ABSTRACT
Since the late 1980s, a significant number of studies of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the developing world have been published, giving rise to a distinctive literature within the social sciences. In 1987, World Development brought out a special issue on NGOs and development,1 based on the proceedings of a major conference. Then followed a series of books2 including the Overseas Development Institute’s four-volume series on NGOs, the state and agricultural development.3 These works are now complemented by studies of individual NGOs,4 as well as an expanding journal-based literature.
