Debates over the significance of non-governmental actors and their (perceived and evidential) role in shaping, and being influenced by, local understandings of ?civil society? have become commonplace in Western literature. This paper examines the problems inherent in applying this growing body of literature to the case of Asia, by examining in particular the changing nature of domestic and international non-governmental organizations involved in mine action in Southeast Asia.First, it will examine the problems inherent in the foundational assumptions of this literature when applied to the disparate forms of civil or civic behaviour in Asia. It will also analyse the impact of legal and social constraints existing within the three states under investigation (namely, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) vis-à-vis civil society actors and particular definitions of the term ?NGO.?Second, it will examine how the processes of networking and socialisation between and among international and local NGO groups in mine action have impacted on the host environments in which they function. In this way, it aims to contextualise NGO behaviour; to explain the (non-) existence of European-style NGO activity within Asia; to analyze the impact of international discourses of activism and democracy on locally active group formation and behaviour; and to present potential alternative typologies for such nonstate groupings. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]