State and Civil Society in Northern Europe

State and Civil Society in Northern Europe
Author: Lars Trägårdh
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1782382003

In the current neo-liberal political and economic climate, it is often suggested that a large and strong state stands in opposition to an autonomous and vibrant civil society. However, the simultaneous presence in Sweden of both a famously large public sector and an unusually vital civil society poses an interesting and important theoretical challenge to these views with serious political and policy implications. Studies show that in a comparative context Sweden scores very highly when it comes to the strength and vitality of its civil society as well as social capital, as measured in terms of trust, lack of corruption, and membership of voluntary associations. The “Swedish Model,” therefore, offers important insights into the dynamics of state and civil society relations, which go against current trends of undermining the importance of the welfare state, and presents autonomous civic participation as the only way forward.

Religion and Civil Society in Europe

Religion and Civil Society in Europe
Author: Joep de Hart
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2013-07-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 940076815X

Religion is back again in Europe after never having been gone. It is manifest in the revival of religious institutions and traditions in former communist countries, in political controversies about the relationship between the church(es) and the state and about the freedom of religion and the freedom to criticize religion, and in public unease about religious minorities. This book is about religion and civil society in Europe. It moves from general theoretical and normative approaches of this relationship, via the examination of national patterns of religion-state relations, to in-depth analyses of the impact of religion and secularization on the values, pro-social attitudes and civic engagement of individuals. It covers Europe from the Lutheran North to the Catholic South, and from the secularized West to the Orthodox East and Islamic South-East with comparative analyses and country studies, concluding with an overall Europe-USA comparison.

State and Civil Society in Northern Europe

State and Civil Society in Northern Europe
Author: Lars Trägårdh
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781845451875

In neo-liberal political and economic climate, it is suggested that a state stands in opposition to an autonomous civil society. This book offers insights into the dynamics of state and civil society relations, against trends of undermining the importance of the welfare state, and presents autonomous civic participation as the only way forward.

Civil Society in the Age of Monitory Democracy

Civil Society in the Age of Monitory Democracy
Author: Lars Trägårdh
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2013-05-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0857457578

Since the emergence of the dissident “parallel polis” in Eastern Europe, civil society has become a “new superpower,” influencing democratic transformations, human rights, and international co-operation; co-designing economic trends, security and defense; reshaping the information society; and generating new ideas on the environment, health, and the “good life.” This volume seeks to compare and reassess the role of civil society in the rich West, the poorer South, and the quickly expanding East in the context of the twenty-first century’s challenges. It presents a novel perspective on civic movements testing John Keane’s notion of “monitory democracy”: an emerging order of public scrutiny and monitoring of power.

Europeanization in Sweden

Europeanization in Sweden
Author: Anna Meeuwisse
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2018-12-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1789200350

Notwithstanding its many successes since 1945, the project of European integration currently faces major difficulties, from financial crises and mass immigration to the departure of the UK from the European Union. At the same time, these challenges have spurred civil society organizations within and across Europe, revealing a shared public sphere in which citizens can mobilize around refugee rights, opposition to austerity policies, and other issues. Europeanization in Sweden assembles new empirical research on how these processes have played out in one of the continent’s wealthiest nations, providing insights into whether, and how, the “Swedish model” can guide European integration.

Multilevel Democracy

Multilevel Democracy
Author: Jefferey M. Sellers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2020-03-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1108427782

Explores ways to make democracy work better, with particular focus on the integral role of local institutions.

The Languages of Civil Society

The Languages of Civil Society
Author: Peter Wagner
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2006
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781845451196

The series emerged from the study Towards a European Civil Society, on which 40 political scientists, sociologists, historians, and other scholars in 10 countries worked for two and a half years. This first volume looks at the debates about civil society over the past two decades in East Central Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and finally in Europe and globally, as a counter to unjustified state domination and neo-liberal marketization. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Frontiers of Civil Society

Frontiers of Civil Society
Author: Marek Mikuš
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2018-06-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1785338919

In Serbia, as elsewhere in postsocialist Europe, the rise of “civil society” was expected to support a smooth transformation to Western models of liberal democracy and capitalism. More than twenty years after the Yugoslav wars, these expectations appear largely unmet. Frontiers of Civil Society asks why, exploring the roles of multiple civil society forces in a set of government “reforms” of society and individuals in the early 2010s, and examining them in the broader context of social struggles over neoliberal restructuring and transnational integration.

The Golden Chain

The Golden Chain
Author: Jürgen Nautz
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0857454714

The family can be viewed as one of the links in a “golden chain” connecting individuals, the private sphere, civil society, and the democratic state; as potentially an important source of energy for social activity; and as the primary institution that socializes and diffuses the values and norms that are of fundamental importance for civil society. Yet much of the literature on civil society pays very little attention to the complex relations between civil society and the family. These two spheres constitute a central element in democratic development and culture and form a counterweight to some of the most distressing aspects of modernity, such as the excessive privatization of home life and the unceasing work-and-spend routines. This volume offers historical perspectives on the role of families and their members in the processes of a liberal and democratic civil society, the question of boundaries and intersections of the private and public domains, and the interventions of state institutions.