Role of Civil Society Institution such as Family, Education, media, Religious and Social

Practice etc. in legitimizing and perpetuating this existing Social Order

Introduction:

Civil society helps a person to identify its values and capability and enable to improve the
wellbeing of the society. This civil institution plays a vital role in every individual’s lives
irrespective of caste, class, gender, race etc. but saying all this there are also existing social
practices from this institution as well where a person has to go through challenges/struggles.
Therefore this paper will be an attempt to highlight the existing social order and how the civil
institution should play a role in the mean while.

1. What is Civil Society?

The concept of civil society emerged in the 18th Century, with the influenced of political
theorists from Thomas Paine to George Hegel, who developed the notion of civil society as a
domain parallel to however with separate from the states. The 90’s brought about renewed
interest in civil society, as the trend towards democracy which opened up space for civil society
and the need to fill the gaps in social services created by structural adjustment and other reforms
in developing countries. “civil society is a sphere of social interaction between the household i.e.
family and the state which is manifested in the norms of community cooperate, structures of
voluntary association and networks of public communication, norms are values of trust,
mutuality, tolerance and inclusion which are critical to cooperation and community problem
solving, structure of association refers to the full range of informal and formal organization
through which citizens pursue common interests.”1

2. Role of Civil Society:

It has been recognized as an essential ‘third’ sector. This can have a positive influence on the
state and the market. It is seen therefore as an increasingly important agent for promoting good
governance like transparency, effectiveness, openness, and accountability. It also helps in
enabling citizens to identify and articulate their values, beliefs, civic norms and democratic
practices it helps to develop and improve the wellbeing of the people and the community. 2 Civil
society is formed to achieve selected social objectives independently of the state. These different
organizations are supposed to function for the fulfillment of different social needs.3

3. Family:

1
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019594.pdf (Assessed on 18/09/2017, 8:40 PM).
2
Ibid.
3
Anupam Gupta, “Civil Society and Basic needs in the Public Sector: Economics in India,” in Civil Society in Indian
Cultures, edited by Asha Mukherjee, Sabujkali Sen and K. Bagchi (Washington D.C: Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication, 2001), 96.
The family is the most primary group in society. It is the simplest and the most elementary and
most basic of all social groups. Family is an institution and is universal. It is the most permanent
and pervasive form of all social institution. All societies large or small, primitive or civilized,
ancient or modern have some form of family or the other. Family is a social group of two or
more people who live together and are related by marriage, blood or adoption. Thus, family is
made up of not only husband and wife but also people living together.4

Functions of family:5

i. Procreation:

Every society needs to replace its members. Although reproduction can take place outside the
marital union, it is only the family that can effectively nurture and socialize the human to meet
the needs of society.

ii. Sexual regulation:

No society allows unrestricted promiscuity which means every society has to ensure the status
and roles so that the individuals can function effectively in assigned social positions.

iii. Socialization:

The family is the most important and effective agent of socialization. The human especially the
young generation depend on his/her parents for a long time and where the institution of family is
responsible for initiating the child into the social circles, religious groups, languages and caste.
Thus, the child gets socialized into the group’s values, beliefs and practices.

Family is one of the most important institution as we know apart for any other institution.
It is the family that nurture and shape a person but looking at the society today it is very sad that
many family are seen unfaithful towards each other especially between husband and wife,
children to parents. And one of the prominent structures seen in the family till today is
supporting of caste system, knowing that caste basis bring division in the society but still it
follows even within the family. In fact family should stand for civic rights because every person
has its own rights in terms of socio- political and economic sittings. Therefore, as a family as a
whole it should able to stand for the injustice or bias system of the society. Civil society ensure
each person to maintain dignity towards each other, it ensure rights to the people to have a better
society.

4. Education:

Education is one of the important fields within the civil institution. Better education system will
equalize by diffusing knowledge. When a society does provides the greatest opportunity for

4
M. Francis Abraham, Contemporary sociology (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006), 76.
5
Ibid., 155-159.
education for all it will produce the greatest number of individuals with exceptional usefulness.
An individual have to be trained to create new knowledge and to transmit the society’s cultural
traditions from one generation to another.

Functions of Education:6

i. Socialization:

Socialization begins at home but continues at school. At home children identify the rules with
their parents however in school children are exposed to impersonal rules made by the teachers,
schools. In school they are also in company of children from diverse background so they learn
distinct set of values, norms and attitude.

ii. Cultural Transmission:

Schools play a vital role in transmitting the cultural heritage of society from one generation to
the next. They teach the core values of one’s own culture, also one of the important aspects is
moral education which is a part of the process.

iii. Social Integration:

Social integration is the key function of education. This function is particularly important for the
pluralistic society like India where thousands of caste and many religious and linguistic groups
exist. And it is the education that emphasizes the core value of society such as equality,
nationalism, patriotism, equal reverence to all the religion etc.

Education is one of the important aspects in the life of the people. It educates a person
and gives knowledge of what the reality is. Education begins from schools, colleges, universities
etc. it is through education that one learns what is better and what is bad. However, today
education system is seen declining, and it has given much focus on media education, it become
very easy for the people which it don’t need the hard work of a person. Although one of the
advantages is that it can access to the people who unable to afford the cost but on the other hand
the hard work of a person is not seen in today’s education system.

5. Media:

In the modern context like today media plays a significant role in the socialization process.
Today there is a wide range of programmes available and also an instant transmission of images,
events, styles and fashions from around the world.7 The media plays a vital role in our
understanding of civil society not only as space where information is circulated so that citizen

6
Ibid., 181-184.
7
Ibid., 77-78.
can be well informed but rather as a cultural space where actors and events become typified into
more general codes and more generic story forms which resound the society’s culture.8

Media plays a dominant role in today’s modern era but saying that there are also
drawbacks in it. Although the media helps us in various ways like it keeps informing us what in
the world is happening, it helps us to educate ourselves, it gives us easy access with our friends,
family even though living far away. On the other hand when we critically analysis media it has a
very negative impact especially towards women, which the women is being portrayed as an
object. When we any entertainment programme or any advertisement it is the women who
always being the entertainer and not only that but women are being exposed physically.
Therefore it has a negative side on women although it is for the social interaction but on the other
side it has it’s darker side which need to construct it for the betterment of the society.

6. Religion:

According to Durkheim “religion is a unified system of belief and practices relatives to sacred
things, uniting into a single moral community all those who adhere to those belief and practice.”
In a country like India religious consideration plays a major role in politics, social reforms and
attitude towards socio-economic development. It plays a vital role in politics the BJP which led
the government on at least two occasions is devoted to Hindu nationalism and Hindutva. The
party is dominated by Hindus religious organizations which they try to make a rigid sect or an
exclusive ideology as a universal.9 Religion is truly an important tool to bring social revolution
in any country with profound effect. Therefore the fundamentalist use it as a strong weapon to
propagate religious nationalism in the garb of social revolution. Further, religion also helps us to
make a direct appeal to people for introducing their own ideology by denouncing the other’s
ideology. Today the rise of Hindu extremist based on religious nationalist movement is a treat to
other religious minorities in our country.10

When we say religion first thing that comes to our mind is the faith, belief of the people.
But when we go through it is the religion which brings division among the people of different
faith. Religion and politics has no different today, religion is use as a tool for a politics today it
should be religion that need to bring people together in peace and harmony. Every Indian citizen
is given its rights to propagate any religion although the rights has given but today the rights
become no use where the majority group tries to propagate their own faith to the whole Indians.
Therefore, there is always a communal violence within its jurisdiction.

7. Social Practices:

i. Caste System:
8
“Mass Communication, Ritual and Civil Society,” pdf
9
Ibid
10
Rajanikanta Jena, “The Trend of Hindu Religious Nationalism in India,” in Social Action, Vol. 67 (April- June
2017): 184-185.
The most peculiar of the social institution is the caste system. And this system at once unites and
divides many people which are very exclusive in nature. The caste system as a form of social
stratification peculiar in India, this system is one of the inseparable aspects of the India society.
Caste are a groups with defined boundary of their own, the status of an individual is determined
by his/her birth and not by selection nor by accomplishments. 11 Thus, the reality of caste implies
discrimination on a large scale which takes very cruel and murderous form particularly to the
scheduled castes or Dalit.

ii. Class System:

The use of the word ‘Class’ was originated in the time of industrial revolution which Karl Marx
in whose work class analysis and class struggle occupies a central place. Even in present day the
people had to struggle because of the division of classes in term of social, political, religious and
economic sphere. It is the ruling class that uses the power of exclusion by various means such as
economic power, political power, social status and cultural domination.12

iii. Patriarchy:

Patriarchy is tied to male dominance. Men are regarded as superior to women socially,
politically, religiously etc. although all roles are made up of both rights and responsibility. 13 It is
very dominant even today in every sphere of Indian society it is the woman who is seen weaker
in the society women like wise women are oppressed in many ways which is a threat in our
society. When we look at the church even in church it is existed in which women are not given
an opportunity to be ordained, preach and consider women as only for the household duties. So,
male are seen highly dominant even in the present day reality.

Christian Education and Civil Society:

From the above we have seen the existence social orders that are prevalent in the society. With
the rise of consciousness in civic participation, individual Christians are already given the
legitimacy to participate in the public sphere as citizens. Christian education therefore entails an
enabling process for Christians to participate in the social life as citizen. We Christian as a
community now required to think beyond the church-state paradigm by incorporating into the
emerging civil society which powerfully impacted both the church and the society. The rise of
civil society renders it necessary to work out the boundary and relation between the church and
the society. The working out of the boundary involves legitimation as much as Christian self-
understanding; the church should not be limited within the church set up but it should go beyond,
the church should be considered a part of society.14
11
C. N. Shankar Rao, Sociology (New Delhi: S. Chand & Company LTD, 2000), 289-291.
12
Gabriele Dietrich & Bas Wielenga, Towards Understanding Indian Society (Tiruvalla: Christava Sahitya Samithi,
2003), 51-53.
13
Linda L. Linsdsey, Gender Roles (New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited, 2011), 211-212.
14
Lim Teck Peng, “The Rise of Civil Society and the Fashioning of Christian Agency: An Asian Perspective,” in
Asia Journal of Theology, Vol. 31 (November 1, April 2017): 50-55. (41- 57)
Conclusion:

From the above we have seen the prevalent reality of our society and thus in such a context the
church need to go beyond in the affairs of church. It is very essential that the church need to be
set a good relationship with the society and with the state in order to have a healthy civil society.
It is a challenge for the Christian minister and the church to have an inclusive community in
terms of socio-political and religious sphere of the society.

Bibliography:

Gupta, Anupam “Civil Society and Basic needs in the Public Sector: Economics in India.” In
Civil Society in Indian Cultures. Edited by Asha Mukherjee, Sabujkali Sen and K. Bagchi
Washington D.C: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication, 2001.

Abraham, M. Francis. Contemporary sociology. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Rao, C. N. Shankar. Sociology. New Delhi: S. Chand & Company LTD, 2000.

Dietrich Gabriele & Bas Wielenga. Towards Understanding Indian Society. Tiruvalla: Christava
Sahitya Samithi, 2003.

Linsdsey, Linda L. Gender Roles. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited, 2011.

Journals:

Jena, Rajanikanta “The Trend of Hindu Religious Nationalism in India.” In Social Action, Vol.
67 (April- June 2017): 176-189)

Webliography:

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan019594.pdf

“Mass Communication, Ritual and Civil Society,” pdf