid from outside of the exclusive Japanese decision-making process. Three case studies have been undertaken to examine how ... -
Understanding the mediating role of social media in virtual team conflicts
Gupta H; Wingreen SC (2014)Communication technology is recognized as an important component of a virtual team (VT). Communication technologies other than social media have been linked to VT conflicts by prior research. This research in progress ...