L’idée de société civile mondiale
The essay explores the evolution of the idea of global civil society and the ways in which it challenges classic concepts of international relations, conceived as relations primarily between states. It starts with a brief sketch of the changing meaning of civil society since the early modern thinker...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Université Catholique de Louvain
2007-04-01
|
| Series: | Recherches Sociologiques et Anthropologiques |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/rsa/517 |
| Summary: | The essay explores the evolution of the idea of global civil society and the ways in which it challenges classic concepts of international relations, conceived as relations primarily between states. It starts with a brief sketch of the changing meaning of civil society since the early modern thinkers. More recently, the concept has been reinvented simultaneously in Latin America and Eastern Europe in the 1980s as both a withdrawal from the state and a move towards global rules and institutions. The idea has changed again in the 1990s with the rise of three competing meanings : the activist, the neo-liberal and the post-modernist versions. The essay then considers trough some of the current criticisms of the concept of global civil society, notably concerning the withdrawal of the state and its normative content. Finally, it discusses how has the idea of global civil society has been affected by September 11th. Strengthening global civil society and international rules may constitute a way out of the current impasse between terror and war on terror, and provides opportunities to enhance the ability of people to influence the decisions that affect their lives. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1782-1592 2033-7485 |