ABSTRACT
Concepts of civil society have long played a role in explanations of the ways in which human societies are organised and governed. Dilemmas arise when attempting to find a universally accepted definition of civil society, largely due to the fact that the term is used in a variety of different ways by many actors, both within academia and the world of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This makes definitional clarity particularly important when utilising the term. The definition of civil society that I will utilise in this discussion is an amalgam of previous definitions found within the existing literature. In this chapter, civil society is understood as the space between the state and the individual which is occupied by autonomous citizens’ organisations and associations whose activities are organised and have a collective character. These organisations and associations of citizens may come together not only because they share common interests, but also because they seek to affect the decision-making process. The sources and kinds of civic activism found within civil society differ greatly from one context to another, and this poses great difficulties for comparative analysis in this field. Civil societies are diverse in terms of their structures, topographies, and the forms of associational life that they contain. The associations and organisations that make up civil society should not be conceived of as being totally ‘freestanding’ either, given that they have connections and ties with other structures and institutions in society. Together, however, these organisations and associations can be understood to occupy a common space which constitutes a stage for their self-generated activity (Hall, 1995; Rosenblum and Post, 2002; Keane, 1998).
