ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that a political dimension of Syrian civil society emerged from amongst the non-violent movements of the Syrian Uprising. It seeks to show this by highlighting the changing nature of Syria's civil society and its various manifestations. Then, the chapter shows how Syria's non-violent movements acquired a space in civil society during the post-2011 Uprising. Syrian civil society prior to the Uprising in early 2011 was largely subdued, having to act within the constraints of a regime with a very limited conception of civil society. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC's) created media centres that became key in the dissemination of information both within Syria between different groups, towns and cities and internationally. While a positive relationship between the potential citizen and the state under the current circumstances in Syria is not possible, the political voice of civil society has been growing with the emergence of the expressions of the social freedoms fundamental for a practising 'active citizen'.
