Publication

This paper considers the gap between local priorities and NGO accountability in southern Thailand. The author explores the informal line of accountability that has emerged between an internationally funded NGO and village community. He uses case study material and research from 1997-8 to argue that pessimistic assertions about NGOs and their accountability overstates the power they can exercise over their beneficiaries. He also argues that such assertions underplay the power and autonomy that poor people have at their disposal. The paper shows that imposing rules stipulating local participation can empower villagers to negotiate and transform the terms on which the NGO intervenes in their community.