An Innovative Combination of Neoliberalism and State Corporatism: The Case of a Locally Based NGO in Mexico City

Nongovernmental organizations are frequently represented as the agents of international organizations, slaves to a singular neoliberal development paradigm imposed from above. In this article, the author describes a locally based nongovernmental organization in Mexico City that eludes such critiques by innovatively combining aspects of neoliberalism with elements of state corporatism. In its effort to improve the lives of street children and impoverished families, the organization borrows from neoliberalism its distrust of government and other potentially paternalistic institutions. Mean-while, it rejects neoliberalism's reliance on the market and attempts to empower families and communities to act as intermediaries between individuals and the ravages of global capitalism.