The term civil society is derived from the Latin word civil is societies which means associations or communities that work above and beyond the state. Civil society thus consists of a host of institutions that look after the activities, which are not taken up by the state.
These may relate to various religious, cultural, economic and other activities of society. The medieval church of Europe, Hindu Maths, Sikh Gurdwaras, Muslim Mosques, and other religious trusts in India, caste and kinship associations, business, sports, cultural associations, etc., represents the civil society.
It is important that civil society is also referred to for its moral value and authority; as the state is more akin to an administrative unit. Civil society, in opposition to the state, lays the moral foundation of society. It is in this sense that civil society has widely been viewed as an epitome not only of moral authority but also as a bastion of culture against the state, the law and capitalism. However, the dimension of opposition in civil society has been in a state of flux as its relationship with the state, the market and capitalism has not always been the same everywhere and every time. However, today we tend to see civil society as the home of culture, of freedom, of independence, which enables us to rein in the state.
Importantly, Civil society has long been playing a pivotal role in influencing the state’s policy on social welfare, articulating views on current issues, serving as the voice of constructive debate, providing a forum for the exchange of new ideas and information, initiating social movements by way of creating new norms, identities, institutions. Civil society is, together with the state and the market, one of the three spheres that interface in the making of democratic societies.
Civil society is the sphere in which social movements become organised. The organisation of civil society, which represents many diverse and sometimes contradictory social interests, is shaped to fit the social base, constituency, thematic orientations (e.g. environment, gender, human rights) and types of activity. They include church related groups, trade unions, cooperatives, service organisation, community groups and youth organisations as well as academic institutions. Civic involvement has always been an inseparable part of the development process of human society. In Putnam’s argument, higher levels of civil involvement gives rise to “social capital” which in turn makes possible more civic involvement.
In Gramscian sense, civil society is the terrain where the state, the people and the market interact and where people wage war against the hegemony of the market and the state. The status of civil society organisations has been widely explained in terms of their relationship with the state and the market. In Tocqueville’s view, civil society represents a vision of politics and democracy that is non-state centred and that has taken root in contemporary social movements and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
However to the liberals and the neo-liberals, civil society is organised around the market economy as a non-political privatised delivery system for services such as welfare, education, healthcare, clean water and so on. In recent years, there has been a phenomenal proliferation of the civil societies all over the globe. Social scientists have attributed this phenomenon to the crises in the states on the one hand and the market triumph on the other. At times the state is beset with a legitimisation deficit that destroys the conditions of its own stability, paving the way for the civil society.
Notwithstanding such a debate on the pro or anti State stand of civil societies or that of State failure of legitimisation crises, civil societies have been viewed as a force for democratisation, counterweights to the state and economic power and have emerged as alternative vehicles of citizens’ participation at both the national and transnational levels of governance. Their activism and initiatives have also been viewed as a movement for transformation of regional, national and global politics and economics. Many scholars, however, see the civil society beyond the state and market syndrome, as the state and the market contribute something, but not everything towards the cohesion and the dynamics of the society.