Non-formal education, religiosity and social capital: Philippine NGOs and the democratization of civil society

Civil society groups are pivotal actors in instigating the processes that make substantive democracy possible. This study examines two crucial actors within civil societies---Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) utilizing non-formal education strategies, and religiosity The context of the study is Philippine society, a political milieu in which a weak state dominated by elite cacique patron-client relations exploit state mechanisms for the private accumulation and distribution of public resources. Within the Philippines, both NGOs and Catholicism are potent social forces. This study challenges conventional wisdom that, on the one hand, celebrates NGOs as progressive democratizing forces, and on the other, dismisses Catholicism as a force that reifies conservative elites.; Drawing on a rich collection of sources including interviews, public and private documents, curriculum analysis, and participant-observation, this study analyzes the democratization strategies of three reputable Catholic NGOs. Through an analysis of their political education, popular education, political advocacy, and micro-enterprise development efforts, this study unearths serious pedagogical and knowledge conceptualization challenges inhibiting the democratizing impact of NGOs. Such educational challenges are seldom considered by donors or theoreticians yet pose obstacles toward NGOs actually impacting the grassroots. Drawing on evidence from the most successful NGO strategies, this study argues that NGOs must transform their role from knowledge transferors and knowledge producers to knowledge translators and poly-contextual "boundary-crossers."; This study also argues against simplistic analyses claiming that Catholicism reifies conservative forces in the Philippines. Rather, by drawing on James Coleman's conceptualization of social capital, it argues that Catholicism is paradoxical regarding democratization. While Catholicism at times reinforces traditional patron-client patterns, Catholicism also offers a vast social capital and potent cultural framework for justifying and animating democratization at the national, local, and grassroots level.; Although this study forwards conclusions most pertinent for the Philippines, it also offers important conceptual contributions applicable to other contexts. These areas include: (1) the relationship between religion and democracy; (2) the utilization of non-formal education to span levels of knowledge discourse in developing societies; (3) social capital and the cultivation of civil society; (4) democratization in a state and culture dominated by patron-client relations; and (5) democratic theory.