Civil Society

With the advent of globalization, and the hegemonic dominance of the market-based paradigm of neoliberalism, the term civil society has been increasingly popular, particularly in discussions of sustainability and social change in the developing world. Civil society refers to the sector of society existing separate and apart from the state while lying between the state and the individual, or family. Civil society consists of voluntary, or nonmarket, organizations; accordingly, corporations are not part of civil society. The term does not include political parties, which are more closely tied to attempts to influence the state. A variety of organizations, some as seemingly mundane as sport clubs and social associations, constitute civil society; the two most notable and important types are grassroots (or “people's”) organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The former represent groups of people, such as the urban poor, fisherfolk, and peasant groups, mobilized to pursue a specific cause; the latter are organizations possessing specialized skills, and knowledge, engaging in advocacy at a regional, national, or even international level. NGOs often act on behalf of grassroots organizations. The widespread acceptance of neoliberal policies has led to a profusion of civil society for two reasons. First, many civil society groups provide services for the poor and marginalized (such as soup kitchens and food banks) that were formerly provided by the state; second, many NGOs have come into existence to campaign against development projects (such as large-scale mines or hydroelectric dams) that have the potential to displace the poor and impinge on the environmental resources required for their subsistence. Some components of civil society also engage in advocacy against neoliberalism in general, with its attendant structural adjustment policies, as well as targeting specific projects.

The expansion of low-cost, high-quality telecommunications has greatly assisted the spread of civil society throughout the world. Communications media such as satellite, Internet access, and text messaging have given grassroots organizations in developing regions of the world immediate access to their NGO partners in the developed regions of the world. Such communication allows a prompt diffusion of news affecting people (e.g., environmental accidents) while also making campaign responses to these events easier.

Another event further assisting the global spread of civil society is the World Social Forum. Since its 2001 inception in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the World Social Forum has met at roughly the [Page 415]same time as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Meeting under the mantra of “Another World Is Possible,” it has facilitated a veritable “clearing house” of information for civil society. Disparate groups, such as Peruvian campesinos, sub-Saharan herders, or Filipino fisherfolk, can meet and coordinate their campaigns, against multinational mining companies or genetically modified organisms, with NGOs from developed countries.

Civil society has its critics. Many allege that unlike corporations (which are accountable to their shareholders) or governments (which are accountable to voters), these organizations act in an accountability vacuum and can do as they wish. It is also alleged that NGOs are dominated by members of elite classes who manipulate their grassroots clientele to serve their own agendas and cater only to their donors, rather than being concerned with the interests of those they “represent.” Critics of NGOs argue that as funding causes and recipient countries become more or less fashionable among donor groups, NGOs come and go in pursuit of donor funding; meanwhile, marginalized people who are affected by unfashionable causes and live in unfashionable countries are left mired in poverty. Such criticism has been leveled against the world social forum in particular, as some allege that it has become a “festival” for NGOs, where they meet with each other, while the grassroots, whom they represent, are bypassed and excluded.

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