NGOs and the Post-Socialist Era - Theory to Practice | Lehigh University College of Education

THEORY TO PRACTICE, ISSUE NO. 1, FALL '09

In Eastern Europe, non-governmental organizations are looking to drive educational change in areas once governed by socialist policies.

On November 9, 1989—20 years ago—the Berlin Wall collapsed. The Cold War was coming to a close and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—the U.S.S.R .—would see its empire crumble in a remarkable fashion just two years later.

Since then, the newly independent republics of the former socialist bloc have struggled to redefine themselves. Their attempts have been hampered by governmental strife and political instability, which plague many of the former Soviet republics forming the 1,500-mile geopolitical border bridging Europe to Asia.

For these reasons, the area has become a target destination for thousands of NGOs, agencies that work independently from governments while seeking to inform and, in many cases, influence public policy.

The Open Society Institute, lead by George Soros, is, perhaps,one of the best known—and most controversial—NGOs in the region. Since 1993, it has supported a network of foundations in countries transiting from communism to open-market and more democratic societies.

In some cases, however, their help hasn’t been welcomed by the host governments, especially in some of the region’s most authoritarian regimes, such as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, says Iveta Silova, the Frank Hook Assistant Professor of Comparative and International Education

“Every NGO has its own logic about where and how it decides to spend money and how it decides to channel it,” says Silova, who co-edited How NGOs React: Globalization and Education Reform in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia.

Her research raises questions about the role of NGOs in centralist governments, as well as strategies NGOs use to interpret global reforms locally. It also explores the relationships NGOs have with such international donors as USAID, The World Bank, UNICEF, and the Asian Development Bank.

“It may be a while before we fully understand the impact of NGOs and, in particular, the Soros network in post-socialist communities,” she adds. “But until then, they have consistently helped to introduce and begin national dialogues about educational reforms in places that, more often than not, need it most.”