Global civil society : contested futures / edited by David Chandler and Gideon Baker. - London ; New York : Routledge, 2005. - xi, 205 p. ; 24 cm. - Routledge advances in international relations and global politics ; 32 . - Routledge advances in international relations and global politics 32. .

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: global civil society and future of world politics / Global civil society – contesting current trends -- Global civil society: analytical category or normative concept? / Cosmocracy and global civil society / The demoralised subject of global civil society / The changing role of global civil society / Contextualising the 'anti-capitalism' movement in global civil society / Global civil society – contesting future possibilities -- The idea of global civil society / Saying global civil society with rights / Global civil society: thinking politics and progress / Constructing global civil society / Global civil society and global governmentality: resistance, reform or resignation? / Global civil society as politics of faith / Gideon Baker and David Chandler -- Alejandro Colás -- John Keane -- Vanessa Pupavac -- Richard Falk -- James Heartfield -- Mary Kaldor -- Gideon Baker -- Kimberly Hutchings -- David Chandler -- Ronnie D. Lipschutz -- Volker Heins. Pt. 1. Ch. 1. Ch. 2. Ch. 3. Ch. 4. Ch. 5. Pt. 2. Ch. 6. Ch. 7. Ch. 8. Ch. 9. Ch. 10. Ch. 11.

For many commentators, global civil society is revolutionizing our approach to global politics, as new non-state-based and border-free expressions of political community challenge territorial sovereignty as the exclusive basis for political community and identity. This challenge 'from below' to the nation-state system is increasingly seen as promising nothing less than a reconstruction, or a re-imagination, of world politics itself. Whether in terms of the democratization of the institutions of global governance, the spread of human rights across the world, or the emergence of a global citizenry in a world-wide public sphere, global civil society is understood by many to provide the agency necessary to these hoped-for transformations.

Global Civil Society asks whether this idea is such a qualitatively new phenomenon after all; whether the transformation of the states' system is actually within its reach; and what some of its drawbacks might be. This collection brings together and clarifies emerging positions on global civil society and the key points of overlap and disagreement between them. The authors explore and critically evaluate a variety of perspectives: the cosmopolitan vision; the view of global civil society as transnational movements advocating a growing moralization of world politics; the neo-Gramscian approach and the more skeptical views, advancing new possibilities for understanding the role of non-state actors in global politics.

This book brings together for the first time the whole range of established and alternative voices on global civil society, both congratulatory and critical, to set a marker for the state of the debate about global civil society today. Many of the authors provide new perspectives on what global civil society means today. This book will prove invaluable for students and researchers in the fields of International Politics, Democratization and Civil Society.

0415354803


Globalization
Civil society
Non-governmental organizations
World politics--1989-

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