ABSTRACT
Its rediscovery in Western political thinking is linked to its emergence as a concept used by dissidents in Eastern Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. Although the term derives a good deal of its glamour from this, its positive reception in the West must nevertheless be seen primarily in the light of the need for an alternative to the state, the market and the small community, which until recently were the three main concepts defining the politics of the Netherlands and Europe. With the disappearance of ‘real existing’ socialism, belief in the state as a controlling centre of society appears to have been subjugated once and for all. In addition, enthusiasm for the market as a panacea has also subsided significantly as a result of the persistent economic recession and high unemployment in both the East and the West.
