ABSTRACT
Domination of Northern-led development programmes can be reversed by supporting existing grassroots movements. However, donor support for social movements can separate them from the grassroots as they become professionalized. Although this tendency has been widely documented in scholarly articles, how local community-based organizations (CBOs) tackle these challenges in their relationships with their constituents and funding partners has rarely been documented. This chapter focuses on a case of a local CBO advocating for land rights in Kenya. Although the findings indicate that donor funding did change the CBO’s practices and relationships with their constituents, the chapter also shows how the CBO attempted to (re)construct its legitimacy. Discussion around Southern leadership often revolves around the dyadic Northern–Southern partner relations. This chapter, by focusing on CBO–community relations, adds a local layer to the concept of Southern leadership.
