global civil society
How, why, with what extent does civil society participate in global governance?
1. Introduction
This essay discusses the ways in which civil society constitutes global governance and whether its role enhances or weakens the process of democratization within international political and economic system. Since global governance encompasses a broad range of meanings (Weiss 2000), I will particularly refer to international legal, economic and political institutions and structures. My argument is that although growing significance of global civil society has created a political space for the most marginalised social groups, its existence has not yet successfully challenged or radically transformed the underlying unequal power relation embedded within international institutions. Regardless of its promotion of universal moral and ethical values, the mechanism of influential civil society organisations do not necessarily ensure democracy and participation, and therefore do not inherently empower the marginalised and ‘other’ while downplaying the perpetually powerful actors.
Firstly I will briefly provide the definitions and theories of civil society. I will explain the evolution of the civil society from the 19th century to the contemporary world to highlight the changing concepts of the term. The subsequent section analyses to what extent the role of civil society contributes or hinders the process of democratisation of politics at a transnational level. My main focus lies on whether civil society operating at a global scale has strengthened some crucial elements that facilitate democracy, such as transparency, participation and representation. Also I will demonstrate the ways in which global civil society acts as checks and balances of transnational corporations that transcend national and international rules.
Finally, I will briefly reflect my main argument and analysis from the previous chapters. Given that large civil society organisations are likely to
1. Introduction
This essay discusses the ways in which civil society constitutes global governance and whether its role enhances or weakens the process of democratization within international political and economic system. Since global governance encompasses a broad range of meanings (Weiss 2000), I will particularly refer to international legal, economic and political institutions and structures. My argument is that although growing significance of global civil society has created a political space for the most marginalised social groups, its existence has not yet successfully challenged or radically transformed the underlying unequal power relation embedded within international institutions. Regardless of its promotion of universal moral and ethical values, the mechanism of influential civil society organisations do not necessarily ensure democracy and participation, and therefore do not inherently empower the marginalised and ‘other’ while downplaying the perpetually powerful actors.
Firstly I will briefly provide the definitions and theories of civil society. I will explain the evolution of the civil society from the 19th century to the contemporary world to highlight the changing concepts of the term. The subsequent section analyses to what extent the role of civil society contributes or hinders the process of democratisation of politics at a transnational level. My main focus lies on whether civil society operating at a global scale has strengthened some crucial elements that facilitate democracy, such as transparency, participation and representation. Also I will demonstrate the ways in which global civil society acts as checks and balances of transnational corporations that transcend national and international rules.
Finally, I will briefly reflect my main argument and analysis from the previous chapters. Given that large civil society organisations are likely to
Bibliography: Batliwala, S. 2002. Grassroots Movements as Transnational Actors: Implications f or Global Civil Society, in Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Chandhoke, N. 2002. ‘The Limits of Global Civil Society’. Global Civil Society 2002. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cooke, B and Kothari, U. 2001. The case for participation as tyranny, in Cooke, B and Kothari, U Dreano, B. 2012. The Arab awakening: The crisis of dictatorship and civil society. in Kaldor, M., Moore, H.L Frynas, J.G. 2001. Corporate and state responses to anti-oil protests in the Niger Delta Glasius, M. 2008. Does the involvement of global civil society make international decision-making more democratic? The case of the International Criminal Court Kaldor, M. 2003. The Idea of Global Civil Society. International Affairs. 79. 3: 583- 593 Kaldor, M. 2012. Global civil society: ten years of ‘politics from below’. Open Democracy Mercer, C. 2002. NGOs, civil society and democratization: A critical reviews of the literature Oliviero, M.B. and Simmon, A. 2002. Who 's Minding the Store? Global Civil Society and Corporate Responsibility Scholte, J.A. 2010. Civil Society in Multi-Level Governance in H. Enderlein, S. Wälti, and M Weiss,T.G. 2000. Governance, good governance and global governance: conceptual and actual challenges, in Third World Quarterly