View Of Civil Society Research Articles

Robert Nisbet and the Problem of Community

The article traces the importance and development of the concept of ‘community’ in Robert Nisbet’s sociological theory. Community and voluntary associations were key components of his view of civil society, because they stood between the individual and the state as bastions of personal liberty against authoritarianism. This idea was taken from Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of America democracy and developed by Nisbet as a critique of modern America. The article examines the conservative underpinnings of Nisbet’s sociology and compares his perspective on civil society with the idea of civil religion in J-J Rousseau and Robert Bellah. Nisbet’s perspective is criticised because not all voluntary associations have beneficial effects on civil society. The article considers how far his views on authority and community are still relevant and concludes by making a distinction between ‘sticky societies’ that are hard to join and difficult to leave and ‘elastic societies’ that are easy to join and cost-free to leave, and asks whether community is possible when the Internet has transformed sticky relationships into elastic, thin and dispersed relationships.

Toward a Deliberative Standard: Rethinking Participation in Policymaking

In contrast to communitarian and pluralist approaches to participation, the following article develops a deliberative model of participation in rulemaking at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This deliberative model is distinguished by its concern for the emergence of publics and for the speaking and listening capacities of policymakers and publics alike. The model focuses both on spaces for collective discussion as well as translation between sites of discussion. Embracing a complex view of civil society, and stressing the principle of inclusion, a deliberative model corresponds to a form of legitimacy that extends beyond the boundaries of conventional administrative procedure.

After Fukushima: An Introduction

Asian Perspective 37 (2013), 473-474 After Fukushima: An Introduction Norifumi Namatame The nuclear disasters at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 11, 2011, startled people in Japan and throughout the world. The consequences of the massive earthquake and tsunami apparently went far beyond the assumptions that the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) had made before that day. Their responses to the nuclear accidents were tardy, insufficient, and confused. Nearly three years have passed, but the problems at Fukushima Daiichi are still far from resolved. The leaking of nuclear materials from the power plant continues, the cost of decommissioning of the reactors is enormous and mounting, and the people who were forced to evacuate from the heavily contam­ inated area still live in fear and despair. Furthermore, the Japanese people in general do not know exactly where to find safe places to live, safe foods they can eat, and information they can really trust. From May 10 to 12, 2012, Australian National University (ANU) and Tohoku Fukushi University (TFU) cohosted a work­ shop in Sendai, Japan, called Nuclear Disaster Response: The Need to Know. Scholars in various fields were invited from Japan, the United States, Australia, and Taiwan. For the first two days in closed sessions, and then in a public forum, we had intensive debates on what kind of information the people in Fukushima and Japan generally should be given about nuclear power and a nuclear disaster. This special issue represents the arguments that were offered in Sendai, reinforced by additional authors whose contributions were invited subsequently, in order to respond to “the need to know” and fulfill requirements stemming from “the right to know.” Richard Tanter examines the issue of corruption in the nuclear power industry, arguing that it is not a problem peculiar to Japan. Jeff Kingston extends Tanter’s argument by detailing the pemi473 474 After Fukushima: An Introduction cious influence of the so-called nuclear village in Japan, which embraces TEPCO, powerful politicians, and members of the media and academia. Tilman A. Ruff provides a deeply informed perspective on public health, scrutinizing the long-term and short­ term risks of exposure to low-dose radiation. Drawing on many years of study of the Chernobyl disaster’s biological impact, Anders Pape Mpller and Timothy A. Mousseau make comparisons with what has happened to birds and other animals in the contam­ inated areas around Fukushima. Shoko Yoneyama offers a sociological analysis of the nuclear disaster, comparing it with the case of Minamata disease, one of the most tragic pollution incidents in Japanese history. Kawasaki Akira explores the future of energy policy in Japan from the point of view of civil society. Finally, Michael Edwards analyzes the psychological effects of the accident through several interviews with victims. This project received support from many scholars and volun­ teer graduate students. I would like to express special thanks to Koki Hagino, president of TFU, for cohosting the workshop; Peter Van Ness of ANU for organizing it; Mel Gurtov of Portland State University for supporting publication of the results; and Mark Selden, coordinator of japanfocus.org, for allowing us to publish revised versions of two articles that appeared there earlier. This study was also supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT) Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities, provided to the Kansei Fukushi Research Institute of Tohoku Fukushi Univer­ sity (2012-2016). Note Norifumi Namatame is associate professor at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai, Japan. He was visiting fellow at the Australian National University from May 2011 to January 2012. He has published articles on Japan’s mis­ sile defense programs and on realist and pacifist approaches to Japan’s post­ war security policy and national identity. He can be reached at namatame @tfu-mail.tfu.ac.jp. ...

In search of democratic agency in deliberative governance

In recent years, we have witnessed deliberative democracy take a ‘civil society turn’ to address the democratic deficit of global governance. In light of the present circumstances of world politics, it is argued that civil society offers a rich soil for reformulating democracy globally. This article engages in this debate with particular focus on democratic agency. It investigates the notion of democratic agency built into this deliberative civil society view with regard to its democratic qualities. This is done by problematizing a common feature underlying this view, here called the ‘separability premise’, which presumes that it is possible to define democracy as two or more separate core democratic qualities or mechanisms — most importantly, inclusive participation, accountability, authorization and deliberation — and that democracy increases the more one or more of these are strengthened. The article defends the thesis that the proposed political subject is not equipped to be a democratic agent insofar as the deliberative civil society view does not fulfil two basic requirements for an arrangement to qualify as minimally democratic, namely, political equality and political bindingness. The article concludes that insofar as we wish to hold on to a deliberative conception of democracy, something along the lines of Habermas’s two-track view is still our best bet for accommodating these two conditions, even in a transnational context, since it is able to avoid the problems connected with the separability premise.

The Politics of Public Policy in Ghana

This article examines the trajectories and approaches to public policy making in Africa. Using process tracing interlaced with analysis of historical records, secondary literature, and elite interviews, the article shows that since the 1990s, policy making in some African countries, especially Ghana, has been witnessing a gradual shift away from bureaucratic approaches to policy making to the ones that directly engage the citizenry through consultation and open public participation. The article shows that this shift to citizenry participation is largely due to an emphasis in the development literature on good governance broadly defined to include public participation, and the view of civil society as a platform for social transformation. The article provides a step-by-step analysis of strategies used in recent social security reforms in Ghana to illustrate this change in approach to public policy, and shows that public participation approach to policy making is fraught with several structural challenges and impediments that not only privilege elites’ preferences over the unorganized rural dwellers but also questions some of the fundamental principles of the good governance mantra.

What Makes Civil Society Civil? The State and Social Groups

Many scholars use “civil society” to denote a realm of peaceful social organization independent from and often antagonistic to the state. The mass demonstrations that peacefully brought down Eastern European governments in the late 1980s legitimized this understanding. At the same time, however, governments were falling in less developed countries, and the social groups that emerged were decidedly uncivil. In these places competing groups preyed upon each other, which sometimes led to protracted civil wars. The view of civil society as spontaneously self-organized harmony cannot deal with these Third World cases. To better understand such developments this article proposes an alternative view of civil society, inspired in part by the writings of Kant, in which social harmony emerges after the state reduces violence and constrains predation by organized groups. The case of Somalia illustrates the usefulness of this alternative vision.

Civil Society Action and Governance in Vietnam: Selected Findings from an Empirical Survey

In this article, findings from 300 standardized interviews with representatives of Civic Organizations in Ho Chi Minh-City and Ha Noi are presented. Following a view of civil society as a specific mode of social action and interaction, data analysis unveils the existence of core dimensions of such action (respect, empathy/ sympathy, and the willingness to compromise and stick to agreed-upon rules), though the respective values of those dimensions vary strongly. Inseparably linked with such civil society action of whatever kind is consensus-seeking, an aversion to conflicts, and an affinity to synthesis. These attitudes and practices, dominating various Civic Organizations’ internal decision-making processes, represent elements of authoritarian political thinking in Civic Organizations’ leaders’ mindsets and courses of action. Combined, those characteristics make up civil society action “in Vietnamese colours”.

Institutions and Social Change: implementing co-operative housing and environmentally sustainable development at Christie Walk

How can institutions contribute to the building of civil society in the twenty- first century? It is clear that the old laissez-faire approach and the more recent neo-conservative reliance on the market have failed to deliver housing for many people. On the other hand the state-based welfare housing model espoused by the Australian Labor Party over the twentieth century has also been beset by problems. Social alienation, and the crisis in affordable housing make the case that individualist approaches to urban living are not working. More communal solutions are needed - solutions attuned to a complex view of civil society outlined by Michael Edwards' tripartite definition. At the same time the onset of global warming now prompts Australians to create more environmentally sustainable ways of living. Addressing the theme of responsibility, this paper focuses on citizenship in its broader environmental, social and active forms. It analyses interviews and documentary evidence concerning the planning and development of Christie Walk, an innovative, medium density eco-city development in Adelaide. The investigation reveals the effects of some Australian institutions on residents' efforts to live socially and environmentally sustainable lives in an urban environment. The paper offers transdisciplinary research and analysis, linking the fields of history, urban housing, community development and environmental theory.

The International Court of Justice and Nongovernmental Organizations

AbstractThe role that the non-governmental organizations can play with respect to the proceedings in front of the International Court of Justice has been always a thorny issue. The, relevantly recent, Practice Direction XII has not substantially ameliorated this situation. Although providing an avenue for the views of civil society to be represented, it can also be argued that from an interpretative point of view it is more restrictive than the Statute of the Court itself, a fact which reinforces the debate on the advantages and pitfalls of an amendment of the Statute of the Court. However, other problems remain; the definition of international organization, whether it includes NGOs as well or not, seems to differ not only from tribunal to tribunal e.g. PCIJ and ICJ but also from case to case. Other possibilities of submitting information to the Court, as for instance as experts, have been rarely put to use. The possible benefits of a greater participation of NGOs in the international judicial process have, nevertheless, up till now not changed the most likely of NGO submissions; they either end up being placed to the Peace Palace Library for consultation purposes or they are more seriously considered but only through the intermediary of a State involved in the proceedings.

Values and Ethics of Global Civil Society Actors: Insights from a Survey and Content Analyses

This study examines values, ethics and principles of conduct that underlie activities of global civil society organizations. It uses an international web-based survey, and a content analysis of the codes of conduct for exploring views of global civil society actors active on global issues and participating in global civil society events. The findings of this analysis highlight many similarities in the ways global civil society organizations of different forms and origins define their goals, values, ethical standards and responsibilities. The normative consensus discerned in this research is limited in scope, however. It revolves around a particular, liberal, view of civil society. The study discusses results of the survey and content analyses in light of the current debates on the nature of global civil society and its relation to the system of states and the global market.

Waiting for the wolf to bite: Civil society's view of the new World Bank presidency

(2005). Waiting for the wolf to bite: Civil society's view of the new World Bank presidency. The International Spectator: Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 97-104.

Understanding multi-purpose hybrid voluntary organizations: The contributions of theories on civil society, social movements and non-profit organizations

The paper offers a theoretical framework to study the conditions that lead to the emergence of multi-purpose hybrid voluntary organizations and the factors that influence their ability to mobilize resources and enlist commitment. These organizations are characterized by four interrelated attributes: (a) they set out as their mission to uphold and promote cultural values that are typically at variant with dominant and institutionalized values; (b) they offer services to members and the public that express their distinct values, using the services as a model and catalyst for social change; (c) in addition to their instrumental goals, they aim to meet the expressive and social identity needs of their members by promoting a collective identity; and (d) they evolve into hybrid organizations by having multiple purposes—combining to various degrees goals of value change, service provision and mutual-aid. Because they deliberately combine features of volunteer-run associations, social movements and non-profit service organizations, we articulate a theoretical framework that melds concepts and propositions from the various theoretical perspectives used to study each of these organizational forms. We argue that the expanded theoretical framework offers a more comprehensive and dynamic view of civil society and a better perspective to the study of third sector organizations.

Carving Out Space: Civil Society and the Women's Movement in South Korea

Is civil society gendered? What can the Korean women's movement tell us about the very notion and working of civil society and the 1990s history of democratization in South Korea? Students of democratization have overlooked these questions in their study of civil society as a vehicle of democratization and counterweight to the repressive state or the totalizing market (Silliman and Noble 1998; White 1996; Koo 1993; Cohen and Arato 1992; Gold 1990; Keane 1988). Recent criticisms of the celebration of civil society as the third path to societal democratization point out that such analyses tend to lapse into abstract discussions of relations between the state and civil society, devoid of a specific historical or social context (Fine 1997; Tempest 1997; Blaney and Pasha 1993). This absence of context can also lead to an inadequate view of civil society as a uniform and homogeneous space without social inequalities or divisions.

The transnational political criminal nexus of trafficking in women from Ukraine

Throughout the 1990s, tens of thousands of Ukrainian women were trafficked into prostitution. This phenomenon was researched by collecting data through interviews and surveys in Ukraine, media reports, governmental and non-governmental (NGO) reports on trafficking, and participant observation in conferences. Trafficking occurs because of a transnational political criminal nexus, which is comprised of individual criminals, organized crime groups, corrupt police and governmental officials, foreign governments, and NGOs. Traffickers' methods of operation are flexible and adapted to ease of recruiting victims, cooperation of corrupt officials, risk of being detected, and profit. In destination countries, victims are controlled by confiscation of travel and identity documents, debt bondage, threats, and violence. Political components of the nexus include foreign governments that support NGOs that ignore the views of civil society in Ukraine, and instead, support the foreign governments' positions on trafficking and prostitution, resulting in a corruption of civil society. Some foreign governments also support changes in laws that enable a legal flow of women into their sex industries.

Civil Society as Social Control: State Power in Jordan

Following the waves of democratization in Europe and Latin America, political scientists fervidly renewed their search for the requisite conditions of expanded political participation. Rather than focus on the possible link between economic and political development, as outlined in different versions of modernization theory and developmentalism, recent studies have instead highlighted the role of civil society in promoting political participation. Although plagued by definitional ambiguity, civil society is generally seen as the constellation of associational forms that occupy the terrain between individuals and the state. It is viewed as a mechanism of collective empowerment that enhances the ability of citizens to protect their interests and rights from arbitrary or capricious state power. The expansion of civil society is credited with numerous transitions to democracy and is frequently offered as a proscriptive remedy to despotic or authoritarian rule. The Middle East has recently joined the multitude of empirical testing grounds for the concept of civil society. Scholars, policymakers, and indigenous researchers alike hope that the growth of civil society in the region will promote democratic reform. Although experiments in political liberalization are still limited, there is guarded optimism about the prospects for change. This optimism is encouraged by the United States, which now channels substantial resources to grass-roots organizations in the Middle East with the intention of promoting democracy.1 The recent empirical growth of civil society in the region seems to add further credence to the potential for democratic change. This article presents a less sanguine view of civil society in the Middle East. Many regimes in the region initiated political liberalization to enhance legitimacy in a context of prolonged economic crisis. Rather than risk uncontrollable popular protest and collective action that could destabilize the political system, regimes such as those in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria (before 1992), and Jordan instead offered new, though oftentimes limited, opportunities for the creation of civil society organizations. Once created, these organizations were embedded in a web of bureaucratic practices and legal codes which allows those in power to monitor and regulate collective activities. This web reduces the possibility of a challenge to the state from civil society by rendering much of collective action visible to the administrative apparatus. Under such circumstances, civil society institutions are more an instrument of state social control than a mechanism of collective empowerment.2

Personal Law and Human Rights in India and Israel

Although India and Israel differ dramatically in size, population, and affluence, there are many important similarities. Each is the contemporary vehicle of an old and resilient civilization that expresses a distinctive, influential and enduring arrangement of the various facets of human experience. Each of these cultures underwent a prolonged colonial experience in which its traditions were disrupted and subordinated to a hegemonic European Christian culture; each had an earlier experience with victorious, expansive Islam; each has reached an uneasy but flourishing accommodation with the secular, scientific modernity of the West.In each case this was achieved by a movement that embraced “Enlightenment” values and in turn provoked a recoil from modernity/rediscovery of tradition. In each there is a conflict between those with “modern” secular views of civil society and those revivalists or fundamentalists who seek to restore an indigenous religiously based society. The secular nationalism that predominated in the struggle for independence and the formation of the state is now countered by powerful tides of fundamentalism.

Uncivil society, capitalism and the state in Africa

State and society do not stand apart in Africa ‐ or anywhere else. Neither do they exist in precarious balance. This article explores the ways in which elements of the state are connected to civil society, and how elements of civil society are not merely affected by the state, but are seated in the state. Privileged place is given to capitalist phenomena. An examination of clashing theoretical views of civil society is followed by critical evaluations of contemporary Africanists and concludes with a brief discussion of the Senegalese‐Mauritanian conflict and its bearing on the evolution of capitalism and democracy in Africa.

Citizenship, equality, and urban property rights in Latin America: The Peruvian case

Research on liberal democracy in newly developing countries has been hampered by the view of civil society as a bounded realm; by insufficient attention to power, class, and legal-juridical institutions; and by too limited a conception of social movements with democratic potential. In this study of urban migrants’ struggle for property rights, the migrants’ political action is found to be associated with a capitalist social movement. The legal changes that the movement helped institute and the means that it employed have enhanced democracy by extending property rights to the poor and by opening up policy processes to public debate and input. Insofar as liberal reform involves the law and its administration, it requires a positive, facilitative state, in spite of liberalism’s broadly antistatist commitments. The study also reveals that liberal reform can have a popular content even if supported by elites. The findings suggest that the realization of full citizenship rights is, for now, at least as crucial to the future of Latin American democracy as the narrowing of economic inequalities.