Donor Dependency, Embeddedness and Organizational Structure of Civil Society: An Analysis of a Global Sample of Actors Active in the Field of Corporate Accountability

Abstract

Faced with the growing influence of multinational corporations on global politics and economy, civil society organizations play an increasing role in holding corporations accountable for human rights violations and environmental degradation. However, the effectiveness of global civil society in this role and the consequences of power dynamics between donors and funded organizations for corporate accountability (CA) strategies are still disputed. This article uses original data on 290 civil society actors to examine the role of funding sources for the organizations’ repertoires and aims. The main findings reveal that receiving funding from state or government authorities reduces the probability of using contentious strategies, whereas funding from charities has no such effect. Funding from state or government authorities also diminishes the likelihood of organizations to pursue more radical claims such as economic reforms. Such funding, then, becomes an impediment to seeking structural change and to employing more radical repertoires. The article concludes that CA initiatives, while using the tools and resources that the current legal, economic and political system provides, can, at least potentially, fail to have the intended effect. Rather than challenging power and provoking structural change, they can contribute to cementing existing power structures and legitimizing dominant discourses.