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Nearly two decades have passed since the events of the WTO's Seattle Ministerial marked civil society as relevant to global trade politics. Despite this, and as the chapter explains, there remains significant ambiguity as to what is meant by the term 'civil society'. That civil society matters in global trade governance needs to be understood in terms of two inter-related questions: how the WTO Secretariat, and other institutional actors, give recognition to certain groups and individuals; and, why it is that the actors described as 'civil society' seek to contest a governance domain often seemingly closed to their demands.

This article discusses the experience of civil society and social movements inCentral and Eastern Europe both before and after the events of 1989. It showshow the different paths to the development of "civil society" as an organisingconcept in the pre-1989 period impacted on experiences after that date, and relates this to broader theoretical debates on the concept. In particular, it argues that the movements of "un-civil society" often fulfil a more substantial political role than the NGOs of "civil society", for a range of reasons. Thearticle draws on a series of interviews conducted with "alter-globalisation" activists in the region

Uzbekistan has set out on a path of development aimed at building a civil society, and significant changes have taken place in these processes over the past years of independence. Socio-political, economic reforms have radically changed the political system of society, its economic foundations. This article provides a philosophical analysis of the role of youth in the formation of a strong civil society in Uzbekistan.

In recent years, civil society has become the darling of economists, political scientists and policy makers both in the Western and non-Western world. The discourse on the modern concept of civil society in Nepal is fairly new despite the age-old existence of civic practices. But those civic practices of civil society were of a different kind, endowed with different responsibilities, and can hardly be equated with the current notion of civil society. That was a civil society with a limited civic sphere, engaged in indigenous activities which contributed little towards citizenship building. The reason for this was that the civic space was either pre-determined or restricted by the state due to a primitive political structure based on parochial thinking. This might be one of the reasons why civic resurgence did not emerge until political change irrupted in the nineties. The Third Wave of democratization that swept away undemocratic regimes worldwide in fact led to a worldwide growth of civil society. In most cases the wave itself was the repercussion of a worldwide civic resurrection that could not be contained within the borders of nation-states. (.) ; Background The Development of Civil Society as an Idea The Rise of Civil Society as a Political Tool State of Civil Society in Nepal Civil Society as a New Avatar Conclusion References

Authoritarian regimes have traditionally been disinclined to accept any political or social opposition and have been hostile to the development of an independent civil society that could form a counterweight to state power. Article 8 of the Syrian constitution established the Baath party, which has prevented any independent parties from emerging since the 1963 military coup that brought it to power as "the leading party in the state and society." Yet despite this systematic repression, there has been a sustained effort by a small group of intellectuals and critics over the past decade to transform the country's political system and make it more open and accountable. While these activists did not ignite the uprising that has shaken Syria since March 2011, their courageous defiance of Bashar al-Assad's regime has given them high standing among many Syrians. They may yet play a significant role in shaping Syria's future.

After some time in the wilderness, civl society is, once again, back in favour. Braema Mathi traces the incredible journey that it has taken in Singapore and asks what the future has in store.

The article tries to address the concept of civil society from varied perspectives. From a historical point of view, civil society demands not only the absent domination of state but also liberates individuals from the hegemony of state. The article shows that in Indonesia and Malaysian discourse, masyarakat madani is often used to represent the term of civil society. Using this conception, major values of civil society also share with basic ideas within the Medina Treaty in the history of Islam. These ideas include egalitarianism, human rights protection, participation, law and justice enforcement and pluralism. In this frame, the question on whether or not Islam is compatible with the concept of civil society is clearly answered. Muslims could benefit such a concept to build their awareness of being progressive and adaptive to social changes.

The social sciences are bedeviled by terminological promiscuity. Terms and phrases are used at one time in a certain context and later borrowed and applied in different circumstances to somewhat different phenomena. Sometimes different groups of actors or researchers simultaneously use the same term with somewhat different meanings. Such is the use of the term civil society. In this 5th Anniversary of the Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, it is timely to trace the evolution of the idea of civil society to its multiple guises in the present. The paper reviews the term's 18th and 19th century roots, its recent resurrection and the opposing views of civil society, including views that question its applicability to non-western settings. It then discusses prospects for developing agreed approaches to the study of civil society. To guide our thinking the paper presents a brief overview of different approaches to defining civil society taken by some of the major so-called centres for civil society in Australia and internationally. The paper concludes by reflecting on these definitional challenges as it has played out at one particular cross faculty research centre, the University of Technology, Sydney's Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre.

This paper considers the threats that various kinds of populism might be said to pose to the ideal of a civil society that mediates between 'private' and family life and the state. Although it is difficult to generalise about populisms, just about all – whether on left or right – share a hostility to 'intermediate' powers. Of course civil society is exactly what could be called a forum for intermediate powers. In contrast, populists often tend to emphasize a vision of immediate power in the sense of the possibility of the direct expression of the people's will in political institutions. Populists, of whatever pitch, often tend to invoke a partisan state that will be on the side of the people (however defined) rather than a putatively neutral 'liberal' state that stands over and against civil society. These factors make most populisms more or less generically hostile to liberalism, understood not in ideological terms but more as a doctrine which emphasises the necessity of mediating power through institutions. Very often, populism is a threat to the idea of civil society understood as a concept integral to liberal political theory, as a means of balancing the state and its wider interlocutors. In this paper, various means, largely inspired by the writings of Tocqueville on the one hand and Paul Hirst on the other, are suggested for addressing aspects of this predicament.

The overview of various theories allows us to conclude that civil society is an important scientific concept and a multi-layeredphenomenon. Philosophical ethical and cultural paradigm stresses the importance of the personality in civil society initiatives, also ittakes the role of the State as an absolute factor. Civic consciousness and responsibility when linked to education, is broadly understoodas civility. Variety of social systems and their change is interpreted with reservation and in relative terms. Political scientists areinterested in a more narrow aspect of civil society – into its manifestation and development under conditions of the democratic State.For them the basic is concept of interest groups is essential therefore public opinion and public discourse are in the focus of the research.Recently topic of corruption, interpreted as a reflection of the civic values functional in the given society, became very popular amongthe researchers. Sociologists view civil society as a political, social and economic complex. High importance is attributed to suchconcepts as volunteerism, philanthropy, trust, etc. Specialists of public administration base their insights on the background defined bythe above-described theories and try to confer them practical meaning, recognize applicable elements, apt to managerial knowledge,create realistic strategies how to foster civil society that is considered to be an important, positive phenomenon that could be improvedby the legal and managerial instruments.

Civil society has been expressed in the form (model) of the ideal model of the social and political system based on contemplation, justice, land-kinetics and prosperity in the imagination of advancedthinking scientists since ancient times. In particular, Aristotle described the state in the style of the general community of citizens, while Cicero tried to prove the legal equality of people. At this stage of development, civil society is recognized as exactly the same as the state.

There are many components and techniques which are driven by populist radical right parties from top to down. The most important issue can be seen here the populist radical right parties' linkages with civil society organizations, especially NGOs and social movements. Therefore, a question occurs from this point of view; How do populist radical right parties manifest themselves over civil society organizations? Does the relationship lead to a top-down mobilization? To address these questions, I need to determinate my framework about far-right political extremism and its populist manifestations. Mudde identifies the three defining features of populism which are also experienced and used in its far-right extremism version. These are anti­establishment, authoritarianism, and nativism. This three features are also crucial points to understand situation of civil society organizations and which are mobilized and organized from above. In first place; nativist character of populist radical right parties provide an identification for represented people, they declare who is "us" and who is "other", and who is "foe", and who is "enemy". This distinction is important, because the most important base and appeal is derived from here. Implication of this distinction to the relationship between the party-civil society organizations can be observed like who is going to be mobilized? Secondly, this party family also manifests itself with authoritarian attitude and it mostly relies on a charismatic leader. This perspective and political style also determinate how relationship will constitute between party and civil society organizations. This is going to bring a new understanding on civil society, social movements and NGOs' literature. How can we identify it as a democratic governance and organization or what? In other words, is there a new way of politics or formation of civil society? Thirdly, the most important onset of the populist radical right parties are derived from their anti­establishment characteristics. In this sense, they represent the voice of ordinary people. From this point, when populist radical right parties destroy established institutions and intellectual ideas in both society and the state level, it generates the new ones to replace them. The civil society organizations are going to be the most important apparatus during this demolition and reconstruction process. The reason why, they are going to use civil society organizations not as an intermediary institution, but also keeping closer to people. In these sense, how should civil society organizations be analyzed; as an objective and non-political institution, or instruments of the populist radical right parties? To develop deeper understanding and apply established research techniques to conduct my research, I will make an empirical study in Turkey and Hungary. With the abovementioned framework, I will analyze the relationship between the governing JDP (Justice and Development Party) and Anatolian Youth Association in Turkey on the one hand and Fidesz and Civic Circle Movement on the other hand. In this sense, 1 aim to put empirical data on my work which is collected by in-depth interviews in Turkish case and secondary material for Hungarian case.

A hundred and fifty years after his death we continue to be reminded of Virchow's comment: "Do we not always find the diseases of the populace traceable to defects in society"? We continue to seek "defects in society" that need to be remedied if health is to be given its rightful place. Today, more so than ever before, we are reminded that, ultimately, politics played out at the global scale, determines whether people live or die. Civil Society welcomes the opportunity provided by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) to explore these issues in detail. Civil Society has been consistent in arguing for an approach to health that echoes Virchow's famous words.

Secara sederhana model pemahaman Islam universal terekspresi pada dua corak pemikiran mengenai hubungan antara Islam dengan realitas sosial, ekonomi, dan politik. Pertama, adalah model organik yang menghendaki hubungan secara legal-formal antara Islam dengan semua aspek kehidupan manusia. Dalam perspektif model ini, Islam harus terwujud secara formal kelembagaan sebagaimana nampak dalam bentuk seperti partai Islam, sistem ekonomi Islam, dan bahkan negara Islam. Kedua, adalah corak pemikiran yang menghendaki hubungan secara substansial antara Islam dengan semua aspek kehidupan. Islam lebih dilihat pada tataran moral, etik, dan spiritual. Dalam hal ini, Islam tampil secara inklusif.Kebangkitan civil society dimanifestasikan ke dalam beberapa jenis gerakan sosial. Pertama, resistensi simbolik yang meliputi pelbagai aksi tidak langsung untuk mengontrol dominasi negara. Tujuan utarna dari jenis aktivitas ini adalah untuk menampilkan pelbagai keluhan dan gugatan secara simbolik dalam bentuk tulisan, pertunjukan seni, dan diskusi yang bernada kritik. Kedua, resistensi pragmatis yang dilakukan sebagai reaksi langsung terhadap kebijaksanaan pemerintah atau sistem sosial-ekonomi-politik yang sedang berjalan. Resistensi semacam ini biasanya melibatkan ormas, partai politik, dan bahkan mahasiswa (contoh yang actual: demonstrasi penolakan penaikan harga BBM). Ketiga, resistensi simbolik-pragmatis yang merupakan aksi langsung maupun tidak langsung yang menuntut terciptanya situasi sosial-politik yang lebih baik terutama wong cilik dan juga menuntut pengurangan kontrol negara terhadap pelbagai bidang kehidupan masyarakat.

International audience ; This article examines the development, activities and effectiveness of women's NGOs in 10 Central and Eastern European countries. It begins by examining the establishment of women's organizations post-1989, identifying their structure, funding difficulties and the issues on which they focus. It also addresses the tension between the work of NGOs and the wider development of civil society. The article goes on to explore how negative perceptions of feminism have hindered efforts to develop a unified and coherent agenda among women's NGOs. Finally, it analyses how public attitudes have affected relations between women's organizations and women politicians as well as how competition and fragmentation have complicated relationships between NGOs.