Decolonizing the Nonprofit Sector: Rethinking the Organizing of Nonprofit Organizations through Mimicry and Mockery

Oana Brindusa Albu () and Consuelo Vásquez ()
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Oana Brindusa Albu: Copenhagen Business School
Consuelo Vásquez: Université du Québec à Montréal

Chapter Chapter 7 in Decolonising the Enterprise, 2026, pp 141-162 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores how non-profit organizations (NPOs) working in countries of the Souths deal with pressures to conform to reporting guidelines of an international humanitarian regime. Theoretically, the chapter develops a decolonial approach building on Homi Bhabha’s hybridization theory to study how NPOs both adapt and adopt international reporting guidelines while engaging in mimicry and mockery. Empirically, we use qualitative methods based on interviews and observations conducted over two years and a multiple case study of twelve NPOs working in Morocco. The findings show that mimicry is driven by strategic imitation aimed at securing access to resources and rebalancing power dynamics. Mockery is fueled by subversion from within, where individuals engage in resistance to regain power that has been denied and assert local agency to overcome discursive closure. The contribution of this study lies in its decolonial framework, which allows for rethinking the organizing of the NPO sector by recognizing diversity and cultural roots without falling into essentialism, and empowerment by acknowledging cultural hybridity without relying on colonial classifications.

Keywords: Decolonial; Non-profit organizations; Mimicry; Mockery; Hybridity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-032-14855-1_7

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-14855-1_7

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