Erica Bornstein is a political and legal anthropologist whose research critically analyzes nonprofits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society groups seeking to make social change.

Resident Scholars Project:

“Nonprofit Lives: Navigating Democracy through the Nonprofit Form in Global Perspective"

What is the relationship of the nonprofit form to democracy? Nonprofits are hydra-headed bellwethers of democratic action, critiquing states and enabling governmental agendas. The space of the nonprofit allows us to think politically about certain institutional possibilities of social action and democratic practice, which are not possible through other institutional frames such as the corporation or the state. If institutional structures generate certain possibilities, what are the possibilities generated by nonprofit-ness? This comparative research explores nonprofits as key institutional actors in development, humanitarianism, human rights, and politics. While nonprofits have been coopted by authoritarian governments in many countries, they also have the potential to play significant roles in global political advocacy and democracy. This project aims to inspire ongoing collaboration among scholars working in a variety of national settings across the globe, to comparatively analyze the nonprofit form as a site of political engagement.