NGOS AS POSTSOCIALIST SOCIAL SERVICES PROVIDERS AND THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF OTHERING
Keywords:
non-governmental organizations, social services, postsocialism, identity politics, professionalizationAbstract
In the process of neoliberal state restructuring, NGOs gained a prominent role in the production of social services. By using a case study focused on NGO relations in Ferentari, a Bucharest neighborhood, I claim that NGO work of gaining legitimacy as social services providers relies on the production of otherness. The effort of producing expertise by presenting areas affected by advanced marginality as having internal explanations and solutions can be viewed as the professionalization of othering.
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