Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : a story of civil, social and political activism that starts in East London and travels to the USSR and post-Soviet Russia and Central Asia -- On time, place and youth activism, from Kyrgyzstan's 2010 revolution to the anti-racist movement in East London in the 1970s -- Schools of self-management : promoting an alternative urban strategy in the face of Thatcherism in the 1980s -- International volunteering and solidarity and the fall of Soviet socialism -- NGO capacity builder : organisational development in Central Asia in the transition period -- Improving services or promoting rights : ideological and practical dilemmas for NGOs faced with cuts to social welfare East and West -- Working in conflict : a Gramscian and world systems analysis of NGO responses in the new hot and cold wars -- Theories of change : new agendas of civil society, social and political activists at the international, national and local levels -- Conclusion : towards 2020.