Between clients and bureaucrats: An ambivalent position of NGOs in the social inclusion agenda in Czech statutory cities

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This paper examines the landscape of policy work conducted by NGOs with respect to the social inclusion agenda. Based on a qualitative case study of integration policy in a Czech city, the paper focuses on the relations between collaborative and critical policy work of NGOs. In this case, while the collaborative position is mainly justified by apolitical expertise, long-term professional experience and compliance with official standards of social work, the latter calls upon community-based knowledge and political participation. We argue that despite indisputable long-term benefits of collaborative policy work it includes risks of paternalism, accountability deficit and exclusiveness. These risks become more significant with increasing shared understanding and mutual interdependence. In this situation there is a room for the episodic external critical capacity to challenge the governance structure and enforce the accountability of collaborative networks.