Paper short abstract:

The article examines the response of Cape-Verdean associative sector to the adherence of the country to neoliberalisme and the role played by UN Program “Delivering As One” in this process.

Paper long abstract:

This article presents the outcomes of a qualitative exploratory study carried out in Cape Verde between 2010 and 2011 within the scope of a research project aimed to understand the dynamics of the associative sector in African countries of peripheral modernity. Data collected sought to answer the question: "do local social organizations could be regarded, in the present days, as a social sphere of contention and fight, of debate and claims, shaped by historical forces (Bayart, 1986) and, thus, are they helping to build a strong civil society?" The data analysis showed: (i) a sector comprised by very heterogeneous organizations which, however, bear common features such as a growing financial dependence upon the State and acritically adhere to UN's discourse and proposals on Milenium Goals and poverty reduction; (ii) a sector in which the most structured social organizations operate as a State branch, undertaking activities incumbent upon the State, particularly in the education and health areas; (iii) that the UN, through the Delivering as One Programme, that establishes that the bunch of financial resources from UN's various agencies shall be canalized through the central Government of the aided country for subsequent reallocation, is indirectly contributing to restrict the already limited political autonomy of Cape-Verdean organizations form the associative sector.

These research findings lead us to reflect about Wickramasinghe's claim (2005, p.458) that the own term 'civil society' would have been "globalized", turning from an end in itself to a mean serving the political project of the central economies.