The Performance of Identities in an International NGO in Child Welfare in China

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation of the performance of identities in the social interactions that constitute an international non-governmental organisation (INGO). It examines how those involved in this kind of international-development activity shape what kinds of actors they are through the identity work that is entwined with representations of the organisation and what it is doing. The thesis is based on data generated over four and a half months with an INGO working in the field of child welfare in China. Data was captured in fieldnotes, interview transcripts, organisational documents and other media such as a television programme and a promotional DVD. It is an ethnographic study that draws on discourse analysis and narrative analysis. The study addresses the implications of how the problem the organisation seeks to address and the way it is addressing that problem are constructed, and of how relationships with others are depicted. The thesis argues that analysis of identity work at the micro level, which acknowledges the context driven and variable ways in which actors make sense of the organisation and its work, offers valuable insights into how the social practices that form an INGO unfold. This research adds to understandings of being an actor in international development, specifically in the field of child welfare in China. It identifies various tensions that have implications for policy and practice.