ABSTRACT
The term ‘civil society’ refers to the network of associations and organisations situated between, on the one hand, the state and political society (political associations and parties), and, on the other, kinship networks. It thus includes a vast array of organ-isations, associations and networks, ranging from sports and youth clubs to charities, voluntary organisations and religious groups, newspapers and other independent media producers. Civil society may be regulated but not controlled by the state, and market relations are generally excluded, though this is contested (Gellner 1994; Bryant 1994). Civil society is generally conceived as an area of free association rather than obligation, where individuals choose to join together for a broad range of reasons.
