Liberal visions and actual power in grassroots civil society

Local churches and women's empowerment in rural Malawi

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4938094
AutoresPeter Vondoepp (0000-0003-4260-7436, University of North Texas, autor de correspondencia)
Año2002
Volumen40
Número2
Páginas273-301
Fecha de publicación2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Modern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-278X • E-ISSN: 1469-7777
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022278x02003919
OpenAlexW2015906594
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas7

Research from a community study in rural Malawi speaks directly to contemporary debates about civil society. Investigating the role of local churches in empowering citizens, the study found that the local Catholic church was more effectively fostering a nascent sense of political efficacy among women than were local Presbyterian churches. Explaining this finding, the article presents two issues that expose problems in the liberal understanding of civil society, and underscore important themes raised in the critical discourse. First, the study reveals that organisations characterised by decentralised authority structures and internal democracy may fail to contribute to the empowerment of marginalised citizens. Such organisations are prone to reproduce and exacerbate local inequalities and conflicts within their structures. Second, corroborating critical views, the study highlights the importance of recognising how power relations affect the character and operation of civil society organisations. The adjusting of power relations within organisations may be a prerequisite to their serving an empowering role with marginalised citizens

Civil society · Democracy · Empowerment · Grassroots · Inequality · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · Vision · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Law · Public Administration · Religion, Society, and Development · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development