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Adapting Under Pressure: Swedish Civil Society Organisations and the Governance of Civic Space in India

Wesström, Rebecca LU (2025) STVK12 20251
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
This thesis explores how Swedish civil society organisations (CSOs) navigate transnational partnerships under civic space restrictions in India. Against the backdrop of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and shrinking Swedish aid, the study analyses how CSOs adapt to legal, political, and relational constraints. Drawing on four semi-structured interviews and guided by the concepts of adaptation, resilience, and partnership, the research shows that civic space restrictions are not experienced solely as repression but as a form of governance that reconfigures legitimacy, access, and cooperation.
Swedish CSOs responded through a mix of reactive and strategic adaptations: closing offices, rerouting funding, anonymising partners,... (More)
This thesis explores how Swedish civil society organisations (CSOs) navigate transnational partnerships under civic space restrictions in India. Against the backdrop of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and shrinking Swedish aid, the study analyses how CSOs adapt to legal, political, and relational constraints. Drawing on four semi-structured interviews and guided by the concepts of adaptation, resilience, and partnership, the research shows that civic space restrictions are not experienced solely as repression but as a form of governance that reconfigures legitimacy, access, and cooperation.
Swedish CSOs responded through a mix of reactive and strategic adaptations: closing offices, rerouting funding, anonymising partners, and exercising increased discretion in communication. Resilience was expressed not through resistance but through continuity, maintaining engagement, supporting partner autonomy, and investing in organisational development. Partnership itself was reconfigured into more shielded, cautious forms of collaboration that balanced ethical commitment with political risk.
The findings highlight how shrinking civic space reshapes not only operational strategies but also the relational dynamics of transnational cooperation. In this context, discretion emerges as a key strategy of solidarity, not as silence, but as care. The thesis contributes to civic space literature by offering a nuanced account of donor-side responses to authoritarian drift and foregrounding the agency of CSOs navigating ambiguity. It calls for greater attention to relational strategies and partner autonomy in international development practice. (Less)
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author
Wesström, Rebecca LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK12 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Transnational Civil society, Civic space, Adaptation, Partnership, Resilience
language
English
id
9189840
date added to LUP
2025-08-07 16:28:05
date last changed
2025-08-07 16:28:05
@misc{9189840,
  abstract     = {{This thesis explores how Swedish civil society organisations (CSOs) navigate transnational partnerships under civic space restrictions in India. Against the backdrop of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and shrinking Swedish aid, the study analyses how CSOs adapt to legal, political, and relational constraints. Drawing on four semi-structured interviews and guided by the concepts of adaptation, resilience, and partnership, the research shows that civic space restrictions are not experienced solely as repression but as a form of governance that reconfigures legitimacy, access, and cooperation.
Swedish CSOs responded through a mix of reactive and strategic adaptations: closing offices, rerouting funding, anonymising partners, and exercising increased discretion in communication. Resilience was expressed not through resistance but through continuity, maintaining engagement, supporting partner autonomy, and investing in organisational development. Partnership itself was reconfigured into more shielded, cautious forms of collaboration that balanced ethical commitment with political risk.
The findings highlight how shrinking civic space reshapes not only operational strategies but also the relational dynamics of transnational cooperation. In this context, discretion emerges as a key strategy of solidarity, not as silence, but as care. The thesis contributes to civic space literature by offering a nuanced account of donor-side responses to authoritarian drift and foregrounding the agency of CSOs navigating ambiguity. It calls for greater attention to relational strategies and partner autonomy in international development practice.}},
  author       = {{Wesström, Rebecca}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Adapting Under Pressure: Swedish Civil Society Organisations and the Governance of Civic Space in India}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}