Global Civil Society? (Contemporary Political Theory Series) by John Keane, Russell Hardin (Editor), Ian Shapiro (Editor)

From the Publisher

Amid fears of terrorism, rising tides of xenophobia, and protests, John Keane explores the contradictory arguments and traces the historical origins, contemporary meanings and political potential of globalization. Defending the idea of a global civil society, Keane stresses the need for new democratic ways of living and demonstrates how it is linked with such developments as turbocapitalism, social movements and the political institutions of "cosmocracy." Keane's provocative reflections in Global Civil Society? draw upon a variety of scholarly sources and offer a fresh perspective on contemporary political thinking and new global problems. John Keane was born in Australia and educated at the Universities of Adelaide, Toronto and Cambridge. He is Professor of Politics at the University of Westminster. In 1989, he founded the Centre for the Study of Democracy. His most recent work is a study of power, Václav Havel: A Political Tragedy in Six Acts (Basic Books, 1999). His other books include Civil Society: Old Images, New Visions (Stanford, 1998), Democracy and Civil Society (Verso Books, 1998), Reflections on Violence (Verso Books, 1996), the prizewinning Tom Paine: A Political Life (Little Brown, 1995), and The Media and Democracy (Blackwell, 1991). He has been awarded many fellowships and research grants and has lectured throughout the world; he often appears on radio and television and is a regular contributor to The Times Literary Supplement. Currently he is writing a full-scale history of democracy.

Foreign Affairs

"Global civil society" refers to the vast assemblage of groups operating across borders and beyond the reach of governments. Whether such organizations constitute a new, increasingly autonomous realm or are merely artifacts of Western liberal society is widely debated. Keane, in this sophisticated exploration of an ambiguous and politically contested phenomenon, argues that a global civil society is taking shape but that its character and implications for the older state system remain unclear. The sheer heterogeneity of groups, activities, and networks that make up global civil society — nonprofits, businesses, social movements, tourists, academics, artists, cultural performers, ethnic and linguistic groups, and so forth — threatens to make the term a description of everything and nothing. Keane nonetheless insists that this sprawling rumble does indeed function as a society — or a "society of societies" — with rules and norms of conduct. He admits, however, that global civil society is still an evolving, open-ended civic sphere whose importance will depend on its ability to become more democratic, better integrated into governance institutions, and invested with universal values.

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• Table of Contents

Table of Contents