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Civil Disobedience and Other Essays (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy)
by Henry David ThoreauPhilosopher, naturalist, poet and rugged individualist, Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) has inspired generations of readers to think for themselves, to follow the dictates of their own conscience and to make an art of their lives. This representative sampling of his thought includes five of his most frequently cited and read essays: "Civil Disobedience," his most powerful and influential political essay, exalts the law of conscience over civil law. "Life without Principle" distills the essence of Thoreau's philosophy of self-reliance and individualism. "Slavery in Massachusetts" is a searing attack on government condonation of slavery. "A Plea for Captain John Brown" is an eloquent defense of the radical abolitionist, while "Walking" celebrates the joys of that activity and pleads for conservation of the earth's wild places. The latter essay is recognized as one of the pioneer documents in the conservation and national park movement in America.
Civil Disobedience from Nepal to Norway: Traditions, Extensions, and Civility (Ethics, Human Rights and Global Political Thought)
by Tapio Nykänen Tiina Seppälä Petri KoikkalainenThis volume explores the shifts in how civil disobedience has come to be theorized, defined, understood, and practised in contemporary politics. As social activism takes increasingly global forms, the goals of individuals and groups who view themselves as disobedient activists today can be defined in broader cultural terms than before, and their relationship to law and violence can be ambiguous. Civil disobedience may no longer be entirely nonviolent, its purposes no longer necessarily serve progressive or emancipatory agendas. Its manifestations often blur the lines established in “classic”, philosophically justified, and self-regulatory forms as epitomised in mass nonviolent protests of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King and theories of Arendt, Rawls and Dworkin. How civil disobedience operates has changed over the years, and this volume unpacks its many contemporary lives. It discusses new theoretical and political dilemmas and paradoxes through empirical cases and practical examples from Europe, the United States, and South Asia, which enables a “mirroring” perspective for the challenges and complexities of civil disobedience in different parts of the world. Bringing together innovative and introspective perspectives on people and protests in contemporary political contexts, this volume will be of great interest to scholars and philosophers of political science, international relations theory, political philosophy, peace and conflict studies, sociology, and cultural studies.
Civil Disobedience in Focus (Philosophers in Focus)
by Hugo Adam BedauThe issues surrounding civil disobedience have been discussed since at least 399 BC and, in the wake of such recent events as the protest at Tiananmen Square, are still of great relevance. By presenting classic and current philosophical reflections on the issues, this book presents all the basic materials needed for a philosophical assessment of the nature and justification of civil disobedience. The pieces included range from classic essays by leading contemporary thinkers such as Rawls, Raz and Singer. Hugo Adam Bedau's introduction sets out the issues and shows how the various authors shed light on each aspect of them.
Civil Disobedience in Global Perspective: Decency and Dissent over Borders, Inequities, and Government Secrecy (Studies in Global Justice #16)
by Michael AllenThis book explores a hitherto unexamined possibility of justifiable disobedience opened up by John Rawls' Law of Peoples. This is the possibility of disobedience justified by appeal to standards of decency that are shared by peoples who do not otherwise share commitments to the same principles of justice, and whose societies are organized according to very different basic social institutions. Justified by appeal to shared decency standards, disobedience by diverse state and non-state actors indeed challenge injustices in the international system of states. The book considers three case studies: disobedience by the undocumented, disobedient challenges to global economic inequities, and the disobedient disclosure of government secrets. It proposes a substantial analytical redefinition of civil disobedience in a global perspective, identifying the creation of global solidarity relations as its goal. Michael Allen breaks new ground in our understanding of global justice. Traditional views, such as those of Rawls, see justice as a matter of recognizing the moral status of all free and equal person as citizens in a state. Allen argues that this fails to see things from the global perspective. From this perspective disobedience is not merely a matter of social cooperation. Rather, it is a matter of self determination that guarantees the invulnerability of different types of persons and peoples to domination. This makes the disobedience by the undocumented justified, based on the idea that all persons are moral equals, so that all sovereign peoples need to reject dominating forms of social organization for all persons, and not just their own citizens. In an age of mass movements of people, Allen gives us a strong reason to change our practices in treating the undocumented. James Bohman, St Louis University, Danforth Chair in the Humanities This monograph is an important contribution to our thinking on civil disobedience and practices of dissent in a globalized world. This is an era where non-violent social movements have had a significant role in challenging the abuse of power in contexts as diverse, yet interrelated as the Arab Spring protests and the Occupy protests. Moreover, while protests such as these speak to a local political horizon, they also have a global footprint, catalyzing a transnational dialogue about global justice, political strategy and cosmopolitan solidarity. Speaking directly to such complexities, Allen makes a compelling case for a global perspective regarding civil disobedience. Anyone interested in how the dynamics of non-violent protest have shaped and reshaped the landscape for democratic engagement in a globalized world will find this book rewarding and insightful. Vasuki Nesiah, New York University
Civil Disorder, Domestic Terrorism and Education Policy: The Context in England and France
by Jonathan S. James Jan Germen JanmaatThis book explores the links between education policy and occurrences of civil disorder and domestic terrorism in England and France. Since 2001, both England and France have experienced outbreaks of rioting in which young people of immigrant origin have been implicated: both have also been the targets of domestic terror attacks perpetrated by their own citizens. Both countries have had similar experiences of immigration since the end of the Second World War, but they are considered to have taken divergent approaches to immigrant integration and education. While Britain has tended towards a multicultural race relations approach, France veers towards a Republican assimilationist approach. Through the analysis of policy discourse and documents, the authors seek to establish whether these distinct approaches to immigrant integration and education policy have been maintained or whether they are converging. This book will appeal to students and scholars of education policy as well as immigration and integration in both France and England.
Civil Passions: Moral Sentiment and Democratic Deliberation
by Sharon R. KrauseMust we put passions aside when we deliberate about justice? Can we do so? The dominant views of deliberation rightly emphasize the importance of impartiality as a cornerstone of fair decision making, but they wrongly assume that impartiality means being disengaged and passionless. In Civil Passions, Sharon Krause argues that moral and political deliberation must incorporate passions, even as she insists on the value of impartiality. Drawing on resources ranging from Hume's theory of moral sentiment to recent findings in neuroscience, Civil Passions breaks new ground by providing a systematic account of how passions can generate an impartial standpoint that yields binding and compelling conclusions in politics. Krause shows that the path to genuinely impartial justice in the public sphere--and ultimately to social change and political reform--runs through moral sentiment properly construed. This new account of affective but impartial judgment calls for a politics of liberal rights and democratic contestation, and it requires us to reconceive the meaning of public reason, the nature of sound deliberation, and the authority of law. By illuminating how impartiality feels, Civil Passions offers not only a truer account of how we deliberate about justice, but one that promises to engage citizens more effectively in acting for justice.
Civil Religion
by Ronald BeinerCivil Religion offers philosophical commentaries on more than twenty thinkers stretching from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. It examines four important traditions within the history of modern political philosophy. The civil religion tradition, principally defined by Machiavelli, Hobbes and Rousseau, seeks to domesticate religion by putting it solidly in the service of politics. The liberal tradition pursues an alternative strategy of domestication by seeking to put as much distance as possible between religion and politics. Modern theocracy is a militant reaction against liberalism, reversing the relationship of subordination asserted by civil religion. Finally, a fourth tradition is defined by Nietzsche and Heidegger. Aspects of their thought are not just modern, but hyper-modern, yet they manifest an often-hysterical reaction against liberalism that is fundamentally shared with the theocratic tradition. Together, these four traditions compose a vital dialogue that carries us to the heart of political philosophy itself.
Civil Religion in Modern Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Tocqueville
by Steven Frankel Martin D. YaffeInspired by Machiavelli, modern philosophers held that the tension between the goals of biblical piety and the goals of political life needed to be resolved in favor of the political, and they attempted to recast and delimit traditional Christian teaching to serve and stabilize political life accordingly. This volume examines the arguments of those thinkers who worked to remake Christianity into a civil religion in the early modern and modern periods.Beginning with Machiavelli and continuing through to Alexis de Tocqueville, the essays in this collection explain in detail the ways in which these philosophers used religious and secular writing to build a civil religion in the West. Early chapters examine topics such as Machiavelli’s comparisons of Christianity with Roman religion, Francis Bacon’s cherry-picking of Christian doctrines in the service of scientific innovation, and Spinoza’s attempt to replace long-held superstitions with newer, “progressive” ones. Other essays probe the scripture-based, anti-Christian argument that religion must be subordinate to politics espoused by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume, both of whom championed reason over divine authority. Crucially, the book also includes a study of civil religion in America, with chapters on John Locke, Montesquieu, and the American Founders illuminating the relationships among religious and civil history, acts, and authority. The last chapter is an examination of Tocqueville’s account of civil religion and the American regime.Detailed, thought-provoking, and based on the careful study of original texts, this survey of religion and politics in the West will appeal to scholars in the history of political philosophy, political theory, and American political thought.
Civil Religion in Modern Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Tocqueville
by Martin D. Yaffe Steven FrankelInspired by Machiavelli, modern philosophers held that the tension between the goals of biblical piety and the goals of political life needed to be resolved in favor of the political, and they attempted to recast and delimit traditional Christian teaching to serve and stabilize political life accordingly. This volume examines the arguments of those thinkers who worked to remake Christianity into a civil religion in the early modern and modern periods.Beginning with Machiavelli and continuing through to Alexis de Tocqueville, the essays in this collection explain in detail the ways in which these philosophers used religious and secular writing to build a civil religion in the West. Early chapters examine topics such as Machiavelli’s comparisons of Christianity with Roman religion, Francis Bacon’s cherry-picking of Christian doctrines in the service of scientific innovation, and Spinoza’s attempt to replace long-held superstitions with newer, "progressive" ones. Other essays probe the scripture-based, anti-Christian argument that religion must be subordinate to politics espoused by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume, both of whom championed reason over divine authority. Crucially, the book also includes a study of civil religion in America, with chapters on John Locke, Montesquieu, and the American Founders illuminating the relationships among religious and civil history, acts, and authority. The last chapter is an examination of Tocqueville’s account of civil religion and the American regimeDetailed, thought-provoking, and based on the careful study of original texts, this survey of religion and politics in the West will appeal to scholars in the history of political philosophy, political theory, and American political thought.
Civil Rights and Security (The International Library of Essays on Rights)
by David DyzenhausThis collection of previously published work on security and rights focuses on the appropriate relationship between rights and what we can think of as counterterrorism policy. Such a focus might seem both necessary, because of 9/11, and unfortunate, because there are other causes of insecurity besides terrorism. However, the intensity of the 'war on terror' has created an ongoing surge of scholarship on the relationship between security and human rights that either has indirect implications for debates about security where terrorism is not in issue, or has directly led to an attempt to rethink more generally the idea of security and its relationship to rights.
Civil Society
by Howard J. WiardaUsing case studies from sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and including such critical countries as South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, and Egypt, Civil Society focuses on the processes and politics of dismantling "corporate" (state directed) economies and political systems in the Third World in order to move toward civil societies of free associability and democracy and the limits and pitfalls in this approach.
Civil Society and Democracy Promotion
by Timm Beichelt Irene Hahn-Fuhr Frank Schimmelfennig Susann WorschechWith contributions from experts on democracy promotion, this volume examines civil society development and external civil society promotion in post-socialist Europe. It focuses on countries with a failed or deficient process of democratic consolidation looking at unintended consequences of external democracy promotion on civil society development.
Civil Society and Democratic Theory: Alternative Voices (Routledge Innovations in Political Theory)
by Gideon BakerThis book introduces radically alternative models of civil society that have been developed outside the liberal democratic frame of reference, models which suggest that civil society does offer new and non-statist democratic possibilities. Drawing on a wide range of civil society theory-practice from Eastern Europe and Latin America (including the Zapatistas in Mexico), and from visions of global civil society too, this book is uniquely positioned to consider the questions posed by these alternative voices for democratic theory and practice. * Are there alternatives to the liberal democratic vision of civil society? * Is a democracy located in civil society rather than the state either possible or desirable?* How and why has the concept of civil society come to be used so widely today?* Can global civil society further the struggle for democracy initiated by national civil societies?
Civil Society and Electoral Accountability in Latin America
by Sharon F. LeanWhat is the role of civic associations in generating electoral accountability, and how do efforts by national groups to ensure free and fair elections advance democratic consolidation? Lean advances our understanding of how civic activism can strengthen election processes and provides new insight into role of elections for democratic consolidation.
Civil Society And Governance In China
by Jianxing Yu Sujian GuoWritten by scholars from both inside and outside China, this wide-ranging collection of essays explores the complexity of the relationship between governance and civil society by combining theoretical exploration and empirical case studies based on the governance practice in China.
Civil Society and Government
by Nancy L. Rosenblum Robert C. PostThis volume portrays the relation between civil society and government as seen from a variety of perspectives in political theory. Our compass is not exhaustive, but it is unusually inclusive. These essays discuss civil society and government from the point of view of classical liberalism, egalitarian liberalism, critical theory, feminism, natural law theory, Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism, Islam and Confucianism. Our goal is comparative; we wish to provide the materials for assessing how theorists from diverse political and religious traditions understand the relationship between civil society and government. The concept of civil society is historically bounded, and it is not an organizing concept in every tradition. Where the concept is alien, we have instead inquired into the functional equivalents, if any, to oppositions like those between state and society, citizenship and membership.
Civil Society and Government (Ethikon Series in Comparative Ethics #3)
by Nancy L. Rosenblum Robert C. PostCivil Society and Government brings together an unprecedented array of political, ethical, and religious perspectives to shed light on the complex and much-debated relationship between civil society and the state. Some argue that civil society is a bulwark against government; others see it as an indispensable support for government. Civil society has been portrayed both as a independent of the state and as dependent upon it. This book reveals the extraordinary diversity of views on the subject by examining how civil society has been treated in classical liberalism, liberal egalitarianism, critical theory, feminism, natural law, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Confucianism. The volume draws on the work of eminent scholars to address six questions: In terms of function and consequences, does it matter where the line is drawn between civil society and the state? What is the relationship of civil society to the state? In what contexts and under what conditions should government interact with individuals directly or instead indirectly through communal associations? What are the prerogatives and duties of citizenship, and what is the role of civil society in forming good citizens? How should a society handle the conflicts that sometimes arise between the demands of citizenship and those of membership in the non-governmental associations of civil society? A theoretical introduction by the editors--political theorist Nancy Rosenblum and legal scholar Robert Post--and a conclusion by religious ethicist Richard Miller, tie the book together. In addition to Rosenblum, the contributors are Kenneth Baynes, David Biale, John Coleman, Farhad Kazemi, John Kelsay, William Galston, Will Kymlicka, Tom Palmer, Fred Miller, Susan Moller Okin, Peter Nosco, Henry Rosemont, Steven Scalet, David Schmidtz, William Sullivan, Max Stackhouse, Stephen White, and Noam Zohar.
Civil Society and Mirror Images of Weak States: Bangladesh and the Philippines (Governance and Limited Statehood)
by Jasmin LorchThis book investigates theoretically and empirically whether and (if so) how state weakness influences the way in which national civil societies constitute themselves, using Bangladesh and the Philippines as case studies. A vibrant civil society is usually perceived as an important ingredient of democracy, but does this hold for civil society in weak states as well? What does civil society look like in contexts of state weakness? How much and what kind of political influence does it have in such settings? And are its actors really capable and willing to contribute to democracy in states where independent and legal bureaucratic institutions are weak? Addressing each of these questions, the author points the way to some hard re-thinking about the basis for and approach to development assistance to and via local civil society, with crucial repercussions for the ways in which international development assistance is designed and funded.
Civil Society and the Governance of Development
by Sara Kalm Anders UhlinCivil society organizations have become increasingly significant actors in global governance. Such actors are particularly active within the field of development where they engage with and try to influence global institutions in multiple ways. This book re-conceptualizes civil society engagement with global governance institutions in the field of development in terms of opposition. This innovative theoretical framework provides new insights and perspectives by combining theories from national opposition politics, international relations and social movement studies. The empirical analysis maps patterns of opposition and explains opposition strategies thorough detailed comparative case studies on civil society actors and, in particular, the European Union's policies and practices of development cooperation, as well as the Asian Development Bank and the Global Forum on Migration and Development. Unlike previous research in this field, which has tended to either focus on outside protest movements or inside lobbying advocacy, this study offers a more comprehensive approach and demonstrates how inside and outside strategies are frequently combined.
Civil Society and Transitions in the Western Balkans
by Vesna Bojicic-Dzelilovic James Ker-Lindsay Denisa KostovicovaThis book explores the ambiguous role played by civil society in the processes of state-building, democratization and post-conflict reconstruction in the Western Balkans challenging the assumption that civil society is always a force for good by analysing civil society actors and their effects in post-communist and post-conflict transition.
Civil Society in Europe: Minimum Norms and Optimum Conditions of its Regulation
by Van Der Ploeg Tymen J. Van Veen Wino J. M. Versteegh Cornelia R. M.The regulation of civil society provides the framework under which those organisations can most effectively provide services in education, health, social services, housing, development aid and so on. Civil Society in Europe identifies common principles of civil society law in two ways. First, the approaches of the Council of Europe and the European Union are explored. Next civil society regulation in twelve domestic legal systems are investigated on a broad range of substantive areas of law including internal organisation, registration, external supervision, public benefit organisations and international activities. From these, the authors distill a set of minimum norms and optimal conditions under which civil society can deliver its aims most effectively. This book is essential reading for policymakers and legislators across Europe and beyond.
Civil Society in Liberal Democracy (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by Mark JensenIn this contribution to contemporary political philosophy, Jensen aims to develop a model of civil society for deliberative democracy. In the course of developing the model, he also provides a thorough account of the meaning and use of "civil society" in contemporary scholarship as well as a critical review of rival models, including those found in the work of scholars such as John Rawls, Jurgen Habermas, Michael Walzer, Benjamin Barber, and Nancy Rosenblum. Jensen's own ideal treats civil society as both the context in which citizens live out their comprehensive views of the good life as well as the context in which citizens learn to be good deliberative democrats. According to his idealization, groups of citizens in civil society are actively engaged in a grand conversation about the nature of the good life. Their commitment to this conversation grounds dispositions of epistemic humility, tolerance, curiosity, and moderation. Moreover, their regard for the grand conversation explains their interest in deliberative democracy and their regard for democratic virtues, principles, and practices. Jensen is not a naive utopian, however; he argues that this ideal must be realized in stages, that it faces a variety of barriers, and that it cannot be realized without luck.
Civil Society Organizations, Advocacy, and Policy Making in Latin American Democracies
by Amy RisleyWhat explains civil society participation in policy making in Latin American democracies? This book comparatively analyzes civil societal actors who have advocated for children's rights, the environment, and freedom of information in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Successful issue framing and effective alliance building are identified as important "pathways" to participation. In some cases of policy making, members of non-governmental organizations and other groups influence the agenda,provide analysis, collaborate with government officials in the formulation of policy, and pressure legislators to adopt reforms. These activists do not merely respond to existing "political opportunities," they are creating opportunities for participation. A close examination of their advocacy campaigns and efforts to gain influence is necessary to strengthen our understanding of the region's democracies. This book offers the first analysis of alliance building and framing that spans threedifferent issue areas and three countries.
The Civil Society Reader
by Virginia A. Hodgkinson Michael W. FoleyVirginia Hodgkinson and Michael Foley have assembled a definitive collection of 24 readings from the writings of thinkers who have shaped the civil society tradition in Western political thought through the ages. Their clear, intelligent introduction establishes a framework for understanding the complex and perennial debate over conditions of citizenship and the character of the good society. The text moves from the origins of the debate, a consideration of Aristotle's vision of political order, the polis, through the "civic republicanism" of Machiavelli and his English and American followers. It also discusses Hobbes's and Montesquieu's conceptions of natural law and the social contract, Immanuel Kant and Adam Ferguson and the emergence of the modern notion of civil society in the late 18th century, and the thoughts and theories of Hegel, Marx, and Gramsci. Contemporary discussion of civil society in the US started with Berger, Newhaus, and others who addressed the role of intermediary institutions and the political process. In the 1980s, especially as the Cold War ended, writing on civil society exploded. The anthology tracks the key works that have influenced public dialogue in this era. Chapters by Walzer, Barber, Putnam, Almond and Verba, Shils, and others describe the role of association in civil society and its role in democratic governance. As the concept of "civil society" grows ever more prominent in academic and public considerations of politics and political organization, citizen participation, political alienation, voluntary organizations, privatization, government deregulation, and "faith-based" charities, Civil Society: A Reader is the essential historical and theoretical text.
Civil Society, Second Edition: The Critical History of an Idea
by John R. EhrenbergA comprehensive discussion and analysis of two and a half millennia of Western political theoryIn the absence of noble public goals, admired leaders, and compelling issues, many warn of a dangerous erosion of civil society, which includes families, religious organizations, and all other NGOs. Are they right? What are the roots and implications of their insistent alarm? How can public life be enriched in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy, and unprecedented levels of contempt for politics? How should we be thinking about civil society? In Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea, John Ehrenberg analyzes both the usefulness and the limitations of civil society and maps the political and theoretical evolution of the concept and its employment in academic and public discourse. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Black Lives Matter and the Occupy movement, Ehrenberg provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities of what this increasingly important idea can, and cannot, offer to contemporary political affairs. In this new, second edition Ehrenberg brings the historical overview up to present day, specifically considering how major events such as 9/11, the global financial crisis, economic inequality, and rapidly advancing technologies alter and shape our relationship to contemporary civil society. Civic engagement, political participation, and volunteerism in contemporary life has faded, he argues, and in order to bring civil society—and all its virtues—back to the fore, we need to counter the suffocating inequality that has taken hold in recent years. Thorough and accessible, Civil Society gives a sweeping overview of a foundational part of political life.