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Paper short abstract:

This paper will take a critical view of civil society (shushil shomaj in Bangla) concept and will demonstrate how organic civil society action can be transformed and made "toothless" by INGO managerialism and professionalisation in Bangladesh.

Paper long abstract:

Bengal has a long history of "civil society movements" in the broader sense of the phrase. The specific term "shushil shomaj" to refer to civil society was introduced by international development organisations to advocate for human rights issues. This introduction occurred in the socio-political context of the 1990s, a period marked by the restoration of democratisation following the removal of the military-autocrat government led by Major General Ershad through a decade-long mass movement. Simultaneously, Bangladesh witnessed a shift in the non-government-organisations led development approach from mere service delivery to a more 'people-centric' approach, with 'civil society' organisations playing a crucial role. However, throughout this period, there remained a persistent ambiguity regarding the meaning of the concept of civil society / "Shushil Shomaj." In this paper we will take a critical view of the concepts and will demonstrate how organic civil society action can be transformed and made "toothless" by INGO managerialism and professionalisation. We will argue that local vernacular conceptions of justice embedded in organic action and social movements strongly resonate with Global North discourses, but that Global North practices drive civil society to the comfortable and safe middle ground, away from the political issues. This is not least because the way in which Global North managerialism defines "success" is often misaligned with the kinds of approaches required to successfully challenge entrenched local elites and vested interests.