Lecture 2

Question 1

What is the critique Beer, Bartley and Roberts have on NGO’s?

Answer 1

1. Advocacy: prioritize popularity to attract media + powerful but not always better
2. Service provision: face challenges with transparency & corruption + can unintentionally weaken state capacities
3. Regulators: Often fail to sufficiently address the root of the problem

Question 1

What is the focus of the article from Middlemiss and Parrish?

Answer 1

• How grassroots initiatives can create low-carbon communities, focusing on their capacity and responsibility.
• Framework to explore how grassroots actions build community capacity for sustainability.

Question 2

The concept of “community capacity” is central in the article by Middlemiss and Parrish, defined by four key capacities:

Answer 2

1. Personal Capacity =
   Kennis, vaardigheden en bereidheid van individuen om duurzaam te handelen.
2. Cultural Capacity =
   Gemeenschapsnormen en -waarden die duurzaamheid ondersteunen.
3. Organizational Capacity =
   Middelen en ondersteuning vanuit lokale organisaties.
4. Infrastructural Capacity =
   Fysieke en structurele middelen die duurzame praktijken mogelijk maken.

Question 3

What are the three most important points that can be drawn from the article by Middlemiss and Parrish?

Answer 3

1. Grassroots projects are important for creating low-carbon communities.
2. They use existing community strengths and also make the community stronger over time.
3. Supporting these projects can help more people and communities take climate action.

Question 4

Michael Edwards sees Civil Society as 3 things:

Answer 4

1. CS as part of society (ch2)
2. CS as the good society / a kind of society (ch3)
3. CS as the general public sphere (ch4)

Edwards argues that CS is also a vision on how society should be.

Question 5

Beer, Bartley and Roberts name 3 roles of NGO’s. What are they?

Answer 5

1. Advocacy (lobbying)
2. Service provision (social help)
3. Regulation (watchdogs + industrial-complex)

Question 6

What are the three theoretical claims about the relationship between INGOs and DNGOs, according to Beer, Bartley and Roberts?

Answer 6

1. INGOs lead DNGOs
2. DNGOs have autonomy (DNGOs use INGOs as leverage but are not fully dependent on them.)
3. INGOs control DNGOs

Question 7

Which 3 components of CS does Edwards mention?

Answer 7

1. Associations
2. Grassroots movements
3. Non-profit intermediaries

Question 8

Which 3 balances between connections does Edwards mention?

Answer 8

1. Bonding
2. Bridging
3. Linking

Question 9

Which 3 changes can grassroots initiatives make (Middlemiss & Parrish)

Answer 9

1. Changing individuals
2. Influence others
3. Changing social structures