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Method and Agency Matter: Interactions between “experts” and “non-experts” in the production of “counter-hegemonic” knowledge
Unformatted Document Text:  Method and Agency Matter: Interactions between “experts” and “non-experts” in the production of “counter- hegemonic” knowledge Author: Ana Margarida Fernandes Esteves Brown University This paper is part of a larger project studying Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as “social movement brokers” 1 , meaning intermediaries connecting social movements to broader networks. It explores a question that has so far been under- explored in the study of such organizations: Which factors determine whether or not the interaction between “experts” working at NGOs and grassroots activists produces practices of knowledge construction that truly promote the moral, political and economic agency of popular groups with restricted access to “expert” knowledge? Such exploration is based on a literature review, complemented by an analysis of ethnographic data 2 collected during the summer of 2006. Such data was collected among “experts” working at an NGO in Rio de Janeiro and local grassroots activists participating in the Brazilian Movement of Solidarity Socio-Economy 3 . This movement is the result of an alliance between pre-existing economic justice social movements, among which stand out the Landless Worker’s Movement (MST), neighborhood-based associations, CUT 4 (the major labor union in the country), Christian Base Communities (CEB’s) and ANTEAG 5 (the national association of worker-managed enterprises). Its main aim is to engage the state with the purpose of creating policies aimed at promoting the sustainability of so-called “units of solidarity socio-economy” 6 (SSE units), meaning 1 Expression proposed by Gianpaolo Baiocchi at a talk at the Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, 12/04/2006. 2 The data was collected from the participant observation of meetings, documental research in the archives of the NGO, as well as 30 semi-structured interviews to social movement activists and NGO staff. 3 The term « Solidarity Socio-Economy » was created by Alliance 21 ( http://www.socioeco.org/en/index.php ). 4 Central Única dos Trabalhadores. 5 Associação Nacional de Trabalhadores de Empresas em Auto-gestão. 6 Denomination used by the staff of NGOs working with the movement of Solidarity Socio-Economy. 1

Authors: Esteves, Ana Margarida.
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Method and Agency Matter:
Interactions between “experts” and “non-experts” in the production of “counter-
hegemonic” knowledge
Author: Ana Margarida Fernandes Esteves
Brown University
This paper is part of a larger project studying Non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) as “social movement brokers”
, meaning intermediaries connecting social
movements to broader networks. It explores a question that has so far been under-
explored in the study of such organizations: Which factors determine whether or not the
interaction between “experts” working at NGOs and grassroots activists produces
practices of knowledge construction that truly promote the moral, political and
economic agency of popular groups with restricted access to “expert” knowledge? Such
exploration is based on a literature review, complemented by an analysis of
ethnographic data
collected during the summer of 2006. Such data was collected
among “experts” working at an NGO in Rio de Janeiro and local grassroots activists
participating in the Brazilian Movement of Solidarity Socio-Economy
. This movement
is the result of an alliance between pre-existing economic justice social movements,
among which stand out the Landless Worker’s Movement (MST), neighborhood-based
associations, CUT
(the major labor union in the country), Christian Base Communities
(CEB’s) and ANTEAG
(the national association of worker-managed enterprises). Its
main aim is to engage the state with the purpose of creating policies aimed at promoting
the sustainability of so-called “units of solidarity socio-economy”
(SSE units), meaning
1
Expression proposed by Gianpaolo Baiocchi at a talk at the Watson Institute for International Studies,
Brown University, 12/04/2006.
2
The data was collected from the participant observation of meetings, documental research in the
archives of the NGO, as well as 30 semi-structured interviews to social movement activists and NGO
staff.
3
The term « Solidarity Socio-Economy » was created by Alliance 21
).
4
Central Única dos Trabalhadores.
5
Associação Nacional de Trabalhadores de Empresas em Auto-gestão.
6
Denomination used by the staff of NGOs working with the movement of Solidarity Socio-Economy.
1


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