Gendered Radicalism and Civil Society: What Can Democratic Theorists Learn from Southern White Ladies?

In: Polity: the journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Band 34, Heft 3, S. 393-407

Abstract

A review essay on books by (1) John Ehrenberg, Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea (New York: New York U Press, 1999); (2) Elizabeth R. Varon, We Mean to Be Counted: White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia (Chapel Hill: U North Carolina Press, 1998); & (3) Judith N. McArthur, Creating the New Woman: The Rise of Southern Women's Progressive Culture in Texas, 1893-1981 (Urbana & Champaign: U Illinois Press, 1998). These works explore the notion of civil society, particularly in relation to the evolution of women's political participation in the southern US following the Civil War. Ehrenberg problematizes contemporary theory that reduces democracy to an active civil society, identifying several theoretically & politically troublesome conceptual areas. He argues that civil society cannot be considered autonomous from the state & the market, but interacts actively with these realms; the role of the state in stimulating volunteer activity & grassroots organizations is demonstrated. Ehrenberg's neglect of nonpolitical forms of participation in civil society is criticized. Such participation is exemplified by the civic engagement of southern women in the late 19th century. Varon demonstrates the active role of middle- & upper-class women of antebellum VA in civic & political life, though she avoids using the terminology of civil society. McArthur documents how women's early benevolence work was transformed into a full-fledged politicized movement of "gendered radicalism" in Progressive-era TX. Both these latter books demonstrate the contribution of women to the creation of the modern state & the contribution of voluntary associations/organizations -- even if primarily social -- to democratic society. K. Hyatt Stewart