ABSTRACT
The term ‘civil society’ refers to the network of associations and organisations situated between, on the one hand, the state and political society, and on the other, kinship and friendship networks. Civil society is a contested concept, with arguments centred not only on its cultural assumptions, but also its scope, utility as an analytic concept, its relation to democratisation and its compatibility with various religions. In the context of religion and politics, an emphasis on religion in civil society may serve to shift debate away from preoccupations with religious institutions, hierarchies and state, and towards religion’s influence in contemporary societies through non-state actors such as voluntary organisations, social movements, single-issue lobby groups and environmental pressure groups, all of which may be conceptualised as part of civil society. Like many political concepts, civil society has ancient Greek origins, but its modern sense derives from the Enlightenment.
