Civil Society: The Critical History of an idea
- 2nd. ed
- New Delhi Sage publication 2018
- 333
This new edition of Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea provides a comprehensive discussion on and analysis of two and a half millennia of Western political theory, as well as what answer the future may hold for how civil society might be understood. John Ehrenberg analyzes both the usefulness and 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, the book provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities of what this increasingly important idea can, or cannot, offer to contemporary political affairs. Ehrenberg specifically considers how major events such as 9/11 and the global financial crisis, economic inequality, and rapidly advancing technologies alter and shape our relationship with contemporary civil society.Civic engagement, political participation, and volunteerism in contemporary life have faded, he argues, and to bring civil society—and all its virtues—back to the fore, we need to counter the suffocating inequality that has taken root in recent years. Thorough and accessible, Civil Society gives a sweeping overview of a foundational part of political life.
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