Globalization and Social Change Final Exam
CU18LIH
soc_4330_ch_5.pptxChapter 5
Forging a Global Civil Society
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One Person Can Make a Difference
Bernard Kouchner (1939 - , in 1971 co-founded Doctors Without Borders) “We help people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care.”
Peter Benenson (1921-2005, in 1961 founded Amnesty International): “a global movement of more than 7 million people in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end abuses of human rights.”
How does one person’s vision become a global force?
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Defining Civil Society
Civil society is composed of voluntary associations that are…
Civilian, not government
Not family
Not (explicitly) part of economic markets
Non-violent (Max Weber wrote the nation-state is the institution that reserves for itself the legitimate right to resort to violence within its own territory)
seek rational discourse to search for solutions to collective problems
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Jürgen Habermas:
Habermas addressed civil society in his 1996 essay “Civil Society, Public Opinion, and Communicative Power”
Civil society provides a check on coercion and abuse of power.
The core of civil society is made of “those non-governmental and non-economic connections and voluntary associations that anchor the communication structures of the public sphere.”
Communication is central to society: every bond among people, every interaction, is communication and (ideally) reflects the essence of civility.
Defining Civil Society
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(quoted in Kaldor 2003, 22).
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Characteristics of Civil Society
Civil society…
is the community of relationships that people voluntarily engage in, the groups that they join.
has a certain moral authority to comment on other institutions.
emphasizes the importance of rational discourse and communication to solve problems.
rejects the use of violence and coercion.
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Components of Global Civil Society
Voluntary Associations
Communication (ideally free of distortion and coercion and aims for consensus building, as per Jürgen Habermas)
Social Capital
Global “Regimes” that address common issues
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Social Capital
Civil Society helps build social capital
Social capital can help provide access to other resources, including other forms of capital, such as cultural, human, and economic capital. (Generally, resources of persons that can be accumulated to an indefinite extent and that provide potential access to other kinds of resources are capital.)
Membership in voluntary groups builds trust internally and extends bonds of trust throughout the community (but rational trust comes though repeated interactions or exchanges--if there is no expectation of future interactions or exchanges, it may be rational to suspend trust).
As social capital is built up in a community it gains more collective efficacy (empowerment).
People can and do work together to achieve common goals.
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Global Civil Society
Global Civil Society is…
comprised of only non-governmental groups and organizations.
conducted through interlinked social processes, sometimes tightly linked, sometimes loosely.
civil, encouraging non-violence, mutual respect and compromise.
pluralistic but with strong potential for conflicts because stakeholders’ interests are often involved.
global “across and underneath state boundaries and other governmental forms” (Keane 2003).
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Keane 2003, 11 – 19
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Global Regimes
A regime (in this sense) is a form of governance, “explicit rules, agreed upon by governments that address particular sets of issues in international relations”
Regimes are composed of structure, process, and product:
Structure: networks of public, private, and governmental groups
Process: the modes of discourse and strategies they use to deliberate, debate, and influence governance
Product: policy, public information, regulation, treaties, laws and other things relevant to achieving their goals.
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(Meyer et al. 1997, 623-625; Donnelly 2007, 127 – 129)
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Establishing Global Regimes
Declaratory activities are public statements that disseminate knowledge of a human condition.
Promotional activities encourage support for particular policies and programs.
Implementation activities coordinate national policies and international monitoring procedures.
Enforcement activities secure binding international agreements and insure strong international monitoring.
Global Civil Society participates in all of these activities.
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(Donnelly 2007, 129)
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Components of Successful Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
Norms that are developed, for example the various number of UN treaties and declarations on human rights.
Changes in the behavior of the relevant actors, for example the number of states that have signed and ratified a treaty or enacted relevant domestic policies, and their adherence to standards (outcome).
Ultimately the effect on their actual objective, for example the reduction achieved in carbon emissions, the restoration or granting of freedoms, such as freedom of the press, or assembly, or religion. (That is, their impact.)
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(Oberthür and Gehring 2006a in Zelli, 2008, 4)
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History of INGOs (International Nongovernmental Organizations)
Waves of growth
1948: UN provides a global forum and organizational framework for addressing global problems
1968: Social movements all over the world established global values– human rights, democracy, peace, tolerance, environmentalism, etc.
1989: advances in communication, nation building in former Warsaw pact countries
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Challenges for Global Civil Society
Does it represent its own goals and objectives or those of the people they represent?
Does it shift responsibility away from governments to the private sector or unsupported voluntarism?
Can it represent all marginalized groups? Are there ethical reasons why it should or should not try to?
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Representation
Is it simply a matter of “survival of the fittest” in a competitive marketplace?
How to get noticed:
Having skill at pitching the cause, finding the right donors
Being in a more open society
Having charismatic spokespersons
Understanding presentation
Having a global, not just a local objective
Relating to the popular causes of the time, using popular lingo
Some societies have many INGOs, other have few.
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Displaced Goals and Objectives
Are the voices of local people obscured behind the interests and pursuits of INGOs?
Do global goals replace local ones?
How much time do the global NGOs spend in the local area, getting to know the local people and their concerns?
Without a democratic framework, can INGOs be a force for democracy?
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Who is Being Served?
Are INGOs pacifiers?
Do they buttress the institutions they oppose? (states or corporations who fund them?)
Are there valid assessments of INGOs?
What about conflicts across INGOs (environment vs. jobs)?
Who are the elites and power wielders involved with INGOs?
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Layers of Governance
Four scenarios confronted by INGOs
diminished chances of activism: domestic and international channels are closed off because of repression (there are still countries where local civil society groups cannot flourish and where INGOs cannot operate)
boomerang effect: domestic channels are closed, but international ones are open, so local activists can publicize internationally to put external pressure on their governments
spiral effect: like the boomerang effect except with positive feedback loops, “changes having a synergistic effect producing changes in other parts of society, leading to more activism”
insider-outsider coalitions: both domestic and international channels are open, so international coalitions can play a supportive for local activists
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(Sikkink 2005)
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Case Study One: Treaty to Ban Land Mines
Setting the cognitive agenda
Building coalitions
Convincing governments
Policy diffusion
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkDYneqeuE
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Case Study Two: The Environmental Regime
The Take Off Phase Late 19th to Early 20th Century
Protections of particular species and habitats
Post WWII
Role of Rational Discourse
Role of United Nations
Growth of the Regime
International Non-governmental Organizations
International Treaties
International Governmental Organizations
Increased global understanding of the enlightened self-interest involved in curtailing human by-products linked to climate change (e.g., CO2 emissions)
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Case Study Three: The Human Rights Regime
The Helsinki Effect
The Helsinki Accords
Reactions in the west
Reactions of Civil Society in the Eastern Bloc
Dissidents reached out to international actors to pressure their governments to respect the accords
Gorbachev’s reforms
Solidarity in Poland
The fall of the Berlin Wall
Helsinki Accords, 35th Anniversary video
https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnMJq8qng1w
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Global Civil Society
Networks of humanity
Not a perfect representation of humanity
A component of democracy, but not democracy itself
Connects elements of the global field: global systems, societies, humanity, and individuals.
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