The concept of civil society as a research program

Abstract

The article attempts to apply the methodology of the research program in its sociological adaptation (D. Berger, M. Zelditch and D. Wagner) to the analysis of historical and contemporary issues of civil society. The concept of civil society is presented as a research program, which is characterized by its own logic of development, historical sequence, variability of semantic representations and actualization of various contextual accents. The structure and features of the concept of civil society as a research program are outlined. Its theoretical core consists of two basic conceptual premises: 1) the principle of social self-activity, separated from state power and 2) the system of norms and value regulations outlined by the concept of civility. The theoretical issues of modern theorizing of civil society are analyzed, in particular the connection between civil society and democracy, the relationship between civil society and the state and the market. It is argued that the key feature of the civil society research program is its historicity and contextuality. The three-stage periodic model of J. Alexander’s civil society concept is analyzed as one of the examples of the development of the research program. It is argued that important methodological guidelines of the sociological research program regarding the conceptualizations of modern Ukrainian civil society are its secularization and nationalization. Modern prospects for the development of the research program of civil society are outlined. It is emphasized that the challenges of political populism require civil society to activate its “protective shield" potential through the acquisition of experience in social activism for many citizens. Resistance to informational fakes and manipulations, which are tools of both populism and military aggression, is also one of the important tasks of domestic civil society and an actual field of research into its contemporary issues.