The dilemmas of civil society and social movements in a rapidly growing economy

Abstract

This chapter considers civil society and social movements in Botswana. In particular, it examines why civil society and social movements assume certain characteristics in that country. In many societies, civil society and social movements have played a transformative role towards the creation of an equitable society, particularly in addressing policy gaps in areas such as human rights, gender equality, indigenous peoples’ rights, environmental and disability rights, and others. However, in a situation where civil society and social movements are starved of financial support, they are rendered vulnerable and dependent on the state and thus compromise their autonomy as independent actors able to critique the state’s development agenda. Botswana, with its diamond-driven economy, managed to become a wealthy state which made the international development partners, the traditional main source of funding for civil society and social movements in Africa and many developing countries, withdraw their support from Botswana’s non-governmental sector. Consequently, this left a gap in financial support particularly to civil society and social movements rendering them vulnerable to state control. The chapter uses a combination of historical perspective, and qualitative and quantitative data to trace the evolution of these organizations in Botswana to show the distinctive role of different categories of civil society and social movements such as labour unions, private media, and gender and human rights groups, and to portray their declining role in advocacy and as development critics of the wealthy state of Botswana. It also draws on an analysis/study of over 200 civil society and social movement organizations to demonstrate how these organizations have gradually become dependent on the wealthy state for survival. The chapter proposes policy options for the state to support civil society and social movements without compromising their autonomy – hence the dilemma.