Civil Society Dynamics: Shaping Roles, Navigating Contexts

"The concept of civil society in India, (even as an attempt to establish civility) which gained public attention in the 1980s, was essentially seen as the opposite of despotism. Since then, it seems that it is not the ‘State’ but the ‘Society’ that has emerged as the driving wheel of the political history of India. Why has this shift occurred in the late 1980s in Indian political scenario? The particular line of thinking that the author intends to pursue in this paper is shared by some other social scientists who have tried to define what is new in the new social movements: they are “the main route to shifting political action in civil society from the current condition of mainly isolated, local initiatives, easily ignored by the power structure and vulnerable to manipulation and co-option. The document explores the various socio-economic factors, which were mainly the contributing factors for the civil societal intervention in the mid 1970s in India. The author also presents a case study, which makes a modest attempt to critically appraise the role of civil society in contemporary governance debate in India, in general, by studying the Mazdoor Kiasn Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), Rajasthan, in particular."

2008

Civil society has become one of the key parts of the reference framework for governance, seeking to replace traditional public action in which representative democracy is combined with bureaucratic implementation. The success of the civil-society myth contrasts with and consequently manifests itself in the problems of political and social legitimacy and representation. This book assesses the shift in the meaning and application of civil society, from citizen protests to its incorporation into public action. It examines the diversity of interpretations and uses of civil society in different political contexts and seeks to understand the reasons for its surfacing and its multiple forms in political discourse. The authors critically analyse and compare how different types of regimes in countries such as Italy, France and the UK, Poland and Czechoslovakia, South Africa, China, India and Chile have incorporated or otherwise responded to the new discourse. Analysing the surfacing and uses of civil society, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, analysts, policy-makers, non-profit think tanks and organisations interested in comparative international studies on the third sector.

Studies in Indian Politics, 2014

It is often assumed that civil society’s influence on governance can only be complementary to the state and that it must be exercised through conciliatory approaches. But contrary to that assumption, a study of civil society organizations in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh shows that the civil society may attempt to influence governance process through multiple strategies. These include conciliatory approaches, adversarial approaches and a combination of both, depending on the issue or policy on which the influence is sought to be exercised. This article illustrates this by taking the examples of two intermediary NGOs: one from Karnataka and the other from Andhra Pradesh. The question this article raises is: in the context of globalization and the supposedly prominent role of civil society, how effective are they? This article argues that they still happen to be subsidiary partners in the paradigm of ‘governance-through-networks’. By and large, public policy still happens to be influen...

Asian Journal of Social Science, 2014

We are living in rapidly changing times. Rapid economic growth is spreading across much of Asia today. India is being proclaimed to be one of the future economic superpowers of the world. New patterns of production and consumption are sweeping across the country. The wave of liberalization and globalization has created new industries and new opportunities. The service sector has begun to dominate the Indian economy, leaving agriculture and manufacturing/industrial sectors way behind. There is a new buzz of optimism and energy cutting across our society today. In this progressive environment, there is also the stark reality of hunger, poverty, and deprivation. Nearly a third of India's districts are facing growing violence feeding on such frustrations of the youth. Around the world, security concerns are dominating policymakers. Terrorism in its myriad manifestations is spreading across the globe. Rapid economic growth is associated with growing inequalities of income & wealth, around regions, countries, and communities. Environmental degradation and climate change are other consequences of this growth trajectory. In this milieu, new societal challenges are emerging; and many of the old challenges have been persisting. Governments are attempting to balance policies for change with a measure of continuity. Unlike an earlier era where governments, especially democratic ones, were seen as agencies working to bring about improvements in the lives of their people, they are now becoming a part of the problem. Democratic accountability and efficient use of public resources are the twin challenges of modern states, including the Indian state. In some respects, the new era has legitimized the roles of the for-profit private sector in contributing to this rapid economic growth.

Non-Governmental Organisations, by conviction and nature, are expected to take up development programmes, uninhibited by factors which normally plague governmental organisations - bureaucracy, conservative attitudes and procedures. However, NGOs have not fared well in many situations. In Andhra Pradesh, in the context of more than a decade of NGO-led development work, and subsequent usurpation of the terminology and methodology of NGOs by the State government, in the early years of 2000, there is now a need to look afresh at the institution of NGOs and their positioning in AP, with a view to understand the necessity of this institution. But this is not to blackwash of the NGO sector in general. NGO sector in India has done yeoman service of the cause of people, in different places and in different contexts. Today, NGO sector is in a position to strengthen democratic structure of India, and can be considered as one of the important pillars of democracy in India. The attempt here is to demystify the NGO sector, in order to enable broader public discussion on the work of this sector.