The un-civil Guyanese citizen and radical transformation of anything

This blog is in response to the question posed by D. Michael Wills on his Facebook page. He shared the article When is civil society a force for social transformation? and wondered about the role of Guyana's civil society.  He thought that I might have some ideas based on my experience in Guyana.

I thought of answering a different question - How do individuals who have an interest in change achieve that change? In rambling towards my answer, I explain my understanding of what is civil society in Guyana . I explain what I see as some  challenges to civil society in bringing about the transformation .  I pose (as in "poseur") the idea of the "un-civil individual" and suggest ways in which the un-civil individual could transform Guyana.

(This has been edited four days after some feedback and discussion )

Civil Society in Guyana

The history of the term 'civil society' is apparently grounded in 'Western' enlightenment philosophy (including the allegedly racist Hegel) Civil Society is meant to constitute that part of a democracy in which the individual voluntary participates . This sector could include the family,  organisations, unions, artist and cultural groups, community organisations, religious organisations etc.  Some definitions include business or 'private sector'.

The idea of civil society is related to a society in which there are individual freedoms and in which the state plays little role in regulating markets, etc.

It is not clear when the idea was first used in Guyana or when citizens engaged with the idea of civil society. I suspect that the idea strengthened with the movement which resulted in the 'free and fair' elections of 1992 and then the increased 'liberalisation' of Guyana. I personally became aware of the term around 1996, a year after I became a volunteer with Help & Shelter.

The different donor agencies have different concepts of what is civil society. The Parliament and state agencies also define civil society and civil society stakeholders depending on the required context.


The snippets below show some of the views about civil society and participation in civil society in Guyana.

"Why you blame the PPP, it is up to the NGOs like Red Thread and GRPA and Help & Shelter to educate the public about rape instead of complaining all the time" Young PPP supporter

"Civil society is weak"  Young journalist

 "I would like to be part of something greater" - Young professional with anonymous email for discussion of the something greater

" I feel that I should be doing something more, but that means getting involved with people and I do not want to" another young journalist

 "By mentioning that support, which, by enabling Help & Shelter to maintain a shelter for both abused and trafficked women and their children, in turn enables the government to meet Guyana’s international obligations with respect to places of safety for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, we are confident that the minister did not intend to imply that as recipients of  government largesse, we have no right to criticise or question the government when we see gaps or deficiencies in areas that fall within our mandate.

We are sure that the minister recognises that as an independent NGO, it is our responsibility to speak out when we think it necessary and are rightly liable to be called to account should we be silent. (Help & Shelter Letter to the Editor

"The principal objective of the political system of the state is to establish an inclusionary democracy by providing increasing opportunities for the participation of citizens, and their organisations in the management and decision-making processes of the state, with particular emphasis on those areas of decision making that directly affect their well-being." Article 13 of the Constitution of Guyana

My understanding of civil society in Guyana is in the rough diagram below.

Guyana's civil society

Many organisations have been formed in Guyana in the last two decades, some of them in response to issues such as poverty alleviation, HIV/AIDS, gender equality and other human rights, etc.  Most of these issues have had public awareness because of the work of the civil society organisations. The organisations have provided vital services when the Government could not do so.

Most of them rely on donor financing, and many of them use voluntary labour.   Many operate to deliver services, and as charitable organisations helping the 'less fortunate'.

In Guyana, political parties are not seen as civil society, though some of the their organisations (e.g women's arm, youth arm, media outlet) are included in listing of the organisations. Some civil society organisations and active individuals have strong ties to political parties.

The Business/Private Sector in Guyana is more often considered separately. The media is a resource which has helped to advance civil society interests - though some civil society groups are more media savvy than others and I believe that important work is often not publicised well enough.

The 'family' is not included though many religious organisations do use the "family" as their beneficiary.

Some individuals have become prominent because of their organisations and there are some organisations which might be seen as 'one woman/one man' operations but which no doubt satisfy the donors.

Challenges

I think civil society in Guyana has to deal with these challenges :-

• Which vision? - Different organisations  have different visions. The idea of transformation would make others imagine that there is some collective understanding of , to steal from the Guyana National Youth Council "the Guyana we want". But there cannot be one vision as the very diversity of the population and special interests means that there are different visions of what Guyana we want.   While some organisations and individuals call for the resignation of the Attorney General, other organisations give him prominence at their functions. I believe that civil society has to work out the common space for how the different visions can be realised , or not as the case may be.
• NGOs as AGOs -  I heard that former PM Eugenia Charles of Dominica had said that NGOs are Anti-Government Organisations. In the Guyana context, challenging any Government policy or activity is seen as Opposition and there is great fear about being seen as Opposition. Some NGOs manage to hold their own, some do not get involved or go out of their way to align with the Government officials whose policies do not work in their favour. In Guyana, there are some Government agencies who rely on input from civil society, but unfortunately, that relationship is taken to mean that there should be silence when there is a conflict with the value of the NGO.  Another leader of an NGO said that his organisation had democracy, and so they had to invite a Minister to speak at their dinner even though there was no contribution from the Treasury to the organisation. The State is large in Guyana - it dominates public life and things like elections and the political wrangling impact on the work of the civil society. 
• Unclear value systems - I resigned from Help & Shelter because I felt that an NGO dealing with domestic violence should be holding the alcohol industry accountable and not participating in events in which alcohol would be promoted. Help & Shelter had a vote on an issue and the majority disagreed with me.  Value systems evolve and many issues will arise which should be challenged. Should an NGO hire staff who do not believe in its core values - 'once they could do the work?" What is accountability like? Should any of this matter to the public? How do the value systems relate to the system changes that need to take place?
• Donor funded Projects, Service Delivery vs transformative action  - Donor funds provide opportunity to acquire resources which help in the civil society work but the focus then becomes (because the staff are paid by the donors projects) on doing the project work which is often limited by time etc and not necessarily linking that work (beyond the Mission/Vision of the project document) to the deeper change. 
• Master's tools -  Some of the NGOs have adopted corporate hierarchies with "Executive Directors" and 'Officers' - creating power structures to rival some of those which have to be transformed in the society.  " I remember one Youth NGO with the young director being called Sir and Mr X by everyone else, another young NGO leader in an email to project staff asking for his salary "Know your place!!! "  Audre Lorde had a quote "“For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.
• Accountability/Transparency/Governance - Some civil society organisations are open about their membership and how their membership relate to the work of the organisations, Others are much more selective and are not as open. Some organisations are very transparent with their funding and project work, and in terms of how staff are selected etc, others are not. One of the challenges with Guyana's deep change is about accountability, and I am not sure how any organisation could call for accountability without itself being held accountable to the public who are not its members and whose interest it claims to serve.  

The Un-civil Guyanese citizen

"The carnage on the roads of Guyana CAN be contained. The change starts with each of us. This new year, let us resolve to cultivate more compassion and empathy for others, especially those sharing the roads with us. Let us resolve to be more responsible and safer drivers. This, along with greater accountability and proper, fair implementation of the laws is key to improving road safety in Guyana." Sherlina Nageer

The un-civil Guyanese citizen is one who maintains an active interest in transforming Guyana, but is not a member of any of the institutions which are recognised as "civil society" bodies  The un-civil citizen may or may not vote, and may or may not pay all taxes. The un-civil citizen may or may not be public in her or his activities to contribute to the transformation of Guyana in her or his vision. The Un-civil citizen may or may not align with other individuals or groups to promote her or his interests.  However, the un-civil Guyanese citizen strives to be ' the change that she/he wants to see in the world"

I am an un-civil individual. These are some of the lessons I have learned .

Personal ethics and values
It is good to know what you stand for. I stated my personal ethics on my CV.  Ethics are not carved in stone, and they could change. It is good to let others know how you intend to stand for your ethics and values - there might be times when your actions might seem conflicting. Know what you want. Understand how you feel about each issue which comes up or if you do not have a view, then be able to state why. 

Accountability
Accountability is not a big deal in Guyana. There is no moral impetus for accountability and it might be legislated in some cases, but when in the breach, there are no penalties. The un-civil individual should strive for accountability, if only to understand the challenges and the benefits. Accountability not only to friends and like-minded individuals but especially to those who are strangers or who are opposed. Honesty would be complex, especially with things like income tax returns. One day I hope that I would do my tax return with a statement about why I do not intend to pay all the tax.  The un-civil individual should not 'talk out of both sides of their mouth' shifting their perspective depending on who  is listening.


Action
Do something, anything. It does not have to be big. It could be nothing as I wrote in this blog . A young Bible reading Hindu I know does not go to mandir but he has engaged me and others in reading bits of the Gita and other texts and talk about Krishna consciousness and so. Action is one on one - asking the minibus driver to turn down the music if you could and discussing the speed issue with him/her if you have to. Action should be non-violent.  Talking is action, but then when talking is not enough, there should be other actions to consider.  Tyre burning and road blocking have worked sometimes. There is a story about a teacher who protested alone outside the Ministry of Education way back in the 1970s against her dismissal.. it took her about two weeks before she got a response. Some people do not have that time.

Time
Some change takes time, some might be faster than others. Some things have not changed over time even if they seem to have changed. Know that before you engage in any transformation projects.



Bridge building (taken from somewhere else and very cliche) or be like a Jehovah Witness

I cuss up the minibus drivers and so about the music when I could. The only time I want to flog anyone is when they (adults)  litter. I have low opinions of  child beaters. I am terrified of those who support the PPP and try to stay far from those who prop up the regime. Thing is, at some point, there has to be some time when bridges have to be built with individuals so that some communication could be established about the change and the need for change. It might require the kind of stamina and persistence and hope of the Jehovah Witnesses who spread their message one to one , who could get invited in or chased away and laughed at. Bridge building would require that there is some common point to start from and that there are ways of connecting across differences which cause no harm and some understanding.

Bridge stretching/Bridge breaking
And sometimes there are values which do not coincide and there is a need to stretch the bridge without breaking (what a stupid metaphor) or break it completely if it is not making sense or if you feel you are going to be co-opted and your actions and values put into conflict. It is easy to bond with like minded individuals, but there are times when the discussion and the actions reveal that there are massive differences in what is said and what is done.
Be able to explain what these contradictions are so that it makes sense and it is not based on prejudices which you have not addressed.

Leaving Guyana while staying
From time to time, you have to leave Guyana - if you cannot physically, at least mentally . You might have to detach and disassociate for your own survival and to avoid burn out. Some might think that you 'done' or 'how come I aint see you at de protest/picket/whatever?'

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.