Civil society at multiple crossroads in Asia

New challenges for development and modernization: …, 2002

Over the past two decades, civil society has captured the imagination of intellectuals, activists, donors and recipients of development assistance, and political leaders. Civil society entered mainstream political discourse and became a key factor in the democratization of socio-political life. In Asia, civil society continues to be a central force in the struggle for and consolidation of democratic space in various political regimes. Thus, this paper calls attention to the multiple models informing the articulation of civil society in various social formations. In particular, this paper focuses on the increasing and evolving role of civil society and its impacts on society and politics. It examines the conceptual foundations and interpretations of civil society within the context of state-society relationship. Without denying the origins of the notion of civil society in western rational tradition and political culture, this paper argues that the concept resonates in the values and ways of voluntary associations that are deeply rooted in Asian communities to address basic survival needs and mutual benefit concerns. Anchored on these traditions, contemporary civil society organizations (CSOs, particularly non-government organizations or NGOs) have elevated these survival and mutual-benefit concerns to the level of state politics to address more effectively the well-being of its clientele population, particularly the marginalized and disadvantaged groups in society. Furthermore, this paper argues that the growth and dynamics of civil society must be viewed within the context of state-marketsociety relationship as it unfolds in varying historical and political contexts. Finally, the paper concludes that civil society engagements in the new millennium are fraught with tensions and challenges generated by the globalization of capital and information technology, devolution of central state powers to local structures of governance, and the rise of identity/resource claims laced with fundamentalist and nationalist discourses.

The publication was approved on March 28, 2018 by the council of Faculty of Humanities of Vytautas Magnus University.

Perspectives on Politics, 2005

… Nations University Policy …, 2008

Scholars and development practitioners recognize the centrality of governance capacity to achieve sustainable peace and development objectives, including the eradication of extreme poverty, access to services and livelihoods, promotion of economic growth, ...

2019

Shrinking space, shrinking resources As democracy experiences a global decline, and Southeast Asia oscillates between authoritarian endurance and democratic rollback, civil society in the region…

L. Sandy Maisel (ed.) Oxford Bibliographies Online in Political Science, April, 2017

In South Asia, it must be stressed that civil society is inherently pluralistic in nature; it includes both civil and uncivil elements within its domain, which may contribute either positively or negatively toward economic development, democracy, and political change.

2020

Civil Society and the State in Democratic East Asia: Between Entanglement and Contention in Post High Growth focuses on the new and diversifying interactions between civil society and the state in contemporary East Asia by including cases of entanglement and contention in the three fully consolidated democracies in the area: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The contributions to this book argue that all three countries have reached a new era of post high growth and mature democracy, leading to new social anxieties and increasing normative diversity, which have direct repercussions on the relationship between the state and civil society. It introduces a comparative perspective in identifying and discussing similarities and differences in East Asia based on in-depth case studies in the fields of environmental issues, national identities as well as neoliberalism and social inclusion that go beyond the classic dichotomy of state vs ‘liberal’ civil society.

2011

Using the term civil society in the same breath as ‘conceptual ’ and ‘developing countries ’ might be regarded as bold. There is hardly any other term in social science that is more vague or Western-centric. “The history of thought over two hundred years has charged this designation with so many layers of meaning that it lacks sharpness of definition”1 bemoans Axel Honneth (1992, p. 61). “We have reached zero level in a history of semantic deterioration” states Volker Heins (2002, p. 17). Helmut Dubiel writes: “The uninterrupted boom enjoyed by the concept – despite synchronous ritual laments about its vagueness – is (...) a phenomenon in need of explanation. In spite of its limitless geographic, cultural, disciplinary and semantic dimension, it obviously still retains the aura of an unfulfilled theoretical promise ” (Dubiel, 2001, p. 135). Even though the boom enjoyed by the term ‘civil so-ciety ’ has its roots in the changes which have taken place in the East, the concept is of We...

This special issue discusses the relationship between civil society and democracy in South and Southeast Asia. The case studies range from the subnational and national to the transnational and regional levels. Based on these case studies from across South and Southeast Asia, the role of civil society in a number of currently unfolding democratic and democratization processes is analyzed. This introduction discusses these various levels of engagement, after first highlighting some principal questions on the role of civil society, its definitions, and its organizational forms.