Destructive Creation: A Surfeit of NGOS

Abstract

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fulfill a vital role in society, filling the gap often left between civic responsibility undertaken through an agency of the government and personal responsibility often undertaken through the family. Indeed the modern streamlined state very often deliberately relies upon such NGOs to undertake responsibilities previously undertaken by the state, such as health, welfare and educational roles, which can no longer be undertaken due to the twisted logic of privatization. To fill the gap states often rely upon NGOs and provide funding accordingly – a state obligation undertaken by proxy. The role and significance of NGOs has therefore risen accordingly; commensurate with this we have seen an explosion in the number of NGOs and a concomitant explosion in the spheres of influence of such organizations and in the roles which they claim for themselves.In many ways this has been brought about by the retreat of the state which has caused the number of NGOs to increase to fill the gap left by this retreat (Kajimbwa 2006). This retreat means that the current situation is reminiscent of the situation in the middle of the nineteenth century with the rich being expected to donate some surplus to the poor but with a clear distinction between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor, with the distinction of course being dependent upon the acceptance by the receivers of the norms of the givers. Any further retreat would take us back to the medieval world of charity being inseparable from religion, but at least such charity was available to everyone as religious organizations tend not to discriminate in this manner! Thus the role of NGOs has increased very significantly in recent years.