ABSTRACT
The concept of civil “society” as the realm of voluntary self-organization and association by citizens has largely been defined in contrast to the state. This understanding of civil society originates from late 18th century and early 19th century Europe, during which time the rising bourgeois classes were in the process of emancipating themselves from the strictures of absolute monarchy, church and feudal estates as well as traditional bonds of kinship. This process was championed by philosophers such as Ferguson, Hegel and DeTocqueville who, each in his own way, envisioned a society of autonomous individuals who on a voluntary basis would group together in order to defend and promote their common interests, vis-à-vis the state's authorities. This civil society was expected to hold the state's authorities accountable to the public will.
