Strategic Collaboration, Avoidance and Ignorance in State-NGO Relations

Abstract

This article analyses Chinese non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) potential to address the impact of HIV/AIDS from a ‘three strategics’ framework: collaboration, avoidance and ignorance. From the NGO’s perspective, strategic collaboration with the state involves educational efforts directed at state institutions. Strategic avoidance, on the other hand, is invoked by NGOs when trying to protect themselves from what they perceive as state predation. While NGOs may seek to educate state authorities, I further argue that the ‘lack of knowledge’ on the part of state institutions may be deployed strategically, where ignorance is used as a resource to reinforce state power.