ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nature and role of evidence in advocacy for development by civil society organisations (CSOs). It focuses on the ways the production and use of evidence in this context should be understood as relational, dynamic, and political, with important implications for whether and how different forms of evidence can come to be seen and counted. After showing the important and diverse roles of evidence in CSO advocacy, this chapter problematises the supposed objectivity of evidence and the neutral nature of its usage, and its implications for inclusive development. It does this by identifying the ways in which evidence creation and usage is shaped in relational dynamics between CSOs and the policymakers they target, and between CSOs that are differently positioned in power relations. Charting the political dynamics involved in the relations and interactions involved, the chapter calls for a recognition of the implications of these for inclusion, ownership, representation and legitimacy, and presents ways forward drawing on these insights.
