CHAPTER 5

Global Political Structures and Processes

CIVIL SOCIETY
What is civil society?
the wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit
organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing
the interests and values of their members or others, based
on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or
philanthropic considerations.

A process through which individuals negotiate, argue,

struggle against, or agree with one another and those in
authority.
CIVIL SOCIETY

It is a realm in which people can engage one another more or

less directly and in which they can, among other things, analyze
and criticize their political and economic institutions. People can
do this, and thereby act publicly, by acting through:
 Voluntary Associations
 Movements
 Parties
 Unions
CIVIL SOCIETY
While, historically, civil society was nation‐state‐centered (i.e.
linked to groups and actions within states), in more recent years
it has been associated with more global actions, and therefore
with a somewhat different set of organizations, including:
 Social Movements
 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
 Transnational Networks
 Religious Organizations
 Community groups
Global Civil Society
A global, non‐governmental, pluralistic form of society
composed of interlinked social processes oriented to
civility.

It is an unfinished project that consists of sometimes thick,

sometimes thinly stretched networks, pyramids and hub‐
and‐spoke clusters of socio‐economic institutions and
actors who organize themselves across borders, with the
deliberate aim of drawing the world together in new ways.
Global Civil Society
This definition emphasizes five tightly linked characteristics of global
civil society:
 It is Non-Governmental
 A form of society composed of interlinked social processes
 Oriented to civility (non-violence)
 Pluralistic (including the strong potential to reduce
 Global
Civil Society
While many see civil society as distinct from both the nation‐
state and the market, Keane (2003: 76) puts forth the “‘no
market, no civil society’ rule.” That is, civil society could not
survive without the market, money, and the money economy.
Indeed, there is no clear dividing line between civil society and
the market; the market is embedded in civil society, and vice
versa.
Civil Society
Keane (2003: 78) draws three basic conclusions from this
relationship:
 Markets are an intrinsic empirical feature
 A functionally intertwined prerequisite, of the social relations of
actually existing global civil society
 The market forces of turbocapitalism could themselves not
survive for a day without other civil society institutions, like
households, charities, community associations and linguistically
shared social norms like friendship, trust and cooperation.
International Non‐Governmental
Organizations (INGOS)
INGOs are international not‐for‐profit organizations that
perform public functions but are not established or run by
nation‐states.
INGOs are advocates for any number of things, but they also
“routinely influence the domestic policies of states, participate
in multilateral forums and institutions, promote interstate
cooperation, and facilitate political participation on the part of
governments and the public”
INGOs
Examples:
1. BRAC
2. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders
3. the Skoll Foundation
4. the Danish Refugee Council
5. Oxfam
6. Mercy Corps
7. Grameen Foundation
8. Saúde Criança
INGOs
INGOs have several characteristics that make them invaluable in
the global arena.
• First, they are often grassroots organizations
• Second, they are often more effective in achieving their goals than
other types of organizations
• Third, they are very good at garnering media attention in efforts to
force more formal organizations into action.
INGOs
• A turning point in the history of INGOs occurred in 1992, when a
treaty to control the emission of greenhouse gases was signed as a
result of the actions of a variety of groups that not only exerted
external pressure, but were actually involved in the decision‐making
process.
• One of the most notable successes of INGOs was an international
treaty spearheaded by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
(ICBL). The treaty was signed in 1997 by 122 nations, which agreed to
stop selling and using landmines.
Intergovernmental organizations ( IGOs )
Organizations such as the United Nations that are international in
scope.
IGOs are also affected by the involvement of INGOs. They, too, can
gain symbolically and increase their legitimacy. Further, they can
gain in a material sense, as less bureaucratized INGOs can perform
tasks that would be much more costly, and much slower and more
inefficient, were they performed by the IGO.
IGOs
Examples:
• United Nations (UN)
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)
• Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
• Council of Europe (COE)
•  International Labour Organization (ILO)
• International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)