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Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction: Inequality and Democracy's Uncertain Future -- Part I. The Origins of Civil Society -- 1. Civil Society and the Classical Heritage -- The Danger of Private Interest -- The Mixed Polity -- Civil Society and the Res Publica -- 2. Civil Society and the Christian Commonwealth -- Pride, Faith, and the State -- The Christian Commonwealth -- Early Fractures -- 3. Civil Society and the Transition to Modernity -- Virtue and Power -- Civil Society and the Liberated Conscience -- Sovereignty, Interest, and Civil Society -- Part II. Civil Society and Modernity -- 4. Civil Society and the Rise of "Economic Man" -- Rights, Law, and Protected Spheres -- The Moral Foundations of Civil Society -- The Emergence of Bourgeois Civil Society -- 5. Civil Society and the State -- Civil Society and the Ethical Commonwealth -- The "Giant Broom" -- The "System of Needs" -- The Politics of Social Revolution -- 6. Civil Society and Intermediate Organizations -- The Aristocratic Republic -- Civil Society and Community -- The Customs of Civil Society -- American Lessons -- Part III. Civil Society in Contemporary Life -- 7. Civil Society and the Crisis of Communism -- Antistatism and Totalitarianism -- Socialist Civil Society -- Reaching the Limits -- Global Civil Society -- 8. Civil Society and the United States -- Factions, Pluralism, and the Market Model -- Hegemony and the Commodified Public Sphere -- Strategies of Renewal -- Conclusion: Pessimism, Activism, and Political Revival -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

A comprehensive discussion and analysis of two and a half millennia of Western political theoryIn the absence of noble public goals, admired leaders, and compelling issues, many warn of a dangerous erosion of civil society, which includes families, religious organizations, and all other NGOs. Are they right? What are the roots and implications of their insistent alarm? How can public life be enriched in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy, and unprecedented levels of contempt for politics? How should we be thinking about civil society? In Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea, John Ehrenberg analyzes both the usefulness and the limitations of civil society and maps the political and theoretical evolution of the concept and its employment in academic and public discourse. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Black Lives Matter and the Occupy movement, Ehrenberg provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities of what this increasingly important idea can, and cannot, offer to contemporary political affairs. In this new, second edition Ehrenberg brings the historical overview up to present day, specifically considering how major events such as 9/11, the global financial crisis, economic inequality, and rapidly advancing technologies alter and shape our relationship to contemporary civil society. Civic engagement, political participation, and volunteerism in contemporary life has faded, he argues, and in order to bring civil society--and all its virtues--back to the fore, we need to counter the suffocating inequality that has taken hold in recent years. Thorough and accessible, Civil Society gives a sweeping overview of a foundational part of political life.