Alternatives to the State

It seems like every few years, political scientists get excited about the idea that Somalia will provide a creative alternative to the nation state system. Chris Blattman outlines the debate in its current manifestation here. Ken Menkhaus,  Andrew Natsios and others had similar discussions in the late '90s, soon after the fall of the central government. Most people who thought Somalia might forge some new not-quite-nation-state path (noteably Ken Menkhaus, Hussein Adam, and Maria Brons, all experts on Somalia) subsequently revised their enthusiasm for this option; for very good reasons. You'd think that two decades of shockingly poor human development, if nothing else, would be a strong case for more conventional state; not less. The Somali people certainly aren't getting anything out of being on the cutting edge of international relations theory, and de Waal's suggestion of just funding the "vibrant middle class" seems out of touch with reality.

What I wonder is, why do political scientists so often turn to Africa when looking innovations in statehood? With its history of exploitation, colonialism, failed SAPS, unfair trade....is it any mystery that there are few examples of perfectly functioning states? It's nice that innovation does happen as a result of this severe malaise, but there are many other grey areas of state control. Why not look at a broader range of 'states on the brink of non-state'?  If we're looking for experiments in the nation-state system, I'd like to nominate Belgium as a first stop! They currently hold the world record for the elapsed time without an official government, beating out war torn Iraq. Why don't people talking about statecraft all look to Brussels?

(Why am I writing random blog posts about Somalia? I wrote my undergraduate thesis on it a decade ago. It's far from my research focus, but close to my heart. I harbour secret fantasies of retiring there with a herd of camels, some day when political stability has returned. )

Job search with a belly continues

With a baby on the way, I find myself in the very strange position of actually not knowing what I want to do professionally. It's definitely the first time in my life that a fast-paced, all consuming job seems like the wrong choice (even if financial stability and maternity leave would both be very nice!). The problem is, I've never seriously considered an alternative. I've suddenly found myself on the 'mommy track', and have never really thought about such an odd idea before....I think that's hindering a job search more than anything else. There are so many things that look perfect-but-not-right-now. Knowing that my life is about to change in unfathomable ways makes it very difficult to figure out what *is* right for now. I'm sure that comes across in interviews.

I'm not quite sure what the solution is, except to spend a few weeks in denial, baking a lot, trying not to worry too much, and hoping everything will become clear in time...

On a side note, the blob has opened its eyes now, and if I shine a flashlight on my belly, I can feel it lift its hands to cover its eyes. This is supposed to be bad for the eye development, so I won't make a habit of it, but it's almost as entertaining as shining a flashlight through geckos used to be when I was little. I think the amount of time I can spend watching my stomach jiggle is probably a sign that finding a job sooner rather than later would be better for my sanity. 

#4: Inspiration can be hard when work happens in one place, and results happen in another

That's part of the reason activism looks quite different now than it did in the '60s. 50 years ago (according to my father), you could shout, 'get out of vietnam' at a march, and everyone more or less knew what you meant. Today, 'Reach a fair, ambitious, and binding climate agreement to keep the global temperature raise below 2°' doesn't have quite the same ring. The capitalist system has become more complicated, and finding ways of changing it demands more information than it did in the past. 'Professional activism' has become a more technical, complicated terrain. 

I do a lot of reporting. I'm probably in a minority camp on this, but I generally enjoy it. It's a chance to tell a really good story. It's also inspiring to take a step back, and be reminded of why we're doing all of the workshops and daily grind work. I certainly don't want to be part of all the events that go on - I'm glad we have plenty of campaigners who enjoy and are good at those things. Many people get disillusioned when faced with the reality that most global level campaigning work means spending most of your time on emails, teleconferences, and in meetings. More often, though, the crisis comes by a disjuncture between where the work is done, and where the results are felt. This is usually an ambiguity you've learned to cope with, if you've chosen to work in advocacy instead of direct service. That doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't still get to you now and then. 

It's a bit like telling someone in California not to drive an SUV because of flooding in Bangladesh….on one hand, it's entirely true, but at the same time, not the way to change congestion on the LA freeway. It's hard for me to tell an honest story about campaigning results when I only live behind a computer. Similarly, it's hard for grassroots campaigners to get passionate about G20 discussions on the financial transaction tax when they work every day on local service provision. We may both get the theoretical connection, but after a point, it's not enough. An essential ingredient in building a strong coalition is finding a way of making everyone's experiences equally 'real' to everyone else. It's not something that happens easily. It needs continuous effort, reenforcement, and resourcing. I constantly struggled with ways of making organizational governance issues and national MDG outcomes equally 'real' to me, so I could get excited about going to work every day. I could often see the same frustration in colleagues, whose work was one piece of the puzzle. 

I'm not exactly sure what to conclude from this...except that everyone seems to find their own way of coping, whether it's through local service, making every upcoming meeting seem like the next world-changing event, doing lots of outreach....I bake sourdough and make soap. 

Nose bleeds, here and there.

Of all of the bizarre pregnancy symptoms, I've been having nose bleeds galore for the last few months. The most severe was in Nagpur, on a crowded railway platform when I was about to get on an overnight train. I must have looked quite pathetic - more luggage than I could manage, trying to figure out a complicated waitlisted e-ticket mess, and gushing blood. However, I could not have possibly imagined a more helpful response from everyone - the conductor immediately made sure I got the most comfortable seat in the house, cool-drink-wallahs gave me ice from their coolers, strangers waiting for the same train made sure I had a place to lie down and bought all of the nearby kiosks out of handkerchiefs, and once the train came, people whisked my luggage off to the right compartment, and checked regularly that I was settled in and comfortable.

I got another nosebleed today, while on a taxi. I was much better equipped this time around - on home turf, familiar transport, with tissues, and not nearly as serious a case. Even so, everyone on the taxi looked at me like I was a murder suspect. I got off and walked home. I suppose it's good that people have a healthy fear of contracting HIV....but what happened to compassion? It's pretty awful to be made feel even more miserable, when having nosebleeds seems like punishment enough.

Blob returns to Mzansi

Back in Mzansi, I now know that it's likely to be a girl. It was always a family joke that my sister would have three boys, and I would have girls....turns out family mythology is holding true so far.

Johannesburg seems like a different city with a big belly. When I took taxis before, I had a reception that reminded me of being an exchange student - a slightly misplaced, awkward curiosity. Now that I have a belly to add to the situation, the assumptions seem to change. Interesting to watch. This dimension of being home is fun.  Others, slightly less.

It seems impossible to find an obstetrician that charges within-medical aid rates in the city. I had no idea such a thing would be so difficult. I always naively assumed that I look around for good coverage, pay a lot for medical aid every month, and then when I go to the doctor, I don't pay! If only it were that simple. I'm not sure how people do it....Getting appointments at public hospitals requires months of advance planning; even getting in to see a private obstetrician, who charges triple what my medical aid will cover, takes weeks...I'm not quite sure how people are generally expected to go about having babies, without going bankrupt or losing their jobs?

And, the debate over the Last Name continues. As I hear horror stories from other ex-pats about the difficulties of travelling with a child with a different last name (and have some experiences to confirm it, like in the clinic in Nagpur where the lab clinician wouldn't let me enter a different surname for the father on the medical forms....imagine what school (or hospital) admission would be like), I become more and more weary about having a different last name from the little blob....I don't want to become paranoid and create fights with the father, but I also don't want to sign up for 18 years of unnecessary headaches (some of which could have serious consequences) just for the sake of avoiding conflict.

#3 Technology provides tools, not solutions

This seems obvious, but I'm amazed at how often the confusion comes up - I see it particularly in knowledge management, but I'm sure other people see it elsewhere. Either an 'online space' or 'database' seem to be the cure for any problem, from poor project management to insufficient administrative capacity. This is definitely not to dismiss the value of a great website, database, or social media strategy. All of these things can be fabulous, if they are doing what the organization needs. Often, however, something 'digital' is brought in to fill the gap when an organization doesn't know what it wants, or doesn't know how to be effective. Buckets of money are poured at building snazzy things that an organization doesn't really need or can't really use. Meanwhile, simple things that work if used well, are overlooked.

For some reason, 'technical' things, perhaps because they feel both hip and complicated at the same time, seem to be exempt from asking fundamental questions an organization would usually ask of any other project. Mostly, 'what do we want to do', and 'how is this actually going to help us accomplish it?'  

Problems in development organisations are rarely never technical, but changing the tool seems easier than changing the user. Drowning in a sea of email doesn't happen because email is inherently problematic….people use it badly, and constantly reply all, don't reply at all, or subscribe to a gazillion listserves. Sometimes, setting (and then enforcing, and then continuing to enforce) some simple guidelines is a better (and far cheaper) solution than an elaborate intranet system, only a small fraction of which would actually get used (and possibly also used badly!). Things like making sure everyone understands and uses google filters can do more for managing information than elaborate intranets. 

This is even more true of digital campaigns. It is absolutely true that the face of campaigning is changing quickly, as technology lets organisations reach more people directly. Obviously, this is changing the way your average NGO goes about building a constituency. Too often, the results of fumbling through these changes are neglected facebook pages,  mass emails that reach the wrong people, or a form to collect peoples contact information online, without sufficient thought on how it will be used. Before another organization has another online action, everyone should stop, ask and answer 'what do we want to do', and 'how is this actually going to help us accomplish it?' 

#2: Summits are Not for Me

It impresses the pants off people to have passes to UN meetings, pictures with heads of state, rub shoulders with Bono, and other seemingly important things that come with the summiteering that's inevitable in global campaigning. It's widely accepted (but somehow not widely talked about) that successfully engaging at these summits is devilishly difficult, and very expensive. It's also an unfortunate reality that, even though it rarely provides results, it needs to be done just the same. These are the kinds of things that drive we evaluation people nuts - we know costs are high and results are limited, but the work must go on, even at the expense of more effective and cheaper work elsewhere. 

They're almost never the time and place decisions are made - outcome documents were usually negotiated ages before, and while there's occasional wiggle room at the actual summit, big breakthroughs usually happen much earlier in the process. 

They're designed to make public mobilization difficult. They're often held in inaccessible places, information about the logistics of the meeting is often released at the last minute, there are usually a gazillion side events taking place. It's almost inevitably an organizational nightmare. 

They're not a great place to get your message out. There are so many people doing so many different things, that even if there is consensus around your message, and  you're well resourced, well coordinated, and so on….your message is very likely to get lost in the noise. Plus, no matter how diligent the preparation, one recent global event (like the Greek debt crisis) often dominates discussions (and therefore press coverage).

So why bother? Partly because it impresses people, and can therefore contribute to organizational legitimacy. It's great to be able to tell funders you met with Ban ki Moon, and have speakers from your organization addressing the General Assembly. Partly, to be part of a club. This is where global campaigning organizations go, so it's where a lot of networking and outreach happens. International travel is expensive, so these events, when people are all face to face, are when a lot of important planning happens (even if it's often an afterthought). And partly because it's often the culmination of a lot of other more important work, and making space for that is important. You need to 'be seen' at global summits to be part of working groups and planning processes where more substantive work gets done. I wish everyone could frame them for what they are, though, and save all of the expensive, bedazzling media hubris. 

In spite of all the complaints I have about summits, I recently discovered that they do build useful skills; at a recent overcrowded and disorganized concert I went to with a colleague, we were super stars at figuring out which queues we needed to stand in for which tickets, and how to get access to the right sections of seating! 

5 reflections on 5 years in MDGs campaigning: #1

1. Success isn't necessarily what I thought it was.

It's just not sexy to say I'm working on evaluating the global coordination of national  civil society campaigns on the ratification of the optional protocol of the international covenant on economic and social rights. In comparison, my PhD research sounds riveting. Revolutions aren't inspired because a bunch of people read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even people who are professionally immersed in the field don't keep track of every regional and thematic protocol and declaration. But, this is the level at which government commitments are made, so accountability starts there. Even for die hard policy wonks, it can be tedious wading through jargon and budgets to figure out what governments are actually going to do, and what can be done to influence it.

Somewhere, in the back of your head, you always know that all of these sub committees, statements, teleconferences, and working groups are supposed to mean something, in the real world, to people. There are occasional flashes of clarity, when your neighbor's daughter is going to be able to finish matric because the age of the child support grant has been extended, or the church around the corner can afford to offer a second free meal in the community each week because taxes on some basic foods have been reduced, and you realize this is why we all sit in meetings about MDG 1 and 2 progress….These moments are rare, and creating them is actually a specific kind of work. In addition to my 'actual' job, it's been virtually a second job to learn how to see, and reinforce why, the little bit that my organization does matters to people. 

Finally, policy change is often a gold standard in a campaign's effectiveness. It is great when it happens; it's hard to accomplish, and makes a convincing story. But it's not the only thing campaigns can achieve. It's really impressive to be able to say that Russia's health care system is now much more accessible to people with disabilities because of a campaign. It sounds less exciting to say that this campaign is one of the first times civil society in Russia has come together to advocate collaboratively on issues outside of each organization's technical specialty. This may turn out to be irrelevant; or, it could be far more important than a  specific policy change. We're not very good at measuring lots of things. That doesn't make them any more or less important. 

After these 5 years, I am finally confident in saying that we have done some amazing things to make the world a better place. This is in spite of a range of frustrating inefficiencies and mistakes along the way. But there are also times when I have to admit that we don't know what works; or, in fact, for various reasons can't do what works. Statements of solidarity are good for the morale of the people who issue them; sometimes they may do something more, sometimes not. Sometimes, stories about 'things that worked' come back to us; sometimes it feels like energy is being thrown into a void, and we don't know if efforts were wasted or not. As the resident monitoring and evaluation person, it has been my job to make sure we have structured ways of thinking about our impact, we know what our outcomes are and have evidence about how we can work most effectively to achieve various sorts of things. This has been important, and I think it's an area where knowledge is growing very, very quickly. But one thing I never would have thought I'd say five years ago, is that there are things it's okay to take on faith. Donor reporting happens in log frames, but outcomes happen in people's lives. That may not change the way I do my job, but it does change where my motivation comes from.

Statistics and last names

Like a hefty chunk of South Africans, I am unmarried, and soon to become a mother. According to a random website, only 35% of South African children were living with both of their biological parents in 2008. There are all the familiar explanations of AIDs, the migrant labour system, poverty, etc...Still, it's hard not to feel like I'm becoming a statistic, getting caught up in a stream of the dark underbelly of a society that is inspiring, exhilarating - and unquestionably difficult to swallow.

So, sorting out what this means for me one step at a time...the baby's father pushed very strongly to give the kid his last name. We initially spoke enthusiastically of creating a new last name, but when it came down to it, he wanted to pass his name on. Being typically conflict averse, particularly around such loaded topics, I agreed.

Now, I'm having second thoughts. Probably not strong enough second thoughts that I'll bother to argue, but perhaps strong enough that I'll keep thinking about where my discomfort is coming from for awhile. There are various dimensions of it I can identify at the moment:

• The practical. Due to the logistics of our lives, I am definitely the one more likely to be travelling internationally with the kid, alone. Rumour has it this can be complicated with divergent last names. Why not at least make our lives equally complicated?
• The feminist. Why is it that the father's last name is the default? Particularly if the kid'll be living with the mother? Wouldn't it be a favor to society to make little symbolic inroads against patriarchy wherever possible?
• The emotional. I have no particular attachment to passing on my last name. He, apparently, does. So, he should get this one, right? The problem is, I feel like instead of being some sort of positive demonstration of family connectivity (which I'm sure it could be, in a different family setup), this is more an invasive stamp of ownership....bad for all of us. But, I also might be imagining things.
• The aesthetic. I don't particularly like his last name; it's very boring, and excludes a lot of my favorite first name candidates. Is that a silly thing to consider?

The conclusion? No clue. Life isn't fair, and South Africa is a good place to live for discovering how to live with it?

Coming back to reality

After more than two months in India, wedding hopping and catching up with good friends and good food, I fly back to Johannesburg in less than a week. Usually after this much time travelling, I'm itching to get home....but right now, I'm oddly ambivalent. Perhaps because Nagpur feels about as much like home as Johannesburg does, perhaps because of all of the not-so-fun chores that are waiting for my return, from dentist visits to construction in my flat, to trying to become gainfully employed....And of course, the very unsettling dilemma of how to create a nurturing space for a baby in my current Johannesburg life will start becoming much more real. So far, in a different life on a different continent, it's been a comfortably academic question - pondering with supportive friends about choices, crime, finances, difficult relationships and returning to school all being distant curiosities to muse about over tea. From here, I feel very calm about it all. In a week, I'll need to start navigating everything. Eish!

Still, a part of me is looking forward to getting back....cooking for myself, seeing good friends I've been missing, catching the tail end of summer, getting some 'thinking' work done that's always hard on the road, and tackling all those back burner things that always build up while away.