Civil Society and Citizenship in Development (CitDe)

Research group  brings together postdocs, PhD researchers and master students with various disciplinary backgrounds to critically discuss and create knowledge on issues of citizenship and civil society in development - in the contexts of global South and in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian aid. The group investigates different dynamics, manifestations and dilemmas related to conceptualizing citizenship and civil society, as well as conducts critical analysis of the practices undertaken in North-South civil society collaborations. 

The group investigates contextualized processes of organizing and mobilizing in civil society,  lived and enacted citizenship, hybridity and legitimacy of civil society organizations, and organizational dynamics in NGOs, including their intervention approaches in the times of debates on localization and shifting the power in international development. 

The group convenes every three weeks to discuss members' work or relevant literature.

The group has hosted two Academy of Finland DEVELOP-programme projects: GROW (2015-2108) and CS-LEARN (2018-2022), and currently hosts one Academy of Finland funded project EnaCIT (2022-2026).

Master theses conducted in the group 

Heikkinen, E. (2024) Perceived contributions of Plan International Finland Children's Board participation to active global citizenship. Master's Thesis; Development, Education, and International Cooperation (DEICO). 

Dade, F. (2023) Hybrid but One sided: Women and Hybrid Peace Orders in Dagbon, Northern Ghana. Master's Thesis; Development, Education, and International Cooperation (DEICO). 

Flam, R. (2022) Fostering Environmental Citizenship Through Faith: Exploring the practices of stewardship within the Green Anglicans Movement of Kenya. Master Thesis; Development, Education, and International Cooperation  (DEICO). 

Huhtala, T. (2022) A Year of Isolation, Uncertainty, and Changes: Experiences and well-being of teachers from the time of COVID-19 pandemic in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Master Thesis. 

Pernthaler, M. (2022) Exploring storytelling as a method to build local knowledge: (Re)thinking sexuality education with rural women in Sucre, Bolivia from a feminist decolonial perspective. Master's Thesis. https://jyu.finna.fi/Record/jyx.123456789_79904

Lampi, M. (2021) Social (in)justice and gender: the Covid-19 lockdown in Uganda.  Master's Thesis.  https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/76366

Del Castillo Munera, L. (2021) Women’s multifaceted citizenship in rural Uganda : an exploration of identity, belonging and spaces of participation. Master's Thesis. https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/75807

Mwanga, O. (2019)  Institutional logics in women entrepreneurship: Narratives of learning, struggles, and compromise from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  Master Thesis. https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/64629

PhD dissertations 

Khan, A.K. (2025) Localization of humanitarian action : exploring the views of organizations involved in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. PhD Thesis, Development Studies.  https://jyx.jyu.fi/jyx/Record/jyx_123456789_101024

Ahimbisibwe, K.F.  (2022) 'Poor Citizens Cannot Advocate': Learning Citizenship in Constrained Settings in Uganda, PhD Thesis, Development Studies,  https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/83967

Onali, A.  (2021) Serving Many Masters. A Liberian Non-Governmental Organization Managing Multiple Legitimacy Audiences.    PhD Thesis, Development Studies 

Selected publications

Ahimbisibwe, K., Aganyira, K., Nampijja, D., Mudondo, C., & Achen, S. (2025). Rhythms of Learning in NGO-Supported Village Associations in Western Uganda. Global society, Early online. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2025.2464580

Tirivangasi, H. M., & Nyahunda, L. (2024). The interplay of Christianity and Ndau African traditional religion in shaping climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe : An Afrocentric analysis. Sustainable Development, Early View. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.3231

Tirivangasi, H. M., & Kontinen, T. (2024). An Afrocentric approach to climate change adaptation : indigenous seasonal predictors among Ndau people in Chimanimani in Zimbabwe. Disaster Prevention and Management, Early online. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm-05-2024-0130

Kontinen, T., & Ahimbisibwe, K. F. (2024). Saemaul Undong : Harbinger or mirage of hope for a rural community in Uganda?. Community development. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2024.2438010

Khan, A.K. (2024). A critical analysis of the factors influencing peaceful coexistence between Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Frontiers in Human Dynamics, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-dynamics/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2024.1457372/full.

Khan, A.K.(2024). Envisioning humanitarian-development-peace nexus in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. Development Policy Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12803

Biekart, K., Kontinen, T. & Millstein, M. (eds) (2023) Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces. Cham: Paglrave.  FULL OPEN ACCESS. 

Matunga, B. N., & Kontinen, T. (2023). Is no One Left Behind? : Inclusive Citizenship in Practices of Self-help Groups in Rural Tanzania. Forum for Development Studies, 50(1), 83-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2023.2176784

van Wessel, M., Kontinen, T. & Bawole, J. (eds) (2023) Reimagining civil society collaborations in development. Starting from the south. Oxon: Routledge. FULL OPEN ACCESS. 

Kontinen, T. & Bananuka, T.H. (2022) NGO Legitimacy as a Continuous Negotiation Process: Fostering 'Good Citizenship' in Western Uganda. Nordic Journal for African Studies, 31(4), 350-373. 

Alava, H,. & Kontinen, T.  (2022) Thematic issue on Citizenship in Uganda with 4 research articles in Nordic Journal of African Studies  Vol 31, No 4.

Khan, A.K., & Kontinen, T. (2022) Impediments to localization agenda: humanitarian space in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. Journal of International Humanitarian Action 7, 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41018-022-00122-1

Holma, K. & Kontinent, T. (eds) (2022) Learning, Philosophy, and African Citizenship. Cham: Palgrave. 

Alava, H. (2022) Christianity, politics and the afterlives of war in Uganda. There is Confusion. Bloomsbury. 

Alava, H. (2021) Poliitikot seisovat muurahaiskeon päällä: valtionrakennusperformansseja Ugandassa. In: Tammisto, T. & Wilenius, H. (eds).  Valtion antropologiaa. Tutkimuksia ihmisten hallitsemisesta ja vastarinnasta. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.

Nyahunda, L. & Tirivangasi, H.M. (2021) Interdisciplinary Approach to Climate Change: Intersecting Environmental Social Work and Sociology in Climate Change Interventions from an Afrocentric Perspective. In: Leal Filho W., Luetz J., Ayal D. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3_282-1

Ahimbisibwe, K. F., & Kontinen, T. (2021) Localising SDGs in Rural Uganda : Learning Active Citizenship Through the Saemaul Undong Model. In G. Nhamo, M. Togo, & K. Dube (Eds.), Sustainable Development Goals for Society Vol. 1 : Selected topics of global relevance (pp. 37-49). Springer. Sustainable Development Goals Series. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70948-8_3

Kontinen, T. (2018) Learning and Forgetting in Development NGOs. Insights from Organisational Theory. Oxon: Routledge. 

Kontinen, T. & Onali, A. (2017) Strengthening Institutional Isomorphism in Development NGOs? Program Mechanisms in an Organizational Intervention. SAGE Open 7 (1).

Kontinen, T. & Millstein, M. (2017) Rethinking Civil Society in Development: Scales and Situated Hegemonies.  Forum for Development Studies, 44(1), 69-89.  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08039410.2016.1264994?needAccess=true

Hayman, R., King, S.,  Kontinen,T. & Narayanaswamy, L. (eds.) (2016)  Negotiating Knowledge: Evidence and Experience in Development NGOs. Rugby: Practical Action.