Working Paper

IDS Working Paper 515

What Does Closing Civic Space Mean for Development? A Literature Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework

Published on 31 July 2018

What does closing civic space mean for development? Aid donors are concerned about the implications of restrictions on civil society for their partners and programmes, but to date there has been little clarity about what this means for development.

This paper summarises the findings of a literature review in support of research on this issue. It concludes that: (a) civic space has changed more than shrunk, although new restrictions affect aid-supported groups disproportionately; (b) new regulations are not all unwelcome, but nonetheless shift power from civic to political actors; (c) how that power shift shapes development outcomes depends on how political elites deploy that power, and in whose interests; (d) while there are instances where civil society has been curtailed to advance ‘developmentalist’ agendas, it more often enables land and natural resource grabbing, or the abuse of labour or other rights of marginalised and disempowered groups; (e) while short-term economic growth is unlikely to be adversely affected, economic crises are more likely in settings where civic space is closed, and it is highly improbable that development has any chance of producing equitable, sustainable, or inclusive outcomes under conditions where civic space is restricted or closing.

Cite this publication

Hossain, N.; Khurana, N.; Mohmand, S.; Nazneen, S.; Oosterom, M.; Roberts, T.; Santos, R.; Shankland, A. and Schröder, P. (2018) What Does Closing Civic Space Mean for Development? A Literature Review and Proposed Conceptual Framework, IDS Working Paper 515, Brighton: IDS

Authors

Naomi Hossain

Research Fellow

Shandana Khan Mohmand

Cluster leader and Research Fellow

Sohela Nazneen

Research Fellow

Marjoke Oosterom

Power and Popular Politics Cluster Lead

Tony Roberts

Digital Cluster Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies

Ricardo Santos

PhD Researcher

Alex Shankland

Research Fellow

Patrick Schröder

Research Fellow

Nalini Khurana

Publication details

published by
IDS
authors
Naomi Hossain, Nalini Khurana, Shandana Mohmand, Sohela Nazneen, Marjoke Oosterom, Tony Roberts, Ricardo Santos, Alex Shankland and Patrick Schröder
isbn
978-1-78118-463-9
issn
2040-0209
language
English

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