"Make it a People's Integration!"

This contribution analyzes the role of organized civil society actors from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda within the regionalization processes of the East African Community (EAC). Three research questions are developed in order to inquire the impact of civil society actors on the regional level in eastern Africa. Mainly building on assumptions from the new regionalism approaches, this contribution introduces a theoretically guided framework for analyzing the role of organized civil society actors within regional schemes, such as the EAC. Based on triangulation across data sources, including most notably 38 semi-structured expert interviews, the study inquires the perception of civil society actors on the regionalization processes of the EAC, what their role within these processes should and could be, and if or how they foster a more people-centered regional integration process. The study concludes that civil society actors' involvement with regard to policy-making processes of the EAC is marginal so far. Nevertheless, civil society actors are substantially interconnected on the regional level and with the EAC and clearly aspire a more people-centered integration project.