Michael Edwards is a writer and activist who has worked in various positions in foundations, think-tanks and international development institutions and who has written widely on civil society, philanthropy and social transformation. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos [1] in New York and has worked in senior management positions for Oxfam (as Regional Director for Southern Africa), Voluntary Service Overseas (as Head of Development Education), Save the Children (as Director of Research, Evaluation and Advocacy), the World Bank (as a Senior Civil Society Specialist) and the Ford Foundation (as director of its Governance and Civil Society Program). He also co-founded the Seasons Fund for Social Transformation [2] which makes grants to organizations that link their work for social justice with spiritual principles and contemplative practices. His writings examine the global role of civil society and its institions, the purpose and impact of philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector, the role of business in solving social problems, and the links between personal and social transformation.[1][2][3]
Edwards first came to prominence in the 1980s when he criticized the “Irrelevance of Development Studies” in an article that sparked many years of debate about the extractive nature of social science research, a theme that he has continued to pursue ever since [4]. In the 1990s he and David Hulme from Manchester University turned their attention to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and hosted a series of influential conferences on scaling-up their impact, strengthening their performance and accountability, assessing the costs and benefits of closer ties between NGOs, governments and international donor agencies, and exploring how NGOs could adapt to globalization and the increasing diversity of the “North” and the “South.”
In the 2000s Edwards began to write about civil society more broadly than NGOs, and published an influential introductory text called “Civil Society” which was updated in 2009 to take account of changing developments in the field [3]. By disaggregating the concept of civil society into theories of associational life, the good society and the public sphere and analyzing the links that existed between them, Edwards’ work has helped to clarify the confusion that has surrounded these ideas.
In 2008 Edwards wrote a controversial pamphlet for Demos and the Young Foundation called “Just Another Emperor: the Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism,” which challenged the trend to introduce business thinking into philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector, later expanded into a book called “Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World.” [4]
The final theme in Edwards’ work is the need to connect personal with social transformation, taking up ideas that were developed by Gandhi in India (“we must be the change we want to see in the world”) and by Martin Luther King and the US Civil Rights Movement ("building the beloved community” through “the love that does justice”). Writing with colleagues such as Gita Sen [5] and Stephen Post [6], Edwards is a member of an emerging movement for social and spiritual change called “spiritual activism.”
Edwards, Michael with David Hulme (1992) Making a Difference: NGOs and Development in a Changing World.
Edwards, Michael with David Hulme (1995) Beyond the Magic Bullet: NGO Performance and Accountability in the post Cold-War World.
Edwards, Michael with David Hulme (1997) NGOs, States and Donors: Too Close for Comfort?
Edwards, Michael (1999, 2004) Future Positive: International Co-operation in the 21st Century.
Edwards, Michael with John Gaventa (2000) Global Citizen Action. [5]
Edwards, Michael (2001) NGO Rights and Responsibilities: a New Deal for Global Governance.
Edwards, Michael with Alan Fowler (2002) The Earthscan Reader on NGO Management.
Edwards, Michael (2004, 2nd edition 2009) Civil Society, Cambridge: Polity.[6]
Edwards, Michael with Stephen Post (2007) The Love That Does Justice: Spiritual Activism in Dialogue With Social Science.
Edwards, Michael (2008) Just Another Emperor? The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism.
Edwards, Michael (2010) Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World.
Edwards, Michael (2011) The Oxford Handbook of Civil Society.
[Edwards' website at www.futurepositive.org]
[Edwards homepage on openDemocracy http://www.opendemocracy.net/author/michael-edwards]
Edwards' biography at the Brooks World Poverty Institute