Megan Hershey, Ph.D.
mhershey@whitworth.edu
Whitworth University
Country: United States (Washington)
Research Interests
African Politics
Development
NGOs
Youth Citizenship
Countries of Interest
Kenya
Tanzania
Publications:
Journal Articles:
How much can a celebrity’s involvement with a charity campaign change minds and shape political opinion? We explore this issue in the context of an appeal by Benedict Cumberbatch regarding the Syrian refugee crisis. We find that while the emotional, vivid images of the video did elicit a statistically significant increase in students’ positive feelings toward Syrian refugees and efforts to help them, surprisingly, Cumberbatch’s plea had no effect at all on these political views. Post-experiment focus groups allowed us to further probe these findings, and we suggest that viewer skepticism reduces celebrity influence, but that celebrity may be more effective as a “hook” in grabbing viewers’ attention, than in actually swaying their views. We also find that participation in a charity plea has the potential to benefit celebrities themselves by dramatically improving viewers’ perceptions of them.
Making up 65 percent of Africa's population, young people between the ages of 18 and 35 play a key role in politics, yet they live in an environment of rapid urbanization, high unemployment rates and poor state services. Drawing from extensive fieldwork in Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania, this book investigates how Africa's urban youth cultivate a sense of citizenship in this challenging environment, and what it means to them to be a 'good citizen'. In interviews and focus group discussions, African youth, activists, and community leaders vividly explain how income, religion, and gender intertwine with their sense of citizenship and belonging. Though Africa's urban youth face economic and political marginalization as well as generational tensions, they craft a creative citizenship identity that is rooted in their relationships and obligations both to each other and the state. Privileging above all the voice and agency of Africa's young people, this is a vital, systematic examination of youth and youth citizenship in urban environments across Africa.
Many African politics courses rely heavily on readings authored by North American and European scholars. Scholarly and primary sources written or created by Africans are often underrepresented, and a similar problem persists across regionally focused politics courses. Yet a diversity of sources and perspectives are essential to providing students with a well-rounded understanding of African politics. This article offers a brief argument for the pedagogical benefits of increasing the number of African-authored materials in African politics courses and provides a list of suggested resources for instructors eager to diversify their own courses.
Religious non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are active in development efforts, yet the role faith plays in these organizations—and its effects on programs—remains unclear. Drawing on evidence from a study of Kenyan NGOs, I find that faith rarely emerges in the programs of Christian religious NGOs. I argue that both secular and religious NGOs are constrained by donor restrictions and a need for legitimacy that simultaneously remove religious elements from religious NGOs and promote minimal religious practices within secular organizations. The second half of the article discusses the nuanced ways in which faith does manifest within the organizational characteristics and practices of NGOs.
Kony 2012, a film released by the nonprofit Invisible Children in the spring of 2012, drew a flurry of Facebook “shares” and “likes.” However, critics expressed a concern that the film offered a distorted portrayal of Africans and African politics. In this article, we test these criticisms by asking what effects the film had on college students’ perceptions of Africa and Africans. To address this question, we draw on a survey and an experiment conducted at a small liberal arts college where Kony 2012 enjoyed popularity. The results show that the film did affect students’ perceptions of Africa; specifically, it led many to perceive Africans as lacking agency and autonomy. We argue that whereas the film did have initial negative effects on students’ perceptions of Africa, these effects seem to fade over time. Future research should explore the compounding effects of exposure to images that misrepresent the African continent.
NGOs receive praise and criticism for their international development efforts, but more work is needed to measure their contributions. This article lays out the contributions of local NGOs to HIV-prevention efforts. It draws on data from a survey of young people's experiences with NGOs to demonstrate the reach of several local HIV-prevention NGOs in Nairobi, Kenya. It argues that even small NGOs are capable of making measurable contributions to development in their fields. It also shows how factors such as education levels, religiosity, and discussions about HIV/AIDS can support NGO efforts by encouraging youth to participate in HIV-prevention programming.
In the past two decades, Kenya has witnessed the rapid and unprecedented growth of local, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) within its borders. This trend reflects similar NGO sector growth throughout the developing world. Scholars have attributed the growth of these key civil society actors to an increasingly neoliberal orientation among international donors, an ideology which favors non-state service providers. Yet less research has been done on the state-level reasons for NGO sector growth. This article asks why the NGO sector has grown so rapidly in Kenya. Drawing on the example of HIV/AIDS-focused NGOs, an historical analysis of the proliferation of these organizations is offered. It is found that donor pressures to democratize helped lead to an environment that prompted NGO growth. It is then argued that the Kenyan government's failure to respond quickly to the HIV/AIDS crisis created the political space necessary for local NGOs to establish and grow. Also, democratic reforms increased civil liberties and reduced state harassment of NGOs. At the same time, the New Policy Agenda (NPA) adopted by major international donors led to increased funding opportunities for NGOs. This article contributes to the understanding of civil society development in Kenya by demonstrating that both international and domestic factors worked together to lay the groundwork for Kenya's active community of HIV/AIDS NGOs.
Books Written:
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are ubiquitous in the Global South. Often international in origin, many attempt to assist local efforts to improve the lives of people often living in or near poverty. Yet their external origins often cloud their ability to impact health or quality of life, regardless of whether volunteers are local or foreign. By focusing on one particular type of NGO—those organized to help prevent the spread and transmission of HIV in Kenya—Megan Hershey interrogates the ways these organizations achieve (or fail to achieve) their planned outcomes. Along the way, she examines the slippery slope that is often used to define “success” based on meeting donor-set goals versus locally identified needs. She also explores the complex network of bureaucratic requirements at both the national and local levels that affect the delicate relationships NGOs have with the state. Drawing on extensive, original quantitative and qualitative research, Whose Agency serves as a much-needed case study for understanding the strengths and shortcomings of participatory development and community engagement.