Measuring Civil Society: Perspectives on Afro-centrism

International comparative research on civil society has subordinated Africa's diversity and specificities to other geographies and histories. Results are prejudiced global conceptualisations, questionable enumeration, problematic theory formulation and ill conceived approaches to development initiatives intended to make African civil society 'stronger' and states more democratic. This article sets out a case for an endogenous approach to civil society enquiry as a political category sensitive to the continent's particularisms. In order to locate discussion about measures and measuring, a conceptual framework for research is described that avoids conflation with other epistemologies.