civil society – To Archeio https://toarcheio.org To Archeio project site Thu, 30 Apr 2020 09:59:37 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 The Impact of Economic Crises on NGOs: The Case of Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/the-impact-of-economic-crises-on-ngos-the-case-of-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:53 +0000 http://arc.local/items/the-impact-of-economic-crises-on-ngos-the-case-of-greece/ Continued]]> The paper analyzes the impact of economic crises on organized civil society. A number of empirical studies have shown that a financial crisis can inflict a serious damage on the nonprofit sector—mainly through a sharp decline in revenues. However, the Greek case shows that a crisis can also have some positive effects on NGOs: many nonprofits introduced reforms that increased efficiency, the number of volunteers reached record levels, and there was a spectacular rise in funding by private philanthropic foundations. However, Greek NGOs continue to be dependent on external funding, unable to raise large sums from their members and the wider public. Organized Greek civil society continues to be turned upside down: dependency on EU and state funds is being replaced by dependency on private foundations.

]]> Crisis and transition of NGOs in Europe: The case of Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/crisis-and-transition-of-ngos-in-europe-the-case-of-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:36 +0000 http://arc.local/items/crisis-and-transition-of-ngos-in-europe-the-case-of-greece/ Continued]]> The ongoing financial crisis has globally impacted nearly every national economy in the world. Although its initial effects were concentrated purely in the financial sector, increased economic turbulence has gradually diffused into most sectors of society—including civil society and NGOs. One basic consequence has been the transformation of development assistance due to a decrease in available funding from the usual “suspects”, known as “old donors,” and a subsequent increase from so called “new donors” such as China and Brazil. Moreover, many of these “new donors” are negatively predisposed to working with NGOs and thus available funding to NGOs in the international level seems to be decreasing. A focus on the national level also reveals a similar case: countries that were greatly impacted by the aftermath of the crisis, such as Greece, have sharply decreased available public funding to NGOs.

This paper explores the effects of these developments. Its initial findings suggest that the “western model” of NGOs expansion is less viable than before. NGOs are being accused of losing their fundamental values and working mostly as ‘walking sticks’—covering states’ inefficiencies in specific sectors—thus their function as an unofficial public sector is being challenged. In practice, NGOs are transforming into dedicated contractors of national and international public agencies with limited to no real interconnection with society. This transformation is being rendered incompatible with the new environment, as available contracts are becoming less lucrative. As a result, many NGOs are rediscovering their idealistic past while new, less formal civil society actors are arising to cover the multiple needs created by the crisis. Focusing mainly on the Greek case study, this paper presents a seldom-studied effect of the financial crisis—the transformation of the NGO sector, culminating in informal networks overlapping with “old school” NGOs which find it difficult to adjust to the new economic situation. Evidence suggests that a dual trend currently exists where a small segment of existing “professionalized” NGOs are able to gain public funding through the usual public procurement procedures. Thus, they are able to survive and further expand in conjunction with the rise of small, grassroots organizations whose main strengths derive from their devotion to the practice of philanthropy, altruism, and voluntarism, in addition to their widespread acceptance from the general public.

]]> Civil Compliance and “Political Luddism”: Explaining Variance in Social Unrest During Crisis in Ireland and Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/civil-compliance-and-political-luddism-explaining-variance-in-social-unrest-during-crisis-in-ireland-and-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:29 +0000 http://arc.local/items/civil-compliance-and-political-luddism-explaining-variance-in-social-unrest-during-crisis-in-ireland-and-greece/ Continued]]> When badly hit by the same global financial and economic crisis in the early 2000s, the Irish and the Greek societies reacted in quite different ways. Whereas Ireland remained largely acquiescent and displayed a high degree of civil compliance, Greeks took massively to the streets using violence and attacking specifically the state and the state personnel, a phenomenon we refer to as “political Luddism.” It is shown that the two countries are quite similar in terms of their economic condition, cultural background, social composition, ideological profiling, and party system dynamics, among other factors. What, then, explains the two countries’ dissimilar reactions to crisis? Through a detailed analysis of the cases, the article offers evidence that the most compelling explanation relates to the varying ability of the Greek and Irish states to continue providing basic public goods and other state-related services to their respective societies.

]]> Social Media and Political Participation: An Investigation of Small Scale Activism in Greece https://toarcheio.org/items/social-media-and-political-participation-an-investigation-of-small-scale-activism-in-greece/ Tue, 16 Apr 2019 22:25:23 +0000 http://arc.local/items/social-media-and-political-participation-an-investigation-of-small-scale-activism-in-greece/ Continued]]> This paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of online activism. The example used to illustrate the above point provides some evidence that, on some occasions, civil society maybe mobilized through the use of the internet and the online public sphere, to organize more coherent and practical political demands. At the same time, it is also shown that the capacity of individuals to fully participate depends on previous offline experiences as well as a relatively higher degree of technical competence.

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