Reclaiming Partnership - Resistance within the norm in a cooperation between a Jordanian women’s rights organization and their Western donors

Sander, Alena
(2019) 13th Pan-European Conference on International Relations: A Century of Show and Tell ) The Seen and the Unseen of IR — Location: Sofia, Bulgaria (11.September.2019)

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  • Sander, AlenaUCLouvain
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Abstract
In the wake of the “Arab Spring”, Western development donors dramatically increased their aid to support domestic efforts that promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the MENA region. To implement their projects and activities, and diffuse human rights norms on the ground, donors favor “partnerships” with local civil society organizations (CSOs). The study presents the results of an on-going research on the cooperation between Jordanian women’s human rights organizations and their donors. We begin with the finding that although these donors describe their local counterparts as partners, Jordanian organizations often perceive cooperation as a top-down relationship. In a first step, we will draw inspiration from Escobar’s post-colonial approach to development to examine the power dynamics between these CSOs and their donors and determine how they affect the content of the projects these CSOs implement on the ground. In a second step, and by drawing on Scott’s concept of everyday resistance, we argue that these Jordanian CSOs are more than neutral service providers. Instead, they take the lead over their international donors when it comes to the diffusion of women rights norms on local levels. By reinterpreting, rephrasing/reframing, adapting and negotiating meanings, they develop resistance strategies that counterbalance power relations or bypass imposed contents. Building on a 4-month long field research, we will look more closely at these practices and resistance strategies to analyze how they influence projects’ implementation and nurture competing visions of women’s rights, while challenging power relations inherent to most donor-CSO cooperation.
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Sander, A. (2019). Reclaiming Partnership - Resistance within the norm in a cooperation between a Jordanian women’s rights organization and their Western donors. 13th Pan-European Conference on International Relations: A Century of Show and Tell ) The Seen and the Unseen of IR, Sofia, Bulgaria. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/97699