Barriers to Effective Civil Society Organisations

Ibrahim Natil is a Lecturer at Dublin City University, Ireland.Vanessa Malila is a researcher at the Humanitarian Academy for Development. She was previously a Research Follow in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa.Youcef Sai is an independent researcher with a PhD in Education from Trinity College Dublin.

• 1. Introduction Ibrahim Natil 2. Introducing barriers to effective civil society organisations Ibrahim Natil 3. Africa CSOs civic spaces: Bridging the information gap through social media Vanessa Malila 4. The Changing Civil Society and the Hybrid Regime in Iran Mohsen Moheimany and Alireza Najafinejad 5. Reinvention of nationalism and the moral panic against Foreign Aid in Egypt Ahmed El Assal and Amr Marzouk 6. Civil Society in the Gaza Strip: Qatari Humanitarian Aid Ola Alkahlout 7. NGO’s rights-based approach between contextual appropriateness and political transformation in neo-patrimonial in Cambodia Rikio Kimura 8. Civil Society and Left-wing Governments in Latin America: The Limits of Influence Chris O’Connell 9. Shifting Landscape in Morocco: Civil Society Activism in Post 2011 Uprisings Mohammed Yachoulti 10. A Case Study of Two Irish Faith-Based CSOs Youcef Sai 11. Conclusion: Implications and Future Direction Ibrahim Natil

"For the last 4 decades civil society organizations have spear headed many demands, campaigns, and even actual movements for change. Working in such space for change is saturated with internal and external challenges. This edited volume not only efficetively identified these types of channges, but it offers inspiring ways to respond and cope with many of them. The richness of the diverse cases enhance our capacity to possibly learn from the experience of these organization from across the globe." — Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Ph.D, International Peace and Conflict Resolution, School of International Service, American University"In the contemporary context of a rapidly shifting and unstable geopolitical environment, the role of civic society organisations (CSOs) to confront powerful interests and represent the excluded has never been more important. In this important collection discussing the role of CSOs in responding to these challenges, the various contributors present valuable and unique theoretical and empirical insights into developments across the world that many researchers neglect including Latin America, Africa and Ireland – insights that anyone interested in promoting the social democratic project can learn from". – Professor James Arvanitakis, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Graduate Studies) – on sabbatical, Fulbright Fellow: Milward L. Simpson Visiting Professor, University of Wyoming"This important book, based on case studies from around the world, shows both the influence of Civil Society Organizations its limits. Drawing on rich empirical material it illuminates the strategies they employ, their differential effectiveness and barriers to the accomplishment of their missions. It deserves to widely read by both academics and practitioners." – Pádraig Carmody, Professor in Geography, Trinity College Dublin and Chair of Development Studies Association, Ireland.