Elaine Y.M. Chan
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789888139477
- eISBN:
- 9789882208681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139477.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter studies the characteristics of civil society in Hong Kong including its general features, and the functions, contributions, and shortfalls of civil society organizations and social ...
More
This chapter studies the characteristics of civil society in Hong Kong including its general features, and the functions, contributions, and shortfalls of civil society organizations and social service organizations. Hong Kong has a sizable and vibrant civil society but a good amount of its organizations are weak in structure and have inadequate resources. The chapter investigates the levels of participation in civil society activities and citizenship in Hong Kong, and finds that higher levels of participation are related to good citizen traits such as higher levels of pro-social behaviours and attitudes. Lastly, the chapter critically examines the constraints of Hong Kong's civil society.Less
This chapter studies the characteristics of civil society in Hong Kong including its general features, and the functions, contributions, and shortfalls of civil society organizations and social service organizations. Hong Kong has a sizable and vibrant civil society but a good amount of its organizations are weak in structure and have inadequate resources. The chapter investigates the levels of participation in civil society activities and citizenship in Hong Kong, and finds that higher levels of participation are related to good citizen traits such as higher levels of pro-social behaviours and attitudes. Lastly, the chapter critically examines the constraints of Hong Kong's civil society.
Benjamin T. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469638089
- eISBN:
- 9781469638140
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469638089.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Mexico today is one of the most dangerous places in the world to report the news, and Mexicans have taken to the street to defend freedom of expression. As Benjamin T. Smith demonstrates in this ...
More
Mexico today is one of the most dangerous places in the world to report the news, and Mexicans have taken to the street to defend freedom of expression. As Benjamin T. Smith demonstrates in this history of the press and civil society, the cycle of violent repression and protest over journalism is nothing new. He traces it back to the growth in newspaper production and reading publics between 1940 and 1976, when a national thirst for tabloids, crime sheets, and magazines reached far beyond the middle class.
As Mexicans began to view local and national events through the prism of journalism, everyday politics changed radically. Even while lauding the liberty of the press, the state developed an arsenal of methods to control what was printed, including sophisticated spin and misdirection techniques, covert financial payments, and campaigns of threats, imprisonment, beatings, and even murder. The press was also pressured by media monopolists tacking between government demands and public expectations to maximize profits, and by coalitions of ordinary citizens demanding that local newspapers publicize stories of corruption, incompetence, and state violence. Since the Cold War, both in Mexico City and in the provinces, a robust radical journalism has posed challenges to government forces.Less
Mexico today is one of the most dangerous places in the world to report the news, and Mexicans have taken to the street to defend freedom of expression. As Benjamin T. Smith demonstrates in this history of the press and civil society, the cycle of violent repression and protest over journalism is nothing new. He traces it back to the growth in newspaper production and reading publics between 1940 and 1976, when a national thirst for tabloids, crime sheets, and magazines reached far beyond the middle class.
As Mexicans began to view local and national events through the prism of journalism, everyday politics changed radically. Even while lauding the liberty of the press, the state developed an arsenal of methods to control what was printed, including sophisticated spin and misdirection techniques, covert financial payments, and campaigns of threats, imprisonment, beatings, and even murder. The press was also pressured by media monopolists tacking between government demands and public expectations to maximize profits, and by coalitions of ordinary citizens demanding that local newspapers publicize stories of corruption, incompetence, and state violence. Since the Cold War, both in Mexico City and in the provinces, a robust radical journalism has posed challenges to government forces.
Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199553419
- eISBN:
- 9780191594984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199553419.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law, Private International Law
Questions of how and why the EU and the US are responding to climate change and what socio-political factors drive these choices remain underexplored. To better understand convergences and ...
More
Questions of how and why the EU and the US are responding to climate change and what socio-political factors drive these choices remain underexplored. To better understand convergences and divergences in EU and US climate change strategies, this chapter examines five categories of factors that influence climate change law and policy-making in Europe and America, including: (1) systems of governance; (2) risk perception and notions of precaution; (3) the roles of media and civil society; (4) modes of capitalism; (5) notions of equity. The objective of this analysis is not to undertake an exhaustive review of each of these topics, all of which have generated a rich body of literature. Rather, the goal of this chapter is to outline how each of these fundamental factors shapes transatlantic climate debate and highlight points requiring further enquiry.Less
Questions of how and why the EU and the US are responding to climate change and what socio-political factors drive these choices remain underexplored. To better understand convergences and divergences in EU and US climate change strategies, this chapter examines five categories of factors that influence climate change law and policy-making in Europe and America, including: (1) systems of governance; (2) risk perception and notions of precaution; (3) the roles of media and civil society; (4) modes of capitalism; (5) notions of equity. The objective of this analysis is not to undertake an exhaustive review of each of these topics, all of which have generated a rich body of literature. Rather, the goal of this chapter is to outline how each of these fundamental factors shapes transatlantic climate debate and highlight points requiring further enquiry.
Stephen Chiu and Siu Lun Wong (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083497
- eISBN:
- 9789882209107
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083497.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The relationship between government and society in Hong Kong has become an intensely debated topic as the complexities of governance grow and the old strategies of consensus building without genuine ...
More
The relationship between government and society in Hong Kong has become an intensely debated topic as the complexities of governance grow and the old strategies of consensus building without genuine public participation fail to satisfy. Lacking democratic credentials, the Hong Kong SAR government finds itself more and more limited in its capacity to implement policies and less able to rely on traditional allies. A society dissatisfied with old forms of governance has become ever more ready to mobilize itself outside of the formal political structures. This collection by leading scholars examines the Hong Kong government's efforts to reposition itself in the economy and society under the pressures of globalization, economic and political restructuring and the rise of civil society. Drawing on changing theoretical conceptions of state, market and citizenship, Repositioning the Hong Kong Government offers new interpretations of the problems of governance in Hong Kong and puts forward positive suggestions for resolving them.Less
The relationship between government and society in Hong Kong has become an intensely debated topic as the complexities of governance grow and the old strategies of consensus building without genuine public participation fail to satisfy. Lacking democratic credentials, the Hong Kong SAR government finds itself more and more limited in its capacity to implement policies and less able to rely on traditional allies. A society dissatisfied with old forms of governance has become ever more ready to mobilize itself outside of the formal political structures. This collection by leading scholars examines the Hong Kong government's efforts to reposition itself in the economy and society under the pressures of globalization, economic and political restructuring and the rise of civil society. Drawing on changing theoretical conceptions of state, market and citizenship, Repositioning the Hong Kong Government offers new interpretations of the problems of governance in Hong Kong and puts forward positive suggestions for resolving them.
David Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469633626
- eISBN:
- 9781469633633
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469633626.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
This chapter focuses on the influence that the Black Power movement and rise of employment discrimination litigation had on the Vulcan Society and Black firefighters across the country. The ...
More
This chapter focuses on the influence that the Black Power movement and rise of employment discrimination litigation had on the Vulcan Society and Black firefighters across the country. The dialectical relationships between the civil rights and Black Power movements and the Vulcan Society’s old and new guard eventually transformed the organization and its objectives and helped facilitate the IABPFF, a national Black caucus group formed to combat discrimination and increase Black representation in — and community control of — urban fire departments. Both the IABPFF and the Vulcan Society embraced “separatism without separation,” and used their “outsider status within a white-dominated institution,” as well as shifts in employment discrimination case law, to “reveal the inner workings of institutional racism” within the FDNY and urban fire departments more generally. This shift was instrumental in the fight to establish legal remedies to address institutionalized racism and its impact on the racial composition of urban fire departments and became the primary method used by the Vulcan Society and the IABPFF and its local affiliates to make fire departments more representative of and responsive to the people and communities they servedLess
This chapter focuses on the influence that the Black Power movement and rise of employment discrimination litigation had on the Vulcan Society and Black firefighters across the country. The dialectical relationships between the civil rights and Black Power movements and the Vulcan Society’s old and new guard eventually transformed the organization and its objectives and helped facilitate the IABPFF, a national Black caucus group formed to combat discrimination and increase Black representation in — and community control of — urban fire departments. Both the IABPFF and the Vulcan Society embraced “separatism without separation,” and used their “outsider status within a white-dominated institution,” as well as shifts in employment discrimination case law, to “reveal the inner workings of institutional racism” within the FDNY and urban fire departments more generally. This shift was instrumental in the fight to establish legal remedies to address institutionalized racism and its impact on the racial composition of urban fire departments and became the primary method used by the Vulcan Society and the IABPFF and its local affiliates to make fire departments more representative of and responsive to the people and communities they served
Steven B. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780300198393
- eISBN:
- 9780300220988
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300198393.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Hegel represents the apotheosis of the bourgeois world of early modernity in its confidence and optimism. His image of civil society, or burgerliche Gesellschaft, was the site of the rule of law, the ...
More
Hegel represents the apotheosis of the bourgeois world of early modernity in its confidence and optimism. His image of civil society, or burgerliche Gesellschaft, was the site of the rule of law, the market economy, and a world governed by individual self-interest, and free “subjectivity.” Hegel’s historical interpretation of modern civil society drew on the works of modern secular thinkers like David Hume and Adam Smith, but he also traced the modern bourgeois world back to Christianity, with its belief in the freedom and dignity of the individual. He gave modernity a theological interpretation that was furiously resisted by Marx and later Nietzsche. Hegel anticipated many of the problems of the modern marketplace, especially poverty and the creation of a permanently unemployed underclass, but this did not stop him from regarding the modern world as the pinnacle of world history.Less
Hegel represents the apotheosis of the bourgeois world of early modernity in its confidence and optimism. His image of civil society, or burgerliche Gesellschaft, was the site of the rule of law, the market economy, and a world governed by individual self-interest, and free “subjectivity.” Hegel’s historical interpretation of modern civil society drew on the works of modern secular thinkers like David Hume and Adam Smith, but he also traced the modern bourgeois world back to Christianity, with its belief in the freedom and dignity of the individual. He gave modernity a theological interpretation that was furiously resisted by Marx and later Nietzsche. Hegel anticipated many of the problems of the modern marketplace, especially poverty and the creation of a permanently unemployed underclass, but this did not stop him from regarding the modern world as the pinnacle of world history.
Alvin Y. So and Stephen Wing-kai Chiu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789888083497
- eISBN:
- 9789882209107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083497.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
Using theoretical framework expounded by Evans in Chapter 1, this chapter examines how a classic developmental state – South Korea – has, in the wake of the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis, transformed ...
More
Using theoretical framework expounded by Evans in Chapter 1, this chapter examines how a classic developmental state – South Korea – has, in the wake of the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis, transformed itself from an ailing crony state into a participatory democracy through simultaneously reinvigorating civil society, restoring markets, and strengthening the role of the state. These processes have further empowered the chaebols (large diversified family-owned conglomerates), while democratization has weakened the foundations of a developmental state based on authoritarianism and repression of civil society. This case study provides a helpful comparative model for Hong Kong.Less
Using theoretical framework expounded by Evans in Chapter 1, this chapter examines how a classic developmental state – South Korea – has, in the wake of the 1997-8 Asian financial crisis, transformed itself from an ailing crony state into a participatory democracy through simultaneously reinvigorating civil society, restoring markets, and strengthening the role of the state. These processes have further empowered the chaebols (large diversified family-owned conglomerates), while democratization has weakened the foundations of a developmental state based on authoritarianism and repression of civil society. This case study provides a helpful comparative model for Hong Kong.
Christine Quittkat and Beate Kohler-Koch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674596
- eISBN:
- 9780191756221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674596.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Over the years, the European Commission has intensified cooperation with social actors. This chapter gives an account of the shifting aims and patterns of civil society consultations and of newly ...
More
Over the years, the European Commission has intensified cooperation with social actors. This chapter gives an account of the shifting aims and patterns of civil society consultations and of newly established procedures and instruments. The authors analyze the dynamic evolution of the Commission’s consultation regime in terms of principles and norms, which reflect the concept of participative and/or deliberative democracy. They are therefore able to uncover qualitative changes from “generation” to “generation” and evaluate each generation according to their goals, the degree of commitment, formalization, area of application, addressees and accessibility. The chapter gives a differentiated picture that draws attention to general characteristics but also to the different ways individual Directorate-Generals respond to the specific needs of their policy field. It shows that the Commission has further developed the practice of consultation mainly in order to achieve (not quite successfully) classic democratic principles of representativeness, transparency and inclusiveness.Less
Over the years, the European Commission has intensified cooperation with social actors. This chapter gives an account of the shifting aims and patterns of civil society consultations and of newly established procedures and instruments. The authors analyze the dynamic evolution of the Commission’s consultation regime in terms of principles and norms, which reflect the concept of participative and/or deliberative democracy. They are therefore able to uncover qualitative changes from “generation” to “generation” and evaluate each generation according to their goals, the degree of commitment, formalization, area of application, addressees and accessibility. The chapter gives a differentiated picture that draws attention to general characteristics but also to the different ways individual Directorate-Generals respond to the specific needs of their policy field. It shows that the Commission has further developed the practice of consultation mainly in order to achieve (not quite successfully) classic democratic principles of representativeness, transparency and inclusiveness.
Eric R. Wolf
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520223332
- eISBN:
- 9780520924871
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520223332.003.0024
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
The concept of Society has a history, a historical function within a determinate context, in a particular part of the world. This chapter explores the implications of one of the basic concepts, that ...
More
The concept of Society has a history, a historical function within a determinate context, in a particular part of the world. This chapter explores the implications of one of the basic concepts, that of Society, precisely because the term carries with it a freight of connotations of which one remains largely unconscious. The concept of Society, seen as a whole, a totality, a system, poses its own problems. The sense of Society—the one that interests social scientist—beyond the association of those infused with the Holy Spirit, is Civil Society. This study also examines reasons that make the concept of Society so difficult to apply in the very different morphologies of non-Western civilizational systems and cultural orders. The attempt to understand what humans do and conceive economically, politically, socially, cognitively, and emotionally all at once is always a hallmark of anthropology, and that goal remains a usable and productive program.Less
The concept of Society has a history, a historical function within a determinate context, in a particular part of the world. This chapter explores the implications of one of the basic concepts, that of Society, precisely because the term carries with it a freight of connotations of which one remains largely unconscious. The concept of Society, seen as a whole, a totality, a system, poses its own problems. The sense of Society—the one that interests social scientist—beyond the association of those infused with the Holy Spirit, is Civil Society. This study also examines reasons that make the concept of Society so difficult to apply in the very different morphologies of non-Western civilizational systems and cultural orders. The attempt to understand what humans do and conceive economically, politically, socially, cognitively, and emotionally all at once is always a hallmark of anthropology, and that goal remains a usable and productive program.
Linda Milbourne
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781847427236
- eISBN:
- 9781447310952
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847427236.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Voluntary and community organisations have attracted growing interest, as governments pare back the public sphere and welfare spending and locate ‘solutions’ with civil society and the private ...
More
Voluntary and community organisations have attracted growing interest, as governments pare back the public sphere and welfare spending and locate ‘solutions’ with civil society and the private sector. This book explores growth and re-shaping in the UK voluntary sector following sweeping reforms to cultures and arrangements in public services, including the spread of welfare outsourcing, associated performance and risk management and shifts towards collaborative governance. Drawing on contemporary social and organisational theory, policy debates and empirical research focused on small voluntary organisations, the book identifies an erosion of trust in cross-sector relationships and an incursion of governmental power into previously autonomous terrain. It questions whether voluntary sector health and survival now depend on re-aligning activities and compromising independent goals and values to state and corporate interests and the spaces that exist for alternatives. Changes in government illustrate continuities and shifts in ideology, strategy and discourse but this book highlights the effects of these on experiences at organisational level, where ambiguity, tensions and contested territory generate unpredictable local outcomes from both compliance and resistance. Many of the issues framing this research and posing dilemmas and hard times for the contemporary voluntary sector have wider relevance and also inhabit public agencies: issues around autonomy; values and approaches around delivering welfare; tensions around local accountability; unmanageable service demands; financial survival; and doing more for less. The book contributes to a growing field of research and offers important reading for scholars and practitioners in organisational study, public policy and voluntary sector domains.Less
Voluntary and community organisations have attracted growing interest, as governments pare back the public sphere and welfare spending and locate ‘solutions’ with civil society and the private sector. This book explores growth and re-shaping in the UK voluntary sector following sweeping reforms to cultures and arrangements in public services, including the spread of welfare outsourcing, associated performance and risk management and shifts towards collaborative governance. Drawing on contemporary social and organisational theory, policy debates and empirical research focused on small voluntary organisations, the book identifies an erosion of trust in cross-sector relationships and an incursion of governmental power into previously autonomous terrain. It questions whether voluntary sector health and survival now depend on re-aligning activities and compromising independent goals and values to state and corporate interests and the spaces that exist for alternatives. Changes in government illustrate continuities and shifts in ideology, strategy and discourse but this book highlights the effects of these on experiences at organisational level, where ambiguity, tensions and contested territory generate unpredictable local outcomes from both compliance and resistance. Many of the issues framing this research and posing dilemmas and hard times for the contemporary voluntary sector have wider relevance and also inhabit public agencies: issues around autonomy; values and approaches around delivering welfare; tensions around local accountability; unmanageable service demands; financial survival; and doing more for less. The book contributes to a growing field of research and offers important reading for scholars and practitioners in organisational study, public policy and voluntary sector domains.
Beate Kohler-Koch and Vanessa Buth
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674596
- eISBN:
- 9780191756221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674596.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
The democratic quality of civil society input cannot be deduced from the analysis of their participation in EU governance. Rather, it is necessary to know whom they represent. The chapter scrutinizes ...
More
The democratic quality of civil society input cannot be deduced from the analysis of their participation in EU governance. Rather, it is necessary to know whom they represent. The chapter scrutinizes the NGOs’ claim that they function as transmission belts between citizens and EU decision-makers. NGOs have benefitted from the turn to participatory governance; they have received support, funding, and often a privileged access to the European Commission. This did not make them dependent but turned them into EU minded actors. Based on the parameters of organizational theory (formal decision-making structures, institutionalization, specialization, resources, demography, and location) the authors demonstrate that EU-level NGOs are well positioned to hold their ground in the competition with other interest groups. But the flip side of the coin is that the democratic participation at the grassroots level is negatively affected.Less
The democratic quality of civil society input cannot be deduced from the analysis of their participation in EU governance. Rather, it is necessary to know whom they represent. The chapter scrutinizes the NGOs’ claim that they function as transmission belts between citizens and EU decision-makers. NGOs have benefitted from the turn to participatory governance; they have received support, funding, and often a privileged access to the European Commission. This did not make them dependent but turned them into EU minded actors. Based on the parameters of organizational theory (formal decision-making structures, institutionalization, specialization, resources, demography, and location) the authors demonstrate that EU-level NGOs are well positioned to hold their ground in the competition with other interest groups. But the flip side of the coin is that the democratic participation at the grassroots level is negatively affected.
Simine Short
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036316
- eISBN:
- 9780252093326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036316.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter describes Octave Chanute's search for accomplishments beyond a successful career. While the engineering profession gave him administrative experience, personal contacts, and status, he ...
More
This chapter describes Octave Chanute's search for accomplishments beyond a successful career. While the engineering profession gave him administrative experience, personal contacts, and status, he strived for higher goals and wanted to emulate European civil engineers, who did not just design public works but sought new challenges and possessed the energy to fight for innovation. Envisioning his career, Chanute wanted freedom to realize his personal capabilities. He wished to solve problems, to attract clients who would seek his advice as the authoritative voice on special projects, and to advise in lawsuits as an expert engineering witness. Chanute also sought recognition and respect from his peers. The chapter details Chanute's membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers; his involvement in the evolution of New York City's urban transit system; his interest in aeronautics; and his life as an independent consulting engineer.Less
This chapter describes Octave Chanute's search for accomplishments beyond a successful career. While the engineering profession gave him administrative experience, personal contacts, and status, he strived for higher goals and wanted to emulate European civil engineers, who did not just design public works but sought new challenges and possessed the energy to fight for innovation. Envisioning his career, Chanute wanted freedom to realize his personal capabilities. He wished to solve problems, to attract clients who would seek his advice as the authoritative voice on special projects, and to advise in lawsuits as an expert engineering witness. Chanute also sought recognition and respect from his peers. The chapter details Chanute's membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers; his involvement in the evolution of New York City's urban transit system; his interest in aeronautics; and his life as an independent consulting engineer.
Ruth McAreavey
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719097201
- eISBN:
- 9781526103994
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719097201.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Based on empirical research conducted in Northern Ireland, this chapter examines the way in which tolerance is displayed between minority and majority social groups. Following recent patterns of ...
More
Based on empirical research conducted in Northern Ireland, this chapter examines the way in which tolerance is displayed between minority and majority social groups. Following recent patterns of migration in Northern Ireland, achieving positive integration requires joint and multiple responses across different parts of society. It is too simplistic to consider legislation or very locally based responses or other measures alone. While these are fundamental to providing true recognition of minority groups, inter-relationships and other contextual matters contribute to degrees of tolerance. This chapter challenges the notion that toleration is always the best strategy, showing how in particular circumstances non?toleration can be more constructive than ‘mere’ toleration. By conceptualising integration through a matrix of tolerance, the analysis reveals a complex process that requires adjustment and change from all groups in society. It shows how the achievement of anything beyond ‘mere tolerance’ relies on proactive measures from government, civil society and individuals. The analysis concludes by identifying ways in which society may move forward and move beyond ‘mere tolerance’ to become truly integrated.Less
Based on empirical research conducted in Northern Ireland, this chapter examines the way in which tolerance is displayed between minority and majority social groups. Following recent patterns of migration in Northern Ireland, achieving positive integration requires joint and multiple responses across different parts of society. It is too simplistic to consider legislation or very locally based responses or other measures alone. While these are fundamental to providing true recognition of minority groups, inter-relationships and other contextual matters contribute to degrees of tolerance. This chapter challenges the notion that toleration is always the best strategy, showing how in particular circumstances non?toleration can be more constructive than ‘mere’ toleration. By conceptualising integration through a matrix of tolerance, the analysis reveals a complex process that requires adjustment and change from all groups in society. It shows how the achievement of anything beyond ‘mere tolerance’ relies on proactive measures from government, civil society and individuals. The analysis concludes by identifying ways in which society may move forward and move beyond ‘mere tolerance’ to become truly integrated.
Beate Kohler-Koch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674596
- eISBN:
- 9780191756221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674596.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
The opening chapter elucidates the theoretical foundations of the book. The author presents in a nutshell the core concepts – democracy, civil society, participation – and how they are used to ...
More
The opening chapter elucidates the theoretical foundations of the book. The author presents in a nutshell the core concepts – democracy, civil society, participation – and how they are used to evaluate the democratic added value of civil society participation. She explains along which normative theories of democracy the authors of the book tried to gain benchmarks of democracy. Further, she analyzes the divergent meanings of civil society. Depending on theoretical preferences and understanding of the ‘nature’ of the EU, the role and democratic potential of civil society differ widely. The findings are not just based on a thorough reading of the literature but also on a survey among scholars who are experts on European civil society. The chapter also demonstrates the divergent concepts of participation and how they are influenced by theory and the EU context. Finally, it gives an overview of the following chapters.Less
The opening chapter elucidates the theoretical foundations of the book. The author presents in a nutshell the core concepts – democracy, civil society, participation – and how they are used to evaluate the democratic added value of civil society participation. She explains along which normative theories of democracy the authors of the book tried to gain benchmarks of democracy. Further, she analyzes the divergent meanings of civil society. Depending on theoretical preferences and understanding of the ‘nature’ of the EU, the role and democratic potential of civil society differ widely. The findings are not just based on a thorough reading of the literature but also on a survey among scholars who are experts on European civil society. The chapter also demonstrates the divergent concepts of participation and how they are influenced by theory and the EU context. Finally, it gives an overview of the following chapters.
Beate Kohler-Koch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674596
- eISBN:
- 9780191756221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674596.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
The second chapter gives an account of how and why the ideas of civil society participation and participatory democracy became prominent in the EU. In less than a decade, actors which previously were ...
More
The second chapter gives an account of how and why the ideas of civil society participation and participatory democracy became prominent in the EU. In less than a decade, actors which previously were classified as interest groups became the beacon of hope for democracy, and stakeholder governance began to compete with the deepening of representative democracy. The author employs John W. Kingdon’s multiple stream approach and thus arrives at a sound theoretical explanation why the principle of participatory democracy was institutionalized and why in the course of implementation it was reduced to a concept of participatory governance. She traces the political discussion of the concept from the beginning of the century to its practical application and explicates how the conflicting positions of relevant actors finally converged.Less
The second chapter gives an account of how and why the ideas of civil society participation and participatory democracy became prominent in the EU. In less than a decade, actors which previously were classified as interest groups became the beacon of hope for democracy, and stakeholder governance began to compete with the deepening of representative democracy. The author employs John W. Kingdon’s multiple stream approach and thus arrives at a sound theoretical explanation why the principle of participatory democracy was institutionalized and why in the course of implementation it was reduced to a concept of participatory governance. She traces the political discussion of the concept from the beginning of the century to its practical application and explicates how the conflicting positions of relevant actors finally converged.
Jonathan Pattenden
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780719089145
- eISBN:
- 9781526109583
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719089145.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
Intended for researchers, students, policymakers and practitioners, this book draws on detailed longitudinal fieldwork in rural south India to analyse the conditions of the rural poor and their ...
More
Intended for researchers, students, policymakers and practitioners, this book draws on detailed longitudinal fieldwork in rural south India to analyse the conditions of the rural poor and their patterns of change. Focusing on the three interrelated arenas of production, state, and civil society, it argues for a class-relational approach focused on forms of exploitation, domination and accumulation. The book focuses on class relations, how they are mediated by state institutions and civil society organisations, and how they vary within the countryside, when rural-based labour migrates to the city, and according to patterns of accumulation, caste dynamics, and villages’ levels of irrigation and degrees of remoteness. More specifically it analyses class relations in the agriculture and construction sectors, and among local government institutions, social movements, community-based organisations and NGOs. It shows how the dominant class reproduces its control over labour by shaping the activities of increasingly prominent local government institutions, and by exerting influence over the mass of new community-based organisations whose formation has been fostered by neoliberal policy. The book is centrally concerned with countervailing moves to improve the position of classes of labour. Increasingly informalised and segmented across multiple occupations in multiple locations, India’s ‘classes of labour’ are far from passive in the face of ongoing processes of exploitation and domination. Forms of labouring class organisation are often small-scale and tend to be oriented around the state and social policy. Despite their limitations, the book argues that such forms of contestation of government policy currently play a significant role in strategies for redistributing power and resources towards the labouring class, and suggests that they can help to clear the way for more broad-based and fundamental social change.Less
Intended for researchers, students, policymakers and practitioners, this book draws on detailed longitudinal fieldwork in rural south India to analyse the conditions of the rural poor and their patterns of change. Focusing on the three interrelated arenas of production, state, and civil society, it argues for a class-relational approach focused on forms of exploitation, domination and accumulation. The book focuses on class relations, how they are mediated by state institutions and civil society organisations, and how they vary within the countryside, when rural-based labour migrates to the city, and according to patterns of accumulation, caste dynamics, and villages’ levels of irrigation and degrees of remoteness. More specifically it analyses class relations in the agriculture and construction sectors, and among local government institutions, social movements, community-based organisations and NGOs. It shows how the dominant class reproduces its control over labour by shaping the activities of increasingly prominent local government institutions, and by exerting influence over the mass of new community-based organisations whose formation has been fostered by neoliberal policy. The book is centrally concerned with countervailing moves to improve the position of classes of labour. Increasingly informalised and segmented across multiple occupations in multiple locations, India’s ‘classes of labour’ are far from passive in the face of ongoing processes of exploitation and domination. Forms of labouring class organisation are often small-scale and tend to be oriented around the state and social policy. Despite their limitations, the book argues that such forms of contestation of government policy currently play a significant role in strategies for redistributing power and resources towards the labouring class, and suggests that they can help to clear the way for more broad-based and fundamental social change.
Carmelo Pérez-Beltrán and Ignacio Álvarez-Ossorio
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474415286
- eISBN:
- 9781474438551
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474415286.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Middle Eastern Politics
This chapter establishes a general framework that enables to assess the situation of civil society in the MENA region, before and after the Arab Spring.
The Arab Spring undermined many of the ...
More
This chapter establishes a general framework that enables to assess the situation of civil society in the MENA region, before and after the Arab Spring.
The Arab Spring undermined many of the theories that dwelt on the depoliticisation of civil society, its inability to influence the political agenda and the customary use made of it as an instrument of authoritarian regimes. Although this activism appeared to take on new forms, it was not spontaneously generated, but included an accumulation of baggage from the past, in constant relationship and tension with the state; hence, along with associations concerned with charity work and development, there also existed another more critical and politically committed type of organisation, in which the theory of the persistence of authoritarianism had not shown sufficient interest.
Likewise, the Arab Spring questioned the institutionalised, structured, organisational nature of civil society that transitology usually supports. During the uprisings, none of the traditional or formal civil society organisations came to the fore, either in their interventionist (NGOs) or their most contestatory dimensions (human rights organisations, Islamist groups, or more politicised platforms).
Thus, the chapter shows that it is necessary to go beyond a certain reductionist view of what civil society is and to propose another concept, much more dynamic, creative and horizontalist that involves not only hierarchical organisational structures, but also other spaces of mobilisation in which the citizenry can express its social, political and economic commitment.Less
This chapter establishes a general framework that enables to assess the situation of civil society in the MENA region, before and after the Arab Spring.
The Arab Spring undermined many of the theories that dwelt on the depoliticisation of civil society, its inability to influence the political agenda and the customary use made of it as an instrument of authoritarian regimes. Although this activism appeared to take on new forms, it was not spontaneously generated, but included an accumulation of baggage from the past, in constant relationship and tension with the state; hence, along with associations concerned with charity work and development, there also existed another more critical and politically committed type of organisation, in which the theory of the persistence of authoritarianism had not shown sufficient interest.
Likewise, the Arab Spring questioned the institutionalised, structured, organisational nature of civil society that transitology usually supports. During the uprisings, none of the traditional or formal civil society organisations came to the fore, either in their interventionist (NGOs) or their most contestatory dimensions (human rights organisations, Islamist groups, or more politicised platforms).
Thus, the chapter shows that it is necessary to go beyond a certain reductionist view of what civil society is and to propose another concept, much more dynamic, creative and horizontalist that involves not only hierarchical organisational structures, but also other spaces of mobilisation in which the citizenry can express its social, political and economic commitment.
Beate Kohler-Koch
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199674596
- eISBN:
- 9780191756221
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199674596.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
The last chapter addresses the overarching question of the book, that is, whether civil society participation in EU policy-making furthers participative democratic governance. Based on the thorough ...
More
The last chapter addresses the overarching question of the book, that is, whether civil society participation in EU policy-making furthers participative democratic governance. Based on the thorough analysis of the previous empirical chapters, the author comes to a well-balanced though disillusioning conclusion: Despite open consultations and the support given to NGOs, civil society participation achieved little to redress imbalances in the presentation of social interests and did not close the gap in core-periphery interest representation. The engagement of civil society organizations did also not reverse the limited public awareness of EU politics, the distance to the citizens, and the lack of public accountability. More participatory consultations further pluralism in EU lobbying but also have side-effects with dubious democratic implications by favoring centralization and lending legitimacy to unelected bodies.Less
The last chapter addresses the overarching question of the book, that is, whether civil society participation in EU policy-making furthers participative democratic governance. Based on the thorough analysis of the previous empirical chapters, the author comes to a well-balanced though disillusioning conclusion: Despite open consultations and the support given to NGOs, civil society participation achieved little to redress imbalances in the presentation of social interests and did not close the gap in core-periphery interest representation. The engagement of civil society organizations did also not reverse the limited public awareness of EU politics, the distance to the citizens, and the lack of public accountability. More participatory consultations further pluralism in EU lobbying but also have side-effects with dubious democratic implications by favoring centralization and lending legitimacy to unelected bodies.
Alan Kidd and Melanie Tebbutt (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780719090356
- eISBN:
- 9781526124081
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719090356.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This book of essays on British social and cultural history since the eighteenth century draws attention to relatively neglected topics including personal and collective identities, the meanings of ...
More
This book of essays on British social and cultural history since the eighteenth century draws attention to relatively neglected topics including personal and collective identities, the meanings of place, especially locality, and the significance of cultures of association. The essays capture in various ways the cultural meanings of political and civic life, from their expression in eighteenth-century administrative practices, to the evolving knowledge cultures of county historical societies, the imaginative and material construction of place reputations and struggles to establish medical provision for the working-class in the face of entrenched special interests. They also explore the changing relationship between the state and the voluntary sector in the twentieth-century and the role of popular magazines and the press in mediating and shaping popular opinion in an era of popular democracy. It is of interest that several of the essays take Manchester or Lancashire as their focus. Themes range from rural England in the eighteenth century to the urbanizing society of the nineteenth century; from the Home Front in the First World War to voluntary action in the welfare state; from post 1945 civic culture to the advice columns of teenage magazines and the national press. Various aspects of civil society connect these themes notably: the different identities of place, locality and association that emerged with the growth of an urban environment during the nineteenth century and the shifting landscape of public discourse on social welfare and personal morality in the twentieth-century.Less
This book of essays on British social and cultural history since the eighteenth century draws attention to relatively neglected topics including personal and collective identities, the meanings of place, especially locality, and the significance of cultures of association. The essays capture in various ways the cultural meanings of political and civic life, from their expression in eighteenth-century administrative practices, to the evolving knowledge cultures of county historical societies, the imaginative and material construction of place reputations and struggles to establish medical provision for the working-class in the face of entrenched special interests. They also explore the changing relationship between the state and the voluntary sector in the twentieth-century and the role of popular magazines and the press in mediating and shaping popular opinion in an era of popular democracy. It is of interest that several of the essays take Manchester or Lancashire as their focus. Themes range from rural England in the eighteenth century to the urbanizing society of the nineteenth century; from the Home Front in the First World War to voluntary action in the welfare state; from post 1945 civic culture to the advice columns of teenage magazines and the national press. Various aspects of civil society connect these themes notably: the different identities of place, locality and association that emerged with the growth of an urban environment during the nineteenth century and the shifting landscape of public discourse on social welfare and personal morality in the twentieth-century.
Kevin Dougherty
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781628461534
- eISBN:
- 9781626740822
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628461534.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: Civil War
Modern-day nation-builders describe civil society as occupying “the political space between the individual and the government.” It includes a variety of organizations and activities, all of which ...
More
Modern-day nation-builders describe civil society as occupying “the political space between the individual and the government.” It includes a variety of organizations and activities, all of which “contribute to a democratic society and nonviolent political transition from war to peace” by performing a multitude of functions. For many individuals and organizations associated with the Port Royal Experiment, civil society was built upon “the four corner-stones of the church, the school-house, the militia, and the town-meeting,” because it was these institutions that provided for “the essential rights of religion, education, self-defense, and self-government.” Local black preachers and white missionaries, educational efforts such as the Penn School founded by Laura Towne, the recruitment of black soldiers, and the rise of black political consciousness were all part of this process. Through initiatives such as these, civil society made unprecedented, albeit imperfect, progress on the Sea Islands.Less
Modern-day nation-builders describe civil society as occupying “the political space between the individual and the government.” It includes a variety of organizations and activities, all of which “contribute to a democratic society and nonviolent political transition from war to peace” by performing a multitude of functions. For many individuals and organizations associated with the Port Royal Experiment, civil society was built upon “the four corner-stones of the church, the school-house, the militia, and the town-meeting,” because it was these institutions that provided for “the essential rights of religion, education, self-defense, and self-government.” Local black preachers and white missionaries, educational efforts such as the Penn School founded by Laura Towne, the recruitment of black soldiers, and the rise of black political consciousness were all part of this process. Through initiatives such as these, civil society made unprecedented, albeit imperfect, progress on the Sea Islands.
