Strategic exclusion, co-option and containment: towards an integrative theory of state-CSOs relations

Emeka Thaddues Njoku

doi:10.1080/17539153.2022.2111776

Strategic exclusion, co-option and containment: towards an integrative theory of state-CSOs relations

Emeka Thaddues Njoku

International Development

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Abstract

Although there have been attempts to theorise state-Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) relations in the Counter-Terrorism (CT) context, including the “co-option and containment” and “duality of coercion” perspectives, these two-way articulations have failed to account for the range of strategic options open to the state in regulating CSOs. This study presents the framework of Strategic Exclusion, Co-option and Containment (SECC) to underscore the general patterns of state engagement of CSOs in the context of CT. It mapped secondary evidence in 19 countries and used three illustrative case studies (Australia, Uganda and Russia) to examine the elements of SECC, namely, states’ exclusion of CSOs in law and policymaking on CT, the use of strategic ambiguity in enacting and interpreting CT laws, delegitimizing or criminalising advocacy and influencing the transformation of CSOs into state adjutants. This pattern of engagement with CSOs is transforming voluntary and associational life in precarious ways. The article advances the Copenhagen School and rational-actor model of global strategic decision-making, and contributes to discourses on the closing of civic spaces, democratic recession and the resurgence of authoritarianism. It lays a foundation for generalisable theory and future empirical research on state behaviour towards CSOs in the context of violence, conflict, and security.

Original language	English
Number of pages	28
Journal	Critical Studies on Terrorism
Early online date	28 Aug 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2022.2111776
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 28 Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgment
An earlier version of the article was presented in 2020 at the African Politics Conference Group (APCG) of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Online Colloquium, and won the best paper award for the APCG finishing up grant. Thank you to the panellists, Amanda Murdie and Mark Sidel, for their interesting comments. The initial doctoral work that inspired this article was supported by the Social Science Research Council's Next Generation Social Science in Africa Fellowship Programme with funds provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Kudus Adebayo, Jonathan Fisher, Nic Cheeseman, Victor Asal, Tosin Orimolade, and the anonymous
reviewers were quite helpful and provided excellent feedback on this paper.

Emeka Thaddues Njoku is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the International Development Department, University of Birmingham, UK, where he is the British Academy Newton International Fellow. His research focuses on global counter-terrorism norms and their impact on the spaces and agency of civil society organizations, as well as the gendered and sexual consequences of counterterrorism laws, policies, and practices. His works have been published in International Affairs, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, Development Policy Review, Field Methods to mention but a few, and a book published by Manchester University Press

Keywords

Terrorism
Integrated theories
Rational actor model
Securitization
Closing civil spaces
Democratic recession
Democractic backsliding
Nonprofit organisations
Charities
Counterterrorism
Civil society – NGOs
Security Development Nexus
state-civil society relations
Russia
Australia
Uganda

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Social Sciences

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/17539153.2022.2111776Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

NjokuE2022StrategicFinal published version, 980 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

1 Other report

House of Lords Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Civil Society Select Committee Inquiry: Civil Society in Aid-Recipient Countries
Njoku, E., 21 May 2024, UK Parliament. 13 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Other report

Open Access
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Cite this

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Strategic exclusion, co-option and containment: towards an integrative theory of state-CSOs relations

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

House of Lords Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Civil Society Select Committee Inquiry: Civil Society in Aid-Recipient Countries

Cite this