| This dissertation addresses opportunities and obstacles to the formation of cooperative relations between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the state in Brazil, in the context of economic and political changes during the last three decades. The emergence of these organizations during the final years of the 1964-1985 military dictatorships in Brazil imprinted a strong anti-state character on NGOs' political-institutional identities. After 1985, with the democratization of the country, the NGOs' field of activity underwent a process of profound transformation. First, international funders started a gradual withdrawal of support, causing the organizations to experience financial crises and forcing them to explore alternative resources. Second, newly elected national governments began to form partnerships with NGOs to deliver public services. The combination of changed circumstances caused the NGOs to experience "identity crises." They faced a dilemma, since their initial formation rested on opposition to the state. The analysis of the Brazilian NGOs' experience rests on a study of ten affiliates of the Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, known in Portuguese by the acronym ABONG. ABONG unites the oldest and most prominent NGOs in the country. Data were obtained from participant observation, archival sources, and in-depth interviews. Documents published by NGOs, ABONG, and the government were analyzed, and directors, project coordinators, and technical personnel of the NGOs were interviewed on multiple occasions. The study reveals that the NGOs that have succeeded in establishing relations with the state and at the same time increasing their influence on their respective field of action: (i) historical ties with their target populations and with social movements active in their field of interest; (ii) stability of main sources of resources and; (iii) internal political and organizational coherence. While exploring the relations between NGOs and the state in Brazil both historically and within specific settings, the study also addresses issues that are relevant to recent debates about the relationship between civil society actors and the state in Latin America. |
