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SOUTH AFRICA IS APPROACHING THE BEGINNING OF ITS THIRD YEAR OF DEMOCRATIC RULE. THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES SOME QUESTIONS: 1) WHAT KINDS OF STRAINS WILL THE COUNTRY'S INHERITED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS PLACE ON THE POLITICAL SYSTEM? 2) TO WHAT EXTENT WILL THE NATION'S CIVIL SOCIETY BE ABLE TO MEET THE NUMEROUS CHALLENGES IT NOW FACES AND HELP INSTITUTIONALIZE THE NEW DEMOCRATIC REGIME? IT NOTES THAT IF SOUTH AFRICA CAN MAKE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IT STANDS AN EXCELLENT CHANCE OF SEEING ITS NEW REGIME TAKE ROOT AND FLOURISH.

The use of the concept of "global civil society" (GCS) acknowledges the intensifying role of non-state civic actors in world politics and expresses the emergence of a unique social sphere transcending national boundaries. Extensive literatures strive to suggest conceptualizations and assessments of the actual and desired effects of GCS. Nevertheless, relatively little attention has been given to the interplay between the emerging sphere of a GCS and the traditional sphere of international or interstate interactions. This article examines the idea of GCS through an exploration of the conceptual interplay between the notions of GCS and the interstate system. It presents a typology of three possible ideal-type relations: (1) GCS as replacement of statist features of the international system; (2) GCS as opposition to the state system; and (3) GCS as subsidiary organ to the international society. From a perspective informed by the English School of international relations theory, the article argues that the enhanced role of GCS in world politics is a result of international society's attempts to adapt interstate rules and practices to the context of globalization.

L'analyse de la production sociologique au Québec, de 1945 à 1980, ne saurait être entreprise sans faire référence à la transformation des conditions generates d'enonciation qu'a connue la société québécoise durant la période. On peut schématiquement regrouper cette sociographie en quatre courants distincts. Le premier, de 1945 à 1960, se donne comme un savoir critique dc l'adaptation illustrant l'inadéquation de la référence au traditionalisme. Le début des années soixante marque le passage à la dominance d'une forme de la représentation présentant désormais le Québec comme une société politique. Une sociologie fonctionnelle de l'adaptation se développe dés lors, liée à la mise en place de L'État keynésien. Les années soixante‐dix voient au contraire l'affirmation d'une sociologie de l'émancipation. Divisée en deux courants antagonistes, culturaliste et politiste, cette sociologie travaille à la redéfinition d'une société québécoise dorénavant soumise aux pleines déterminations de la modernité.The modernity of sociological production in Québec from 1945 to 1980 cannot be attempted without referring to the transformation in the general conditions of Québec's expression of itself as a society during this period. We can regroup this sociography schematically into four distinct approaches: the first, from 1945 to 1960, presented itself as a form of critical knowledge of adaptation which illustrated the inadequacy of references to traditionalism. The beginning of the 1960s marked the transition towards the predominance of a representational form which thereafter presented Québec as a political society. In the third tendency a functionalist sociology, linked to the consolidation of the Keynesian state, took root. The 1970s saw in contradistinction the affirmation of a sociology of emanicipation. Divided between two mutually antagonistic approaches, culturalist and political, Québec sociology is working towards the redefinition of a Québecois society henceforth caught in the determining web of modernity.

Civil society is widely considered as a crucial element in contemporary society. Academics and policy makers have traditionally associated it with voluntary associations and organizations, assuming that associational life is an ideal intermediary between citizens and government. While members of associations form large social networks, which they can mobilize at critical moments, the conviviality of group sociability fosters the development of a set of common values, such as a democratic political culture and other civic virtues. Its origins are generally situated in the eighteenth century, and are mostly attributed to secularization, Enlightenment thinking, the birth of the "public sphere," and growing emancipation from oppressive structures such as the church and the state.

Civil society, globalisation and the state: the NGOisation of the public sphere -- Poverty, global civil society and international aid -- Global civil society and NGOs -- Anti-globalisation and world development -- World poverty, social policy and Poor Law politics -- Conclusion -- References -- Index.