ABSTRACT
In Vietnam and Cambodia both, civil society actors and the state seek out and develop strategic responses for managing their relationship to one another in an environment that is continuously shaped and re-constructed by changing legislation, collaboration and negotiation, advocacy and protest, and the restrictions placed by measures for social control. Broadly speaking, research on civil society encompasses the study of a whole range of actors and organizations argued as being part of civil society, dealing with different issues at different scales, and including both historical and contemporary developments. The chapter focuses on academic and non-academic studies of civil society in Asia/Southeast Asia. It is obvious that the so-called Western view continues to shape our knowledge and understanding of civil society. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
