Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at the political economy of INGO- private sector partnerships in Sri Lanka by taking into account Care International's partnership with a multinational corporation in promoting out grower projects in the war-torn Northern province.

Paper long abstract:

The paper examines the dynamics of the recently found need for partnerships between INGOs and the private sector corporations in Sri Lanka. Here, it takes a closer look at Care International's partnership with a multinational corporation in the agricultural industry in promoting out grower projects. In the aftermath of the funding crisis, INGOs are slowly turning to the private sector for partnerships that could help them extend their presence in the country, which is largely influenced by their traditional donors. The paper looks at this change and argues that INGOs are gradually led to become service providers for private sector corporations in an attempt to re-establish their relevance. The paper demonstrates that INGOs are using their once proven reputation and credibility as well as their strong presence within the grassroots to penetrate deep within communities and fit them into processes of 'flexible accumulation'. Here, it argues that they have assumed the role of transforming social relations, in spaces where either the state has been absent or INGO credibility has superseded that of the state to facilitate underlying processes of capitalist expansion. In the light of these arguments, the paper concludes that INGO-private sector partnerships have become the perfect match for preparing the rural communities to willingly embrace experimental regulatory measures introduced within a neoliberal economic model. They exemplify a new institutional arrangement within frontier neoliberal economies that could devise measures for continuous proletarianization of labour for capitalist expansion.