The Paradoxes of Civil Society PDF Download

Author: Jeffrey C. Alexander
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789627558194
Category : Civil society
Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Author: Simone Chambers
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691220131
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
The idea of civil society has long been central to the Western liberal-democratic tradition, where it has been seen as a crucial site for the development and pursuit of basic liberal values such as individual freedom, social pluralism, and democratic citizenship. This book considers how a host of other ethical traditions define civil society. Unlike most studies of the subject, which focus on a particular region or tradition, it considers a range of ethical traditions rarely addressed in one volume: libertarianism, critical theory, feminism, liberal egalitarianism, natural law, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Confucianism. It considers the extent to which these traditions agree or disagree on how to define civil society's limits and how to evaluate its benefits and harms. A variety of distinguished advocates and interpreters of these traditions present in-depth explorations of how these various traditions think of ethical pluralism within societies, asking how a society should respond to diversity among its members. Together they produce a work rich with original insights on a wide range of subjects about which little has been written to date. An excellent starting point for a comparative ethics of civil society, this book concludes that while the concept of civil society originated in the liberal tradition, it is quickly becoming an important focus for a truly cross-cultural dialogue. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Michael Banner, Hasan Hanafi, Loren E. Lomasky, Richard Madsen, Michael A. Mosher, Michael Pakaluk, Anne Philips, Adam B. Seligman, Suzanne Last Stone, and Michael Walzer.

Author: John Ehrenberg
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479896713
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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"Provides a comprehensive discussion and analysis of two and a half millennia of Western political theory, as well as what the future may hold for how civil society might be understood. John Ehrenberg analyzes both the usefulness and the limitations of civil society and maps the political and theoretical evolution of the concept and its employment in academic and public discourse. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Black Lives Matter and the Occupy movement, the book provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities of what this increasingly important idea can, and cannot, offer to contemporary political affairs."--Page [4] of cover.

Author: Bin Xu
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509544003
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Against the bleak backdrop of pressing issues in today’s world, civil societies remain vibrant, animated by people’s belief that they should and can solve such issues and build a better society. Their imagination of a good society, their understanding of their engagement, and the ways they choose to act constitute the cultural aspect of civil society. Central to this cultural aspect of civil society is the “culture of democracy,” including normative values, individual interpretations, and interaction norms pertaining to features of a democratic society, such as civility, independence, and solidarity. The culture of democracy varies in different contexts and faces challenges, but it shapes civic actions, alters political and social processes, and thus is the soul of modern civil societies. The Culture of Democracy provides the first systematic survey of the cultural sociology of civil society and offers a committed global perspective. It shows that, as everyone is eager to have their voice heard, cultural sociology can serve as an “art of listening,” a thoroughly empirical approach that takes ideas, meanings, and opinions seriously, for people to contemplate significant theoretical and public issues.

Author: John Ehrenberg
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814722075
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Winner of the 1999 Michael J. Harrington Award from the Caucus for a New Political Science of APSA Examines the tenets of civil society as they have been understood in the past two and a half millennia In the absence of noble public goals, admired leaders, and compelling issues, many warn of a dangerous erosion of civil society. Are they right? What are the roots and implications of their insistent alarm? How can public life be enriched in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy, and unprecedented levels of contempt for politics? How should we be thinking about civil society? Civil Society examines the historical, political, and theoretical evolution of how civil society has been understood for the past two and a half millennia. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Colin Powell's Volunteers for America, Ehrenberg provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities-and limits-of what this increasingly important idea can offer to contemporary political affairs.

Author: Sudipta Kaviraj
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521002905
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
Civil society is one of the most used - and abused - concepts in current political thinking. In this important collection of essays, the concept is subjected to rigorous analysis by an international team of contributors, all of whom seek to encourage the historical and comparative understanding of political thought. The volume is divided into two parts: the first section analyses the meaning of civil society in different theoretical traditions of Western philosophy. In the second section, contributors consider the theoretical and practical contexts in which the notion of civil society has been invoked in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These essays demonstrate how an influential Western idea like civil society is itself altered and innovatively modified by the specific contexts of intellectual and practical life in the societies of the South.

Author: Nancy L. Rosenblum
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691228396
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
Civil Society and Government brings together an unprecedented array of political, ethical, and religious perspectives to shed light on the complex and much-debated relationship between civil society and the state. Some argue that civil society is a bulwark against government; others see it as an indispensable support for government. Civil society has been portrayed both as a independent of the state and as dependent upon it. This book reveals the extraordinary diversity of views on the subject by examining how civil society has been treated in classical liberalism, liberal egalitarianism, critical theory, feminism, natural law, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Confucianism. The volume draws on the work of eminent scholars to address six questions: In terms of function and consequences, does it matter where the line is drawn between civil society and the state? What is the relationship of civil society to the state? In what contexts and under what conditions should government interact with individuals directly or instead indirectly through communal associations? What are the prerogatives and duties of citizenship, and what is the role of civil society in forming good citizens? How should a society handle the conflicts that sometimes arise between the demands of citizenship and those of membership in the non-governmental associations of civil society? A theoretical introduction by the editors--political theorist Nancy Rosenblum and legal scholar Robert Post--and a conclusion by religious ethicist Richard Miller, tie the book together. In addition to Rosenblum, the contributors are Kenneth Baynes, David Biale, John Coleman, Farhad Kazemi, John Kelsay, William Galston, Will Kymlicka, Tom Palmer, Fred Miller, Susan Moller Okin, Peter Nosco, Henry Rosemont, Steven Scalet, David Schmidtz, William Sullivan, Max Stackhouse, Stephen White, and Noam Zohar.

Author: Marcella Ridlen Ray
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 9781412819312
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
"Ray has written a book that should be read by anyone interested in the current debates about the general health of civil society in the United States."--American Journal of Sociology The formation, maintenance, and well being of American civil society is a topic of intense debate in the social sciences. Until now, this debate has lacked rigor, with the term "civil society" commonly used interchangeably and imprecisely with other terms such as civic engagement. Today's discourse also lacks methodological discipline and relies too heavily on narrowly selected evidence in support of a particular argument. In this invaluable contribution to the debate, Marcella Ridlen Ray supplies an empirical study based on a theoretical model of democratic civil society, one that posits high levels of communication, diversity, autonomy, mediation, and voluntary association. In Ray's account, the emergent story of U.S. civil society is that of a dynamic institution, not necessarily one that is linear in its progression. It is a tale of flux, resilience, and stability over the long term that is consistent with subtexts on political equilibrium she notes in the work of early political analysts such as Aristotle, Machiavelli, Locke, Burke, and, later, Tocqueville. Ray dispels the widely accepted myth that Americans are increasingly apathetic and withdrawn from common interests. The evidence reveals a persistence of long-standing public spiritedness, despite the fact that individuals use wider discretion in deciding if and how to attach to community and despite a historical lack of enthusiasm for performing civic duties in lieu of more pleasurable leisure activity. This public-spiritedness continues to reflect embedded religious-cultural values that disproportionately influence how and when people dedicate time and money to associational life. U. S. civil society has grown more inclusive and democratic as Americans venture, at growing rates, across differences in perspective, ideas, beliefs, and experience to form diverse networks of interest, association, and community. No longer confined to an immediate or local area, the social space of Americans now incorporates national, international, and cyber-spatial dimensions. Social connectedness is extensive, due to the expansion of social space and the multiplication of weak social ties that transcend geographic and spatial boundaries. Ray's theoretical model gives form and coherence to her massive compilation of quantitative and qualitative data. She uses this to improve the visibility of civil society, an institution essential to democracy itself. This volume provides the basis for a systematic evaluation of a major American institution as well as a framework for comparison with other Western democracies. Marcella Ridlen Ray is senior fellow, School of Public Policy, and adjunct professor in Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Author: John A. Hall
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745666906
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
This volume of especially commissioned essays explains what is meant by "civil society", paying particular attention to the relationships between civil society and other social forces such as nationalism and populism.

Author: Neera Chandhoke
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195661958
Category : Civil society
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Book Problematizes The Idea And Practices Of Civil Society And Stresses The Need To Bring The State Back Into The Civil Society Argument. Also Examines The Inherent Politics Of Civil Society-The Way Identities Are Constructed Through The Politics Of Memory And Narrative, And Problems Of Language And Meaning With Special Reference To India.