Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding Mexican NGOs: Goals, Strategies, and the Local Context

  • Published:
Qualitative Sociology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) largely focuses on the actions taken towards contributing to social change in communities and has characterized them into a typology of resisters or cooperators. Using extensive qualitative data, I use this case study to illustrate that NGOs use multiple repertoires of strategies that range from low to high risk. In this article, I show how and why NGO leaders in Monterrey, Mexico, choose their strategies based on their interpretation of the local sociopolitical environment and their assessment of how politically challenging a goal is within that context. By setting aside the dichotomy of NGOs as cooperators or resisters, I demonstrate the connection between strategies, goals, and the local sociopolitical context that is largely missing in our theorizing of NGOs (and other forms of collective action). These findings have implications for understanding how NGOs, as social actors, participate in an increasingly complex and interconnected global space.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amenta, E., Caren, N., & Olasky, S. J. (2005). Age for leisure? Political mediation and the impact of the pension movement on U.S. old-age policy. American Sociological Review, 70, 516–538.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, K. T., & Edwards, B. (2005). The organizational structure of local environmentalism. Mobilization: An International Journal, 10, 213–234.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arellano-López, S., & Petras, J. F. (1994). Non-governmental organizations and poverty alleviation in Bolivia. Development and Change, 25, 555–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auyero, J. (2001). Glocal riots. International Sociology, 16, 33–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baiocchi, G. (2002). Synergizing civil society: State-civil society regimes in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Political Power and Social Theory, 15, 3–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barr, A., Fafchamps, M., & Owens, T. (2005). The governance of non-governmental organizations in Uganda. World Development, 33, 657–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartley, T. (2007). How foundations shape social movements: The construction of an organizational field and the rise of forest certification. Social Problems, 54, 229–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bebbington, A., & Thiele, G. (1993). Non-governmental organizations and the state in Latin America. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, V. (1992). The evolution of urban popular movements in Mexico between 1968 and 1988. In A. Escobar & S. E. Alvarez (Eds.), The making of social movements in Latin America: Identity, strategy, and democracy (pp. 240–259). Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, V. (1995). The politics of water: Urban protest, gender, and power in Monterrey, Mexico. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bob, C. (2002). Political process theory and transnational movements: Dialectics of protest among Nigeria’s Ogoni minority. Social Problems, 49, 395–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boli, J., & Thomas, G. M. (1997). World culture in the world polity: A century of international non-governmental organization. American Sociological Review, 62, 171–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boli, J., & Thomas, G. M. (1999). Constructing world culture: International nongovernmental organizations since 1875. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratton, M. (1989). The politics of government-NGO relations in Africa. World Development, 17, 569–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brett, E. A. (1993). Voluntary agencies as development organizations: Theorizing the problem of efficiency and accountability. World Development, 24, 269–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brittain, J. J. (2007). Government, NGOs and the paramilitary: A Colombian contradiction. Development, 50, 122–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadhead, T. (1987). NGOs: In one year, out the other? World Development, 15(Supplement), 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brumley, K. M. (2010a). Power and resistance in post-NAFTA Mexico: Transformational and system-stabilizing NGOs. In R. Dello Buono & D. Fasenfest (Eds.), Social change, resistance, and social practices (pp. 105–130). Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brumley, K. M. (2010b). Gender, class, and work: The complex impacts of globalization. In M. T. Segal & V. Demos (Eds.), Advances in gender research (Volume 14): Interactions and intersections of gendered bodies at work, at home, and at play (pp. 95–119). United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

  • Carmin, J., Hicks, B., & Beckmann, A. (2003). Leveraging local action. International Sociology, 18(4), 703–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chabbott, C. (1999). Development INGOs. In J. Boli & G. M. Thomas (Eds.), Constructing world culture: International nongovernmental organizations since 1875 (pp. 222–248). Stanford: Sanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Courville, S., & Piper, N. (2004). Harnessing hope through NGO activism. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 592, 39–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cress, D. M. (1997). Nonprofit incorporation among movements of the poor: Pathways and consequences for homeless social movement organizations. The Sociological Quarterly, 38, 343–360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cress, D. M., & Snow, D. A. (2000). The outcomes of homeless mobilization: The influence of organization, disruption, and political mediation, and framing. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1063–1104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, M., & Hulme, D. (1996). Beyond the magic bullet: NGO performance and accountability in the post-Cold War world. West Hartford: Kumarian Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernando, J. (2003). NGOs and production of indigenous knowledge under the condition of postmodernity. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 590, 54–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, K. J., & Rodgers, D. M. (2000). Radical social movement organizations: A theoretical model. The Sociological Quarterly, 41, 573–592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, A. F. (1996). Assessing NGO performance: Difficulties, dilemmas, and a way ahead. In M. Edwards & D. Hulme (Eds.), Beyond the magic bullet: NGO performance and accountability in the post-Cold War world (pp. 169–186). West Hartford: Kumarian Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, W. A. (1975). The strategy of social protest. Homewood: Dorsey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganz, M. (2000). Resources and resourcefulness: Strategic capacity in the unionization of California agriculture, 1959–1966. American Journal of Sociology, 105, 1003–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddeon, J. (1998). The politics of social service provision through NGOs: A study of Latin America. Bulletin Latin American Research, 17, 303–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez Casanova, P. (1994). Causes of rebellion in Chiapas. Política y Sociedad, 17, 83–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gormley, W. T., Jr., & Cymrot, H. (2006). The strategic choices of child advocacy groups. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 35, 102–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hearn, J. (2007). African NGOs: The new compradors? Development and Change, 38, 1095–1110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hellman, J. A. (1988). Mexico in crisis (2nd ed.). NY: Holmes & Meier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, J. (2003). The state’s new clothes: NGOs and the internationalization of states. Rethinking Marxism, 15, 237–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jafar, A. (2007). Engaging fundamentalism: The case of women’s NGOs in Pakistan. Social Problems, 54, 256–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jasper, J. M. (2004). A strategic approach to collective action: Looking for agency in social-movement choices. Mobilization: An International Journal, 9, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jelin, E. (Ed.). (1994). Women and social change in Latin America. London: Zed Books Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. C., & Perrow, C. (1977). Insurgency of the powerless: Farm workers movements (1946–1972). American Sociological Review, 42, 249–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapoor, D. (2005). NGO partnerships and the taming of the grassroots in rural India. Development in Practice, 15, 210–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karim, L. (2004). Democratizing Bangladesh: State, NGOs, and militant Islam. Cultural Dynamics, 16, 291–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keck, M. E., & Sikkink, K. (1998). Activists beyond borders: Advocacy networks in international politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klooster, D. (2005). Environmental certification of forests: The evolution of environmental governance in a commodity network. Journal of Rural Studies, 21, 403–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landim, L. (1987). Non-governmental organizations in Latin America. World Development, 15(Supplement), 29–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann, D., & Bebbington, A. (1998). NGOs, the state, and the development process: The dilemmas of institutionalization. In M. Vellinga (Ed.), The changing role of the state in Latin America (pp. 251–270). Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, T. L. (2000). Transnational conservation movement organizations: Shaping the protected area systems of less developed countries. Mobilization: An International Journal, 5, 105–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Limoncelli, S. A. (2006). International voluntary associations, local social movements and state paths to the abolition of regulated prostitution in Europe, 1875–1950. International Sociology, 21, 31–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, L. (1994). Supporting civil society: The political role of non-governmental organizations in Central America. NY: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mamphiswana, D. (2000). South African non-governmental organizations: Broadening options for transition to a new socioeconomic and political dispensation. Social Development Issues, 22, 42–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCammon, H. J., Chaudhuri, S., Hewitt, J., Sanders Muse, C., & Newman, H. D. (2008). Becoming full citizens: The U.S. women’s jury rights campaigns, the pace of reform, and strategic adaptation. American Journal of Sociology, 113, 1104–1147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, J. D., Britt, D. W., & Wolfson, M. (1991). The institutional channeling of social movements by the state in the United States. Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, 13, 45–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melgar Palacios, M. (1992). Economic development in Monterrey: Competing ideas and strategies in Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Meyer, C. (1999). The economics and politics of NGOs in Latin America. Westport: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitlin, D., Hickey, S., & Bebbington, A. (2007). Reclaiming development? NGOs and the challenge of alternatives. World Development, 35, 1699–1720.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mwansa, L. (2007). Non-governmental organisations and poverty reduction in Africa: The need for a paradigm shift. Journal of Social Development in Africa, 22, 53–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nepstad, S. E., & Vinthagen, S. (2008). Strategic changes and cultural adaptations: Explaining differential outcomes in the International Plowshares Movement. International Journal of Peace Studies, 13, 15–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petras, J. (1997). Imperialism and NGOs in Latin America. Monthly Review, 49, 10–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, S. D. (2005). Will the market set them free? Women, NGOs, and social enterprise in Ukraine. Human Organization, 64, 251–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piven, F. F., & Cloward, R. A. (1977). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail. NY: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Hoffman, K. (2003). Latin American class structures: Their composition and change during the neoliberal era. Latin American Research Review, 38, 41–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pozas Garza, M. (1989). Land settlement by the poor in Monterrey. In A. Gilbert (Ed.), Housing and land in urban Mexico (pp. 65–78). San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pozas Garza, M. (1993). Industrial restructuring in Mexico: Corporate adaptation, technological innovation, and changing patterns of industrial relations in Monterrey. San Diego: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pozas Garza, M. (1995). Movimientos sociales urbanos. In G. Garza Villarreal (Ed.), Atlas de Monterrey (pp. 423–429). Monterrey, Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and El Colegio de Mexico: Instituto de Estudios Urbanos de Nuevo León.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pozas Garza, M. (2002). Estrategia internacional de la gran empresa mexicana en la década de los noventa. Mexico City: El Colegio de México.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pye, L. W. (1998). Democracy and its enemies. In J. F. Hollifield & C. Jillson (Eds.), Pathways to democracy: The political economy of democratic transitions (pp. 21–36). NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruwanpura, K. N. (2007). Awareness and action: The ethno-gender dynamics of Sri Lankan NGOs. Gender, Place and Culture, 14, 317–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saragoza, A. (1988). The Monterrey elite and the Mexican state, 1880–1940. Austin: The University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schild, V. (1998). New subjects or rights? Women’s movements and the construction of citizenship in the “new democracies.” In S. E. Alvarez, E. Dagnino, & A. Escobar (Eds.), Cultures of politics/politics of cultures: Re-visioning Latin American social movements (pp. 93–117). Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segarra, M. (1997). Redefining the public/private mix: NGOs and the emergency social investment fund in Ecuador. In D. A. Chalmers, C. M. Vilas, K. Hite, S. B. Martin, K. Piester, & M. Segarra (Eds.), The new politics of inequality in Latin America: Rethinking participation and representation (pp. 489–515). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, G. (1973). The politics of nonviolent action. Boston: Extending Horizons Book.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shefner, J. (1999). Sponsors and the urban poor: Resources or restrictions? Social Problems, 46, 376–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shefner, J. (2008). The illusion of civil society: Democratization and community mobilization in low-income Mexico. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, C. J. (2006). From in vitro to in situ: On the precarious extension of agricultural science in the indigenous “Third World.” Social Studies of Science, 36, 399–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sikkink, K. (1993). Human rights, principled issue-networks, and sovereignty in Latin America. International Organization, 47, 411–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silliman, J. (1999). Expanding civil society: Shrinking political spaces—the case of women’s nongovernmental organizations. Social Politics, 6, 23–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, M. (2006). Local strategies in globalizing gender politics: Women’s organizing in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Journal of Muslim Minority Affaire, 26, 9–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C. (2008). Análisis de la ideología empresarial regiomontana: Un acercamiento a partir del periódico El Norte. CONFINES de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política, 4, 11–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass, M. (2003). Deference and defiance in Monterrey: Workers, paternalism, and revolution in Mexico, 1890–1950. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, D. A., & Anderson, L. (1991). Researching the homeless: The characteristic features and virtues of the case study. In J. R. Feagin, A. M. Orum, & G. Sjoberg (Eds.), A case for the case study (pp. 148–173). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternbach, N. S., Navarro-Aranguren, M., Chuchryk, P., & Alvarez, S. (1992). Feminisms in Latin America: From Bogota to San Bernardo. In A. Escobar & S. Alvarez (Eds.), The making of social movements in Latin America (pp. 207–239). Boulder: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stillerman, J. (2002). Space, strategies, and alliances in mobilization: The 1960 metalworkers’ and coal miners’ strikes in Chile. Mobilization: An International Journal, 8, 65–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, P. (2003). International non-state actors and social development policy. Global Social Policy, 3, 319–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subramaniam, M. (2007). NGOs and resources in the construction of intellectual realms: Cases from India. Critical Sociology, 33, 551–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tembo, F. (2004). NGDOs’ role in building poor people’s capacity to benefit from globalization. Journal of International Development, 16, 1023–1037.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilly, C. (1984). Big structures, large processes, huge comparisons. NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vellinga, M. (1979). Industrialización, burguesía y clase obrera en México. México: Siglo Veintiuno Editores.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velloso de Santisteban, A. (2005). The poor will always be with us—and so will NGOs. Development in Practice, 15, 200–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veltmeyer, H. (2005). Development and globalization as imperialism. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 26, 89–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, J. (1977). Elites and economic development. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, J. (1992). Making the theoretical case. In C. C. Ragin & H. S. Becker (Eds.), What is a case? Exploring the foundations of social inquiry (pp. 121–138). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wells, D. (2007). Too weak for the job: Corporate codes of conduct, non-governmental organizations and the regulation of international labour standards. Global Social Policy, 7, 51–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. (1991). Case studies and the sociology of gender. In J. R. Feagin, A. M. Orum, & G. Sjoberg (Eds.), A case for the case study (pp. 224–243). Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zúñiga, V., & Ribeiro, M. (1990). La marginación urbana en Monterrey. Monterrey, México: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras and Facultad de Trabajo Social, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

A very special thanks to Heather Dillaway for her support and ongoing feedback on this article. Many thanks to Javier Auyero and the anonymous reviewers at Qualitative Sociology who greatly strengthened this article with their insightful comments. I also wish to thank David Fasenfest, Monica White, and Nicole Trujillo-Pagan for their comments on earlier drafts. Finally, thank you to the NGO leaders in Monterrey who shared their experiences with me. The research for this project was supported by the National Science Foundation (Dissertation Enhancement Grant, SES-0302192).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Wayne State University, 656 W. Kirby, 2265 Faculty Administration Building, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    Krista M. Brumley

Authors
  1. Krista M. Brumley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Krista M. Brumley.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Brumley, K.M. Understanding Mexican NGOs: Goals, Strategies, and the Local Context. Qual Sociol 33, 389–414 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-010-9161-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11133-010-9161-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation