State, Market, and Civil Society


Book Description

Contributed seminar articles with reference to India.




Education Between State, Markets, and Civil Society


Book Description

*How should education be organized in pluralistic and multicultural societies? *What are the roles in education of civil society, markets, governments, and the family? *How can the idea of the civil society help to reorient education policy discussions that are sometimes stuck in either-or juxtapositions of "market versus government" or "individualism versus communitarianism?" *What are some of the traditions of civil society--across countries and across history--that educators and policymakers today can revive or build on? These questions are at the center of this book. Its goal is to understand how we can accommodate cultural, ethnic, and religious pluralism in a political and conceptual framework that is sufficiently flexible to combine choice with equity, a commitment to a shared civil and political culture with openness to exploring and affirming the distinct ethnicity, race, creed, or culture of different groups. To address these questions, the authors take up the notion of the civil society, an idea that has experienced a popular and scholarly revival in recent years as numerous citizens, action groups, political philosophers, and social scientists make the case that only a democratic civil society can sustain a democratic state. The implications of this development for education have to date been very little explored. This book is a step toward addressing this gap. Going beyond simple juxtapositions of "market versus government" in education reform, the book as a whole develops an integrative perspective informed by the idea of the civil society. It combines current policy issues with a look at their historical development, and evaluates U.S. educational policy in the context of a range of international cases. The authors--education scholars, sociologists, economists, historians, and philosophers-- explore from diverse disciplinary, political, and philosophical points of view, the potential of the civil society and civic associations for education. At the same time, they share the hope that a thorough reconsideration of the role of the state, the market, and the civil society will help to energize ongoing experiments with charter schools, voucher schemes, and a variety of other plans to increase educational and school autonomy.




Markets and Civil Society


Book Description

The nature of the currently emerging European society, which includes the economic and social transformation of Eastern and Central European countries, has been hotly debated. At its center is the relationship between markets and civil society within political and social contexts. The contributors to this volume offer perspectives from various disciplines (the social sciences, conceptual history, law, economics) and from several European countries in order to explore the ways in which markets influence various forms of civil society, such as individual freedom, social cohesion, economic effectiveness and democratic governance, and influence the construction of a civil society in a broader sense.




Civil Society and the State in Democratic East Asia


Book Description

Civil Society and the State in Democratic East Asia: Between Entanglement and Contention in Post High Growth focuses on the new and diversifying interactions between civil society and the state in contemporary East Asia by including cases of entanglement and contention in the three fully consolidated democracies in the area: Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The contributions to this book argue that all three countries have reached a new era of post high growth and mature democracy, leading to new social anxieties and increasing normative diversity, which have direct repercussions on the relationship between the state and civil society. It introduces a comparative perspective in identifying and discussing similarities and differences in East Asia based on in-depth case studies in the fields of environmental issues, national identities as well as neoliberalism and social inclusion that go beyond the classic dichotomy of state vs 'liberal' civil society.




Putting Civil Society in Its Place


Book Description

Renowned social and political theorist Bob Jessop explores the idea of civil society as a mode of governance in this bold challenge to current thinking. Developing theories of governance failure and metagovernance, the book analyses the limits and failures of economic and social policy in various styles of governance. Reviewing the principles of self-emancipation and self-responsibilisation it considers the struggle to integrate civil society into governance, and the power of social networks and solidarity within civil society. With case studies of mobilisations to tackle economic and social problems, this is a comprehensive review of the factors that influence their success and identifies lessons for future social innovation.







Environmental Governance in China


Book Description

This article provides an analytical overview of major works on the topic of environmental governance in China, with a particular emphasis on studies examining policies during the reform era (post-1978). We begin by exploring the rise of China's "environmental state" and the various institutional and political factors that shape state behavior. Next, we describe the complex relationship between the Chinese state and society, analyzing studies related to environmental public opinion, citizen action, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), green civil society, the role of the media, and China's judiciary. Finally, we conclude by reviewing research on market-based mechanisms of environmental governance in China, including emissions trading schemes, environmental transparency, corporate information disclosure, and green finance.




Civil Society and Health


Book Description

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can make a vital contribution to public health and health systems but harnessing their potential is complex in a Europe where government-CSO relations vary so profoundly. This study is intended to outline some of the challenges and assist policy-makers in furthering their understanding of the part CSOs can play in tandem and alongside government. To this end it analyses existing evidence and draws on a set of seven thematic chapters and six mini case studies. They examine experiences from Austria Bosnia-Herzegovina Belgium Cyprus Finland Germany Malta the Netherlands Poland the Russian Federation Slovenia Turkey and the European Union and make use of a single assessment framework to understand the diverse contexts in which CSOs operate. The evidence shows that CSOs are ubiquitous varied and beneficial and the topics covered in this study reflect such diversity of aims and means: anti-tobacco advocacy food banks refugee health HIV/AIDS prevention and cure and social partnership. CSOs make a substantial contribution to public health and health systems with regards to policy development service delivery and governance. This includes evidence provision advocacy mobilization consensus building provision of medical services and of services related to the social determinants of health standard setting self-regulation and fostering social partnership. However in order to engage successfully with CSOs governments do need to make use of adequate tools and create contexts conducive to collaboration. To guide policy-makers working with CSOs through such complications and help avoid some potential pitfalls the book outlines a practical framework for such collaboration. This suggests identifying key CSOs in a given area; clarifying why there should be engagement with civil society; being realistic as to what CSOs can or will achieve; and an understanding of how CSOs can be helped to deliver.




Assisting the Invisible Hand


Book Description

This is an investigation into contemporary thinking on controlling the market, especially with regard to the problem of dealing with environmental issues. The book contributes to contemporary insight by arguing that the issue of market control must be addressed in terms of the relations between state, market and civil society. It stresses the normative dimensions of the market control issue. The position adopted by the book is that the market cannot be controlled by the state alone.




Civil Society & Development


Book Description

Setting out to explore critically the way civil society has entered development thinking, policy and practice as a paradigmatic concept of the 21st century, Howell (development studies, U. of Sussex) and Pearce (Latin American politics, U. of Bradford) trace the historical path leading to the encounter between the ideas of development and civil society in the late 1980s and how donors have translated these into development policy an programs. They find that there are competing normative visions, which have deep roots in Western European political thought, about the role of civil society in relation to the state and market both among donors and within the societies where donors are operating. This leads to donors playing a major role in shaping the character of service provision. They also argue that their study exposes the hitherto unexplored power of the market, as opposed to solely the state, to distort donor programs. c. Book News Inc.