Revisiting Institutionalization: Informalization in Civil Society Organizations

Abstract While institutionalization is often treated as a route to legitimacy, in civil society organizations (CSOs) it can harden into donor-driven formalities that reduce responsiveness in extreme contexts. This paper advances informalization not as a rejection of structure, but as a deliberate community-anchored response to rigid institutionalization that restores local flexibility and legitimacy while retaining a minimal formal backbone. Using a single case study of Palestinian CSOs operating under prolonged occupation and shrinking civic space, we draw on 30 semi-structured interviews, a small purposive survey, and document analysis. Findings identify three mechanisms of reinstitutionalization, mainly governance decentralization, knowledge-sharing routines coupled with organized bricolage, and the operationalization of Sumud in service delivery. Together, these mechanisms constitute a process of selective formalization that recouples practice to local logics, improving responsiveness and perceived legitimacy while reallocating administrative capacity from compliance to stewardship.