What Changes Occur in Society When Influential Social Actors Receive Political Rents? Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations. Their Socio-Economic, Social and Political Impact on Palestinian Society

Abstract

Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations (PNGOs) play an important role in various social and economic spheres of Palestinian society. In order to understand the ongoing changes in the NGO-sector since the end of the 1980ies, this work looks inside the “black box NGO-employees” in PNGOs which are mainly funded by external western aid. The personal data of PNGO-employees (collected in quantitative and qualitative field research in 2010-2011) are analyzed in the context of how international aid influences the particular personal situations of PNGO-employees and, by extension, how international aid which is transferred to the small number of PNGOs favored by the donors, and not to the Palestinian Authority (PA), influences the development of Palestinian society as a whole.