Civil Society and Political Change in India

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Civil society, democracy and global governance. 3. Civil society, intercultural dialogue and political activism. 4. The paradox of civil society. 5. Liberal republicanism and the role of civil society. 6. Democracy social capital, civil society and political performance. 7. Civil society in political democratization: social movement impacts and institutional politics. 8. Civil society and peace negotiations: confronting exclusion. 9. The politics of participation: civil society, the state and development. 10. A civil war? Political violence and non-violence in a democracy movement. 11. What civil society can do to reform, deepen and improve democracy. 12. Civil society’s role in the political transition. 13. Role of civil society and political party in current nation. 14. Participatory culture and civil society. 15. Democratic consolidation beyond political crisis. 16. Civil society anti-corruption initiatives. Bibliography. Index.

The concept of civil society in its pre modern classical republican understanding is usually connected to the early modern thought of age of enlightenment in the 18 century. However, it has much older history in the realm of political thought. Generally, civil society has been referred to as a political association governing social conflict through the imposition of rules that restrain citizens from harming one other. In the classical period, the concept was used as a synonym for the good society, and seen as indistinguishable from the state.