[liberationtech] Not another Haystack right?

[Callie Wallace]

...which is why NDI and other similar orgs often work behind the scenes
[really helps their CIA image, huh? :)]
But really, from my experience, NDI does some great work in Middle East and
is actually well-respected by local human rights orgs for its willingness
to offer assistance in many areas, so long as it is at least tangentially
related to "democracy-promotion." I don't think their work should be so
quickly dismissed and I agree w/ Jillian that biggest problem is perception.
I can't speak to NDI's Aswat project, though it sounds very ill-conceived.

the whole 'foreign funding comes with strings attached and therefore is
bad' argument is overblown, in my opinion. The vast, vast majority of
funding in intl development, technology, and other areas is project-based.
And though this funding structure has its issues, it also means that it's
clear what donors expect from their grantees and visa versa.

On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 2:37 PM, Jillian C. York <jilliancyork at gmail.com>wrote:

> ...Excellent points, and I should add that the problem is more often than
> not simply the *perception* of what these orgs are or do, not the
> reality.  Except in the case of aforementioned NDI bullshit.
>
>
> On Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 11:34 AM, Yosem Companys <companys at stanford.edu>wrote:
>
>> What's your take on funding from secondary sources, such as NED, NDI,
>>> Freedom House, Internews, who may receive the funding from the USG and then
>>> apply it to subcontracted projects?
>>
>>
>> Civil society funding fares better in theory, except to the extent that
>> network analysis can reveal whether civil society organizations also
>> receive government funding, and then the same arguments I mentioned
>> previously still apply.
>>
>> In practice, however, any funding organization can be accused of
>> ideological bias and a media campaign can be waged to discredit said
>> funding organization, and thus, by extension, the recipient of said funding.
>>
>> Moreover, in many cases, and as some have mentioned in this thread,
>> liberationtech projects don't have the luxury to pick and choose where
>> their funding comes from, since the survival of the organization depends on
>> securing funding, wherever it may come from.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> jilliancyork.com | @jilliancyork | tel: +1-857-891-4244 | google voice:
> +1-415-562-JILL
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> liberationtech mailing list
> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
>
> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click
> above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily
> digest?"
>
> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> moderator in monthly reminders.
>
> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator.
>
> Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/attachments/20111129/6602cb61/attachment.html>