Civil society in India

Abstract

The notion of civil society or the third sector as an arena that is separate and distinct from the institutional mechanisms of the state and the market has gained much traction, particularly in liberal western thought, where it is linked to the notion of good governance. This chapter examines those definitions and understandings of civil society that resonate for a post-colonial country like India, where the notion of civil society can assume greater salience if it is tied to issues of participatory democracy, citizenship and exclusion. A growing concern for developing countries is whether donors have reduced civil society to an apolitical, technical tool, thereby hollowing out its significance as an area of voluntary action that could challenge the excessive power of the state and the inequities of the market. In this context, the chapter looks at the discourse of civil society in the Indian situation, highlighting the importance of investing it with a different conceptual underpinning in a post-colonial context and arguing that since it is no monolith, it is not helpful to either lionize or demonize it. It submits that the components and role of civil society can only be understood only when its complex relationship with the state and market is factored in at any given conjuncture. The chapter turns the searchlights on the period from 2010 to 2017, which witnessed a complete turnaround in terms of the role of civil society in India and analyses why a decade that started with such an expansive role for civil society (2001–2009) petered out from 2010 onwards and entered a much more constricted space.