Changing Tides and Navigating Uncertainty : An ethnographic study of NGO resilience in coastal South India

Abstract: What makes an non-governmental organisation (NGO) agile and resilient towards changes, pressures or uncertainties at community, state or macro-political level? By adopting a single case study based on semi-structured interviews and fieldwork, this thesis will dive into the life-world of a community-based NGO based in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu. Social Needs Education and Human Awareness (SNEHA) has since founding in the 1980s had a strong rights-based identity and evolved through various phases of community organising, disaster relief work, evidence-based advocacy and upholding of fisher communities traditional and customary rights. Throughout its evolution, it has faced several challenges and pressures threatening the stability of the organisation and community, including the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. By combining a theoretical base of actor-network and social interface theory, this thesis argues that a broader, more comprehensive understanding of organisational and community resilience can be achieved. Seven factors have been identified as particularly contributing to organisations resilience and stability, mainly associated with having clear organisational identity, loyal staff, and a combination of centralised and decentralised structures. This thesis contributes to the understanding of resilience of community-based NGOs, contextualising their challenges within broader networks and advocating for donor support that aligns with local knowledge and organisational development in an increasingly complex context along the Indian coastline.