ABSTRACT
The goal of this book is to explore comparatively and, where useful, historically, how the idea of the civil society (or any of its synonyms, such as civic associations or third sector), which has generated so much intellectual and political excitement during the post-1989 period (see, e.g., Berger & Neuhaus, 1996; Dahrendorf, 1990; Diamond, 1994; Dionne, 1998; Ehrenberg, 1999; Glendon, 1991; Hall, 1995; Keane, 1999; Walzer, 1995), can be used to reframe and reconceptualize some vexing problems of education governance and policy. As anyone familiar with education policy knows, the reform debate typically pits pro-government government advocates against pro-market advocates. For added complexity, another intellectual controversy is sometimes superimposed, that between communitarians and libertarians. The editors were curious whether the idea of the civil society could provide a conceptual and policy framework that would help to overcome these often sterile juxtapositions.
