Constructing Gendered NGO Selves: Utilizing Identity Work to Assess NGO Gender Advocacy and Politics

This paper seeks to address a need in development and international literature regarding assessments of nongovernmental organizations (NGO). While NGO scholars have provided a great deal of information regarding NGO service evaluation, there are relatively few detailed studies that look at what is happening within these organizations as solutions to problems related to development and democratization. This paper uses both a developed sociological lens and empirical case study from Latin America to illustrate the internal gender dynamics of NGOs and the value of a narrative approach for making evaluations of NGO efficacy. It is shown that NGO members’ experiences as social change agents are locally constituted, as well as the challenges and opportunities for gender equality