Global Civil Society Yearbook

It is a decade since the debut of the landmark Global Civil Society yearbook. During that time, as the yearbook has attempted to debate, map and measure the shifting contours of this contested phenomenon, relationships between state and society have shifted. On both sides promises have been made and broken, expectations raised and shattered, partnerships brokered and roles reversed. Moreover, from the instigation of the International Criminal Court by a coalition of NGOs to the mass protests of civilians across North Africa, the influence of non-state actors has become impossible to discount.

In this anniversary edition, activists and academics look back on ten years of ‘politics from below’, and ask whether it is merely the critical gaze upon the concept that has changed – or whether there is something genuinely new in kind about the way in which civil society is now operating.

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Inspired by the globality of justice concerns in the 21st century, Global Civil Society 2011 focuses on how civil society actors around the world are framing, contesting and promoting ideas about justice, as well as their strategies to tackle the myriad injustices people face. It identifies an important shift in the globalisation of concerns about justice – citizens may claim benefits from the nation state, but increasingly groups interacting globally are collectivizing a sense of injustice.

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Global Civil Society 2009 explores the framing, strategies and impacts of various actors in global civil society on poverty and its eradication. A CSGG collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, and the Centre for Social Investment at Heidelberg University, this edition is published by Sage.

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In its focus on the relationships between civil society activity across the political spectrum, communications and democratic change, Global Civil Society 2007/8 explores how activists and organisations are exploiting the effects of globalisation to create or expand spaces for debate and discussion, often using new forms of communications, even in closed regimes such as Burma, Iran and China.

In addition to a focus on the civil society activity in illiberal regimes, this edition examines the effectiveness of democracy promotion efforts by donor organisations and NGOs in transition countries, and how best to reinvigorate democracy in established democratic societies so that citizens can have a greater say in decisions that affect their lives.

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Suicide bombings, collateral damage, kidnappings and air strikes pepper the lexicon of twenty-first century politics. This title explores the complex relationship between violence, civil society and legitimacy in a unique dialogue that crosses political, cultural and religious boundaries. 

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This edition explores the role of gender in global civil society and investigates the core issues of labour migration, climate change and UN reform. In part three, contributions consider the impact of social forums and wireless technology, as well as reviewing the discussion of networks from the 2004/5 Yearbook.

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The emergence of what Mary Kaldor calls 'a new kind of global politics' has implications for sovereignty and democracy. Hilary Wainwright identifies the conditions in which global civil society can strengthen and reinvigorate local democracy. In contrast, Kenneth Anderson and David Rieff question global civil society's claim to represent world opinion, arguing that the hotchpotch of environmental groups, feminist networks and human rights activists are merely undemocratic and unaccountable 'social movement missionaries.'

This edition includes a wealth of data on globalisation, the rule of law, NGO growth, values and attitudes, governance, civil liberties and a chronology of the myriad protests, conferences and campaigns that are the sinews of global civil society.

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As evidenced by the immense global mobilization against the war on Iraq, which arguably influenced the actions of government leaders, global civil society is now established as a major player on the international stage. This yearbook is the standard work on the topic, useful for social scientists and activists working on globalization from below. 

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Engaging in fundamental and topical debates about global civil society, giving more explicit attention this year to the role of civil society in different political and cultural contexts around the world, focusing in particular on the various impacts of September 11 on global civil society.

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In the first of the yearbooks, the book discusses and clarifies the term "global civil society" and at the same time give a voice to civil society in the process of globalisation and helping to humanise and democratise this process.

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