Civil society in North-South relations. The case of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. A view from South

Abstract

This article aims to review some responses to human rights issues in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership from a Southern perspective. The term Southern actors in this article refers mainly to actors within the Arab sphere, while Northern actors refers to European ones. This definition of terms is used to accentuate the problem of the power relations between these actors, a problem which influences to greater or lesser extents the relationship and partnership between Northern and Southern NGOs. One notices many contradictions raised during the implementation of this agenda and questions easily arise about the relevancy of NGOs in shaping this process, especially where human rights issues are concerned. An anthropological approach was adopted not merely to the agenda's wording, but to focus on one critical issue, the position of Europe towards Israel's colonial policy and its violation of human rights. We will see also that in spite of the power structure issue, the Southern actors are not passive, that they resist certain conceptions and that this partnership has had unintended effects. Many questions will be raised: to what extent does the institutionalisation of civil society carry the source of its own empowerment while also risking a certain degree of instrumentalization? Do the Northern actors dominate in this partnership, and if so, how are the Southern actors capable of transgressing this domination?