Is it possible to talk of civil society beyond the nation-state? Although a clich, "...the term civil society has become an important buzzword amongst global deliberation, t

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Written by Gino Seguna, RHUL

Is it possible to talk of civil society beyond the nation-state?

Although a cliché, “…the term civil society has become an important buzzword amongst global deliberation, touted by governments and political scientists as the key to political, economic and societal success.” 

However the origins of the concept of civil society lie in key phases of modernity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Then writers in classical philosophy and political economy began to differentiate analytically between the spheres of state and society. In feudal society, the same social relations between superiors and inferiors had embraced both production and family life, on the one hand, and political and military authority, on the other. With the dissolution of feudal relations, these two areas of social life became more clearly separate in modern conditions as ‘society’ and ‘state’. The term civil society was first used to distinguish a sphere in which social relations were based on the free association of individuals, rather than a fixed hierarchy of legal institutions. For classical writers like the philosopher Georg Hegel and Karl Marx, civil society was an inclusive concept of ‘society minus the state’, and very definitely included what we would now call ‘the economy’. Civil society was therefore defined, indeed, by the emergence of a distinct political economy in which individuals related to each other as independent agents rather than as people who filled prescribed social roles.

The major classical theorists had, however, different ideas about civil society and about its relation to the state. Hegel saw civil society as a sphere of contradictions which could be resolved in the higher institution of the state, which embodied the highest ethical ideals of society. “Marx believed, in contrast, that civil society was a sphere of conflicts between competing private interests, and that far from being reconciled in the state, these conflicts would take the form of class struggles in which the state itself would be overthrown. (In Marx’s later work, the concept of civil society is largely replaced by that of the capitalist mode of production.)”

Conversely, we can trace the term back to the Scottish Enlightenment when the religious basis for morality was fast disappearing and philosophers were seeking an alternative. The Scottish Enlightenment thinkers found an alternative in what they called civil society, “a realm of solidarity held together by the force of moral sentiments and natural affections.” They thought that the “natural sympathy” of civil society was enough to overcome the collective action problem because it would root individuals in a community and so “present a coherent vision of society beyond its individual members.”

        John Keanes defines global civil society as “…a vast, interconnected, and multi-layered social space that comprises many hundreds of thousands of self-directing or non-governmental institutions and ways of life.” From Keane’s definition, civil society is therefore the realm of independent groups of people advocating different interests and beliefs outside of state institutions. Civil society can be described as an intermediary stratum between the state and the individual. It works intrinsically with the state governing body, but is unattached to it. “Civil society is not the state: it is non-official, non-governmental. Civil society groups are not formally part of the state apparatus; nor do they seek control of state office.” A global society; contrary to its communitarian interpreters – does not resemble a ‘global community’. However, it ought to constitute a culture of self-awareness about the ‘hybridity and complexity of the world.’ And importantly, “civil society is not the market: it is a non-commercial realm. Civil society bodies are not companies or parts of firms; nor do they seek to make profits. Thus the mass media, the leisure industry and cooperatives would, as business enterprises, not normally be considered part of civil society.”

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        A civil society that goes beyond the nation-state requires global forces and players, and participation as a global network. These factors include globalization as a driving force for ‘interconnectedness’, (I)/NGOs, and the United Nations (UN) etc

        On a fundamental but intrinsically basic level, for civil society beyond the nation-state to work, there must be a shortening of time and space barriers in the international community. This is often referred to as a part of globalization. Globalization by virtue has allowed information, goods, people and knowledge to spread from across national territories and into territories, which is not a new concept; yet ...

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