Civil society
Strengthening global civil society
Is global civil society good or bad?
Authors:
L. Wild
Publisher:
Institute for Public Policy Research , 2006
Drawing heavily from the discussions surrounding global civil society at a 2005 three-day Institute for Public Policy Research conference, this paper sets out the author’s perspective on issues surrounding global civil society.
The author makes two central observations about global civil society:
- global civil society is not inherently progressive. Global civil society is extraordinarily heterogeneous and the groups that comprise it can be illiberal, anti-democratic and violent as well as liberal, democratic and peaceful
- while the role of global civil society should not be overstated, there are plenty of recent examples of where global civil society groups have been a force for progressive social change.
The author suggests that the policy challenge is not to promote global civil society per se, but rather to strengthen those parts of it that can help to secure progressive outcomes. Four specific areas where action could help to achieve this are:
- creating a more level playing field for the global south
- supporting free media and access to information
- making global civil society more accountable and transparent
- establishing a new relationship with global institutions.
