Ngos and transformation: beyond social

movement theory
Mathias finger
Presented by
Punam
Source: finger Matthias and Thomas prince, Environmental NGOs in world
politics Linking the local and the global (Routlege publication, 1994)
Contents:
Objectives
Introduction
Social movement theories: the national level
Social movement theories at the global level: the example of Marc Nerfin
Towards new theoretical framework: environmental NGOs as agents of social
learning
Objective
To understand the emergence of international environmental NGOs and new
theoretical framework
Introduction
Emergence of international environmental NGO
Its background
Reasons
Can this phenomenon be adequately conceptualized in terms of social movement
theory?
Social movement theories: the national level
Cyclical theories : the examples of Alain Touraine
Historical movements and social movements
Touraines theory is grounded in a materialistic world view.
Linear theories of social movements
It states that social movements, whenever they emerge, are unique and must be analysed
as such
Most influential linear theorists
Clause Offe
Jurgen Habermass
Historical theories: resource mobilization
Society according to rm theorist is made up of multiple organization structure
Citizens participation in political systems
Continued...
Conclusion: the limits of social movement theory
Touraines, offes, and to a certain extent Habermass theories have similar
bias towards citizen participation at the national level
All discussed theories implicitly consider industrial development to be
inevitable.
Social movement theories at the global level: the
example of Marc Nerfin
Marc Nerfins theory of the third systems best encapsulates the main
epistemological and theoretical elements shared by authors mentioned
Third system theory
What is third system?
Third system theorist David Korten
Inspired by Marxism
Critical discussion of third system theory
Towards new theoretical framework: Environmental
NGOs as agents of social learning
Usefulness of third system theory
Todays global crisis: a vicious circle
Environmental degradation puts stress on society (social and political conflict)
Population growth
Environmental degradation is likely to have negative effect on the psyche and
culture of all the planet's inhabitants
Learning our way out
Problem solving strategy must be engaged in this learning process.
Environmental NGOs: agent of social learning