Civil Society

Civil Society
Author: Michael Edwards
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2013-08-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0745659055

Since its publication in 2004, Civil Society has become a standard work of reference for all those who seek to understand the role of voluntary citizen action in the contemporary world. In this thoroughly-revised edition, Michael Edwards updates the arguments and evidence presented in the original and adds major new material on issues such as civil society in Africa and the Middle East, global civil society, information technology and new forms of citizen organizing. He explains how in the future the pressures of state encroachment, resurgent individualism, and old and familiar forces of nationalism and fundamentalism in new clothes will test and re-shape the practice of citizen action in both positive and negative ways. Civil Society will help readers of all persuasions to navigate these choppy waters with greater understanding, insight and success. Colleges and universities, foundations and NGOs, public policy-makers, journalists and commissions of inquiry – all have used Edwards’s book to understand and strengthen the vital role that civil society can play in deepening democracy, re-building community, and addressing poverty, inequality and injustice. This new edition will be required reading for anyone who is interested in creating a better world through citizen action.

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).

The Idea of Civil Society

The Idea of Civil Society
Author: Adam B. Seligman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 1995
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780691010816

As the countries of East-Central Europe struggle to create liberal democracy and the United States and other Western nations attempt to rediscover their own tarnished civil institutions, Adam Seligman identifies the neglect of the idea of "civil society" as a central concern common to both cultures today. Two centuries after its origins in the Enlightenment, the idea of civil society is being revived to provide an answer to the question of how individuals can pursue their own interests while preserving the greater good of society and, similarly, how society can advance the interests of the individuals who comprise it. However, as Seligman shows, the erosion of the very moral beliefs and philosophical assumptions upon which the idea of civil society was founded makes its revival much more difficult than is generally recognized.As the countries of East-Central Europe struggle to create liberal democracy and the United States and other Western nations attempt to rediscover their own tarnished civil institutions, Adam Seligman identifies the neglect of the idea of "civil society" as a central concern common to both cultures today. Two centuries after its origins in the Enlightenment, the idea of civil society is being revived to provide an answer to the question of how individuals can pursue their own interests while preserving the greater good of society and, similarly, how society can advance the interests of the individuals who comprise it. However, as Seligman shows, the erosion of the very moral beliefs and philosophical assumptions upon which the idea of civil society was founded makes its revival much more difficult than is generally recognized.

Civil Society

Civil Society
Author: John Keane
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2013-05-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0745667414

It is only a decade ago that the eighteenth-century distinction between civil society and the state seemed old-fashioned, an object of cynicism, even of outright hostility. In this important new book, John Keane shows how, in a wholly unexpected reversal of fortunes, this antiquated distinction has since become voguish among politicians, academics, journalists, business leaders, relief agencies and citizens' organizations. John Keane examines the various sources and phases of the dramatic world-wide popularization of the term. He traces its reappearance in a wide range of contexts - from China to Tunisia, from South Africa to the emerging European Union - and clarifies the conflicting grammars and vocabularies of the language of civil society. Considerable care is taken to highlight the different possible meanings of the distinction between civil society and the state. Keane also takes the reader into previously uncharted intellectual territory by demonstrating that the civil society perspective contains unharnessed potentials: that it is possible to develop bold new images of civil society that alter the ways in which we think about matters such as power, property, violence, politics, publicity and democracy. Written with style and imagination, this important book by John Keane will be of great interest to students and scholars in politics, media studies, sociology, social and political theory, and to a broader public audience interested in the central debates and political developments of our time.

Civil Society, Second Edition

Civil Society, Second Edition
Author: John Ehrenberg
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2017-02-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1479896713

"Provides a comprehensive discussion and analysis of two and a half millennia of Western political theory, as well as what the future may hold for how civil society might be understood. John Ehrenberg analyzes both the usefulness and the limitations of civil society and maps the political and theoretical evolution of the concept and its employment in academic and public discourse. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Black Lives Matter and the Occupy movement, the book provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities of what this increasingly important idea can, and cannot, offer to contemporary political affairs."--Page [4] of cover.

Civic Engagement in Postwar Japan

Civic Engagement in Postwar Japan
Author: Rieko Kage
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2010-12-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139492160

Despite reduced incomes, diminished opportunities for education, and the psychological trauma of defeat, Japan experienced a rapid rise in civic engagement in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Why? Civic Engagement in Postwar Japan answers this question with a new general theory of the growth in civic engagement in postwar democracies. It argues that wartime mobilization unintentionally instills civic skills in the citizenry, thus laying the groundwork for a postwar civic engagement boom. Meanwhile, legacies of prewar associational activities shape the costs of association-building and information-gathering, thus affecting the actual extent of the postwar boom. Combining original data collection, rigorous statistical methods, and in-depth historical case analyses, this book illuminates one of the keys to making postwar democracies work.

NGOs, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere

NGOs, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere
Author: Sabine Lang
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2013
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1107024994

This book investigates how nongovernmental organizations can become stronger advocates for citizens and better representatives of their interests. Sabine Lang analyzes the choices that NGOs face in their work for policy change between working in institutional settings and practicing public advocacy that incorporates constituents' voices.

The Development of Civil Society in Central Asia

The Development of Civil Society in Central Asia
Author: Janice Giffen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2005
Genre: Asia, Central
ISBN: 9781897748756

This book considers the applicability and use of civil society, both as a concept and in practice, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The volume examines whether civil society organisations (CSOs) are a progressive force for change, or a safety net. Various forms of CSOs are investigated: NGOs and community based organisations, trade unions, political parties and religious groups, as well as more long-standing soviet and traditional institutions and practices. The book contains lessons and perspectives about civil society growth across time, and considers future directions.

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.

Civil Society

Civil Society
Author: John R. Ehrenberg
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 1999-03-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0814722490

In the absence of noble public goals, admired leaders, and compelling issues, many warn of a dangerous erosion of civil society. Are they right? What are the roots and implications of their insistent alarm? How can public life be enriched in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy, and unprecedented levels of contempt for politics? How should we be thinking about civil society? Civil Society examines the historical, political, and theoretical evolution of how civil society has been understood for the past two and a half millennia. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Colin Powell's Volunteers for America, Ehrenberg provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities-and limits-of what this increasingly important idea can offer to contemporary political affairs. Civil Society is the winner of the Michael J. Harrington Award from the Caucus for a New Political Science of APSA for the best book published during 1999.