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How Compliance Becomes Culture : Civic Governmentality and Its Discontents in India

Banerjee, Soumi LU (2026) In Third World Quarterly
Abstract
In recent years, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in India have operated under intensifying regulatory constraints that have profoundly reshaped the civic terrain. Legal instruments such as the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) do not simply restrict INGOs’ activities; they recalibrate the conditions under which civil society can exist, act, and speak. This article develops the concept of civic governmentality to theorise how governance is enacted not merely through repression but through the internalisation of state rationalities by civil society actors themselves. Drawing on qualitative interviews with senior figures in Indian INGOs, it traces how legal, fiscal, and discursive pressures compel... (More)
In recent years, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in India have operated under intensifying regulatory constraints that have profoundly reshaped the civic terrain. Legal instruments such as the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) do not simply restrict INGOs’ activities; they recalibrate the conditions under which civil society can exist, act, and speak. This article develops the concept of civic governmentality to theorise how governance is enacted not merely through repression but through the internalisation of state rationalities by civil society actors themselves. Drawing on qualitative interviews with senior figures in Indian INGOs, it traces how legal, fiscal, and discursive pressures compel organisations to adopt strategic self-regulation, perform compliance, and align with state-sanctioned developmental logics. These adaptations ensure institutional survival but hollow out the political content of civil society, producing a regime in which participation is conditional on depoliticisation. Rather than framing INGOs as either agents of resistance or victims of repression, the article situates them within a relational field of anticipatory governance, where agency is exercised through caution, ambiguity, and adjustment. In doing so, it contributes to critical debates on shrinking civic space, authoritarian neoliberalism, and the transformation of civil society under contemporary forms of indirect rule. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
submitted
subject
keywords
Civic governmentality, INGOs, India, Shrinking civic space, Democratic backsliding, Regulatory governance, Postcolonial state
in
Third World Quarterly
pages
26 pages
publisher
Routledge
ISSN
0143-6597
project
Civic Governmentality: Rethinking Agency, Resilience, and the Reconfiguration of INGOs in India
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c45c6df8-456c-4104-a4a0-a98a6f433149
date added to LUP
2026-02-18 13:57:55
date last changed
2026-03-03 16:57:21
@article{c45c6df8-456c-4104-a4a0-a98a6f433149,
  abstract     = {{In recent years, international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in India have operated under intensifying regulatory constraints that have profoundly reshaped the civic  terrain. Legal instruments such as the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) do not  simply restrict INGOs’ activities; they recalibrate the conditions under which civil society can exist, act, and speak. This article develops the concept of civic governmentality to  theorise how governance is enacted not merely through repression but through the internalisation of state rationalities by civil society actors themselves. Drawing on qualitative interviews with senior figures in Indian INGOs, it traces how legal, fiscal, and discursive pressures compel organisations to adopt strategic self-regulation, perform  compliance, and align with state-sanctioned developmental logics. These adaptations  ensure institutional survival but hollow out the political content of civil society, producing  a regime in which participation is conditional on depoliticisation. Rather than framing  INGOs as either agents of resistance or victims of repression, the article situates them  within a relational field of anticipatory governance, where agency is exercised through  caution, ambiguity, and adjustment. In doing so, it contributes to critical debates on  shrinking civic space, authoritarian neoliberalism, and the transformation of civil society  under contemporary forms of indirect rule.}},
  author       = {{Banerjee, Soumi}},
  issn         = {{0143-6597}},
  keywords     = {{Civic governmentality; INGOs; India; Shrinking civic space; Democratic backsliding; Regulatory governance; Postcolonial state}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Third World Quarterly}},
  title        = {{How Compliance Becomes Culture : Civic Governmentality and Its Discontents in India}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}