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Civil Society : A Proper Definition

Civil society is simultaneously a goal to aim for, a means to achieve it, and a framework for engaging with each-other about ends and means.

Author: Mike Greaves

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Civil society is the arena of collective action without restraint around common interests, goals and values. In theory, its institutional forms differ from the state, family and market, but in practice the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms that vary in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as tax-exempt public, foundations, development organizations, community organizations and unions, women organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, support groups, social movements, associations and support groups.

The past twenty-five years have witnessed a spectacular expansion of philanthropy, volunteering, and Civil Society organizations throughout the world. Indeed, we seem to be in the midst of a ‘global associational revolution,’ a worldwide upsurge of organized private voluntary activity. Despite the promise that this development holds, however, the nonprofit or civil society sector remains the invisible subcontinent on the social landscape of most countries, poorly understood by policymakers and the public at large, often encumbered by legal limitations, and inadequately utilized as a mechanism for addressing public problems.

Social accountability is an unusual concept in that it always seems to require being defined before it is applied or discussed. In part it is a result of an inherent ambiguity or elasticity in the concept.. Many would hold that a free and vigorous press is an essential element in civil society. But most newspapers and TV stations in the country are run as for-profit businesses. In modern societies, realizing these ideals – like political equality or peaceful coexistence - requires action across many different institutions, not just voluntary associations. Civil society as the good society is very important, because it sets the contributions of voluntary associations in the proper context and guards against the tendency to privilege one part of society over the others on ideological grounds – voluntary associations over states for example, or business over both.

There are some interventions, though, that would be useful across the board. The main initiative must be to strengthen the pre-conditions for a healthy civil society by attacking all forms of inequality and discrimination, giving people the means to be active citizens, reforming politics to encourage more participation, guaranteeing the independence of associations and the structures of public communication, and building a strong foundation for institutional partnerships, alliances and coalitions. Inequality is the poison of civil society because it endows citizens with different levels of resources and opportunities to participate, so things like support for childcare and a living wage – which are not usually seen as civil-society building interventions, may be the most important areas of
all.

For realization of a civil social system stronger links are needed to be built between policy groups, organizing groups, service deliverers and the media; we need to link associations across different interests and agendas and get progressive organizing out of its silos (issues and identities); we need to encourage a more democratic relationship between grassroots constituencies and those in the nonprofit sector who claim to speak on their behalf. We need to reduce the costs and risks of citizen participation(for example, making it easier to organize at the workplace), and we need to honor and connect different forms of participation so that service doesn’t become a substitute for political engagement.

About Author

Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) is an international centre for learning and promotion of participation and democratic governance . Since its inception in 1982, PRIA has embarked on a set of key initiatives focusing on participatory research,citizen-centric development, capacity building, knowledge building and policy advocacy.Through Participatory monitoring & Evaluation (PM&E) projects, PRIA engages different stakeholders at various levels in monitoring or evaluating a particular project, program or policy, share control over the content, the process and the results of the M&E activity, and engage in taking or identifying corrective actions.

http://www.pria.org/en/projects/civil-society-projects/civil-society-a-the-state-projects/

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