Intermediaries, isomorphic activism and programming for social accountability in Pakistan
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| Author | Tom Kirk |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13218 |
60
|
Global Policy. 2024;15(Suppl. 4):60–70.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gpol
1 | INTRODUCTION
I first met Chaudhry Adnan Bhutta o n the forecourt of a
petrol station on the side of the Grand Trunk (GT) Road
as it enters the town of Kharian in Pakistan's Punjab
province. As we talked outside a tyre- changing hut,
people arrived on foot or by car and hovered patiently
nearby. Every so often Adnan would pause our conver-
sation and beckon them over so he could listen as they,
sometimes emotionally, petitioned him. When they had
finished, Adnan would generally refer them to one of
his colleagues, call a number retrieved from his pocket-
book or, on several occasions, sign official paper work
they handed him. Adnan described this as his sa lah- o-
behbud (social work).
Adnan began this work at an early age by resolv-
ing issues in his village, such as gas and elec tricity
shortages, and helping the po or to obtain national
identification cards. Then, in 1986 he founded the GT
Road Business Owners' Union. Adnan claimed th e
Union provides physical security to enterpri ses along
Kharian's portion of the road, helped them to ne gotiate
rental rates with landlords and accompan ied owners
during engagements with tax authorities. Adnan had
enjoyed an uninterrupted 16- year incumbency as the
Union's President and his son had recently been made
its General Secretary.
Adnan was also a member of the town's voluntary
Constituency Relations Group (CRG) set up by a local
non- governmental organisation (NGO) as part of the
Supporting Transparency Accountability and Electoral
Process (STAEP) programme. A self- declared so-
cial accountability program me, STAEP was primar-
ily funded by the United Kingdom's Depart ment for
International Development (DFID) from 2011 to 2014.
Roughly a year later, Kharian's CRG was still function-
ing. Yet, as will be discussed, Adnan was no longer
actively participating.
This paper uses research on STAEP to argue that
a focus on the quantifiable aspects of s ocial account-
ability programmes is inadequate for exploring their po-
tentials to contribute to wider democratising proje cts.
To explain this, I propose a theory of ‘isomorphic ac-
tivism’ that describes how powerful intermed iaries can
reduce programmes' democratic potentials. The terms
‘isomorphism’ and ‘isomorphic mimicry’ have been
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Intermediaries, isomorphic activism and programming for
social accountability in Pakistan
TomKirk1,2
Received: 31 Octo ber 2022
|
Revised: 17 April 2023
|
Accepted: 18 April 20 23
DO I: 10 .1111/17 58- 589 9.13 218
This is an open ac cess article under t he terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which perm its use and distributi on in
any medium, provi ded the original work is p roperly cited, the use i s non-commercial a nd no modifications o r adaptations are made.
© 2023 The Author. Global Policy publishe d by Durham University an d John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
1London School of Economics and
Political Science, London, UK
2Faculty of Humanities, University of
Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South
Africa
Correspondence
Tom Kirk, London School of Economics
and Political S cience, London, UK and
Faculty of Humanities, University of
Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South
Africa.
Email: tomkirk94@gmail.com
Funding information
Centre for Public Au thority and
International Development, Grant/Award
Number: ES/P008038/1
Abstract
Using ethnographic research from Pakistan, this pa per argues that social ac-
countability programmes that overlook the role of intermediaries in clientelistic
states risk undermining the wider demo cratising projects they seek to support.
It proposes a theory of ‘isomor phic activism’ that describes how these public
authorities appropriate others' oppor tunities to participate in politics and, in the
process, undermine democrati c norms. Isomorphic activism is shown to be more
likely when programmes are based on ideals of civil so ciety that render activ-
ism a technical exercise, depoliticise it an d blind donors to power inequalities.
The challenges the paper highlights are im portant given calls for development
programmes to change by whom and how politic s is done, whilst granting local
ownership to participants and de monstrating value for money. They should also
be of interest to those concerned by the spread of reducti ve views of civil society
activism within donor organisations.
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