Educating the (neo-liberal) citizen: reflections from India

Abstract

Citizenship has gained considerable popular currency in development and is increasingly being used to represent its objectives and outcomes. The popular conceptualisations of citizenship have not remained unaffected by neo-liberalism, which has established itself firmly as the dominant development framework. In mapping the neo-liberal influences in conceptualisations and expressions of citizenship – evidenced in the work of 11 NGOs in India – the present article interrogates its limitations and effects on development outcomes. The article calls for the need to leverage the inherent plurality of citizenship more substantively by infusing the discourse of rights.

Éduquer le citoyen (néolibéral) : réflexions d'Inde

La citoyenneté a acquis une pertinence considérable au niveau populaire dans le cadre du développement et elle est de plus en plus utilisée pour représenter ses objectifs et résultats. Les conceptualisations populaires de la citoyenneté ne sont pas restées indifférentes au néolibéralisme, lequel s'est solidement établi comme le cadre de développement dominant. En cartographiant les influences néolibérales sur les conceptualisations et les expressions de la citoyenneté – qui se manifestent dans le travail de 11 ONG en Inde – le présent article questionne ses limites et ses effets sur les résultats du développement. L'article attire l'attention sur la nécessité d'actionner la pluralité inhérente de la citoyenneté de manière plus substantive en infusant le discours relatif aux droits.

Educando o cidadão (neoliberal): reflexões da Índia

A questão da cidadania tem alcançado popularidade considerável na área de desenvolvimento e está sendo cada vez mais utilizada para representar seus objetivos e resultados. As conceituações populares de cidadania não têm ficado imunes ao neoliberalismo, que tem se estabelecido firmemente como a estrutura dominante de desenvolvimento. Ao mapear as influências neoliberais nas conceituações e expressões de cidadania – evidenciadas no trabalho de 11 ONGs da Índia – o presente artigo questiona suas limitações e seus efeitos nos resultados de desenvolvimento. O artigo chama a atenção para a necessidade de se intensificar a pluralidade inerente da cidadania de forma mais substancial por meio da difusão do discurso sobre direitos.

Educando al ciudadano (neoliberal): reflexiones de India

Ciudadanía es un concepto muy difundido hoy en día en el ámbito del desarrollo y se emplea cada vez más en la determinación de los objetivos y los logros de éste. Las acepciones más comunes de ciudadanía han sido trastocadas por el neoliberalismo, que hoy es el marco conceptual para el desarrollo más utilizado. Este ensayo se plantea cómo el impacto del neoliberalismo en el concepto y los discursos sobre ciudadanía —comprobado en el trabajo de once ONG de India— ha derivado en limitaciones y efectos en el desarrollo. El ensayo hace énfasis en fortalecer la pluralidad inherente al concepto de ciudadanía, incorporando el discurso de los derechos.

Keywords:

• Civil society
• Rights
• Social sector
• South Asia

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions; the donor institutions for the opportunity to review programmes of various NGOs; the programme teams for their cooperation; and most of all the many people who shared their stories, and whose daily acts of courage continue to undermine our questions and answers.

Notes

The author has been an active participant in the review and impact assessment exercises of the 11 NGOs, including appraising their proposals and reviewing their narrative reports, at various points of time. The field-based programme review reports were drafted by the author, except in two cases, where the author played the role of an observer. By and large, the reports incorporated the comments and reflections of the participants, tracked progress against proposals, and made recommendations for strengthening the programme. The article uses these as field notes, and as datapoints to map the dominant trends in conceptualising citizenship and consequent action.

The NGOs were listed alphabetically, with the first number denoting their serial number; the second letter indicating their geographical location using the first alphabet of the state where the organisation's work was primarily located; and the third letter (i/p/r) indicating whether the text belonged to the impact assessment report (i), its proposal document submitted to the donor (p), or its programme review report (r). In case of more than one review report, these have been chronologically listed as (r1) or (r2).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arun Kumar

Arun Kumar is an independent researcher baser in Anand, India.