Civil Society

1. 1) What is CIVIL SOCIETY AND GLOBAL CIVIL
SOCIETY?
2) When Civil Society became popular?
3) What role for Civil Society?
4) What IRs theories say about that?
5) What accomplishments of Civil Society ? Or Estimation about Civil
Society
6) Challenges for Civil Society?
7) Future of Civil Society
8) History - Status of Civil Society in India
9) Government– Civil society relations
10) Current Examples
Sources:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/what-is-civil-society/
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6c2e74e5274a72bc45240e/488
_What_is_Civil_Society.pdf
https://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/28/global-civil-society/
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/28966/csb-ind.pdf 1
Dr. S. Venkata Krishnan

2. According to the World Bank: “Civil society ... refers to a
wide array of organizations: community groups, non-
governmental organizations [NGOs], labour unions,
indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based
organizations, professional associations, and foundations”
with in a country.
When mobilized, civil society - sometimes called the “” (after
government and commerce) - has the power to influence
the actions THIRD SECTOR of elected policy-makers and
businesses.
TRANSNATIONAL ACTIVISM: Globalisation links distant
communities and opens up spaces for networking. So
GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY.
EXAMPLES of well-known civil society organizations
include Amnesty International, the International Trade Union
Confederation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and
Greenpeace
Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/what-is-civil-society/
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Dr. S. Venkata Krishnan

3. Civil society ROLES include:
SERVICE PROVIDER (for example, running primary
schools and providing basic community health care
services)
ADVOCATE/CAMPAIGNER (for example, lobbying
governments or business on issues including
indigenous rights or the environment)
WATCHDOG (for example, monitoring government
compliance with human rights treaties)
BUILDING ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP (for example,
motivating civic engagement at the local level and
engagement with local, regional and national
governance)
PARTICIPATING IN GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
PROCESSES (for example, civil society
Source :
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c6c2e74e5274a72bc45240e/488_What_is_Civil
_Society.pdf
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4. Dr. S. Venkata Krishnan 4
Major past EXAMPLES are the Jubilee 2000
campaign, which worked through the 1990s to
induce creditor governments and the International
Monetary Fund to take steps toward debt relief for
highly indebted poor countries. Another is the
campaign to ban landmines, which led to the
intergovernmental conference in Ottawa where the
Mine Ban Treaty was signed in 1997. Ongoing
campaigns, to mention a few, include mobilisation on
environmental justice, gender recognition, and food
security.
The activism of global civil society groups has been
facilitated by a number of specific conditions. For
example, a number of international organisations

5. Liberals may understand it as the actor
that provides a bottom-up contribution to
the effectiveness and legitimacy of the
international system as a whole
Realists interpret civil society as a tool
used by the most powerful states to
advance their ultimate interests abroad
Marxists may see civil society as political
vanguards that can spread a different
world view that challenges the dominant
order
Because of these reasons, international relations cannot be fully captured without
taking into account the actions of civil society organisations. Hence, better to know
how IRs theorists/theories treat Civil Society
Source : https://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/28/global-civil-society/
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Dr. S. Venkata Krishnan
CIVIL SOCIETY’S IMPACT:
1. Civil society organisations have managed to influence political
decision-makers by giving voice to the voiceless and framing new
issues.
2. At the same time they have contributed to pressurise global
governance institutions. so that today the overall level of transparency,
consultation, outside evaluation and efficiency is measurably higher
than it was in the past.
Nevertheless, we need to acknowledge that in absolute terms the IMPACT
HAS BEEN MODEST AND UNEVEN. Why?
Most transnational activism has come from Western
organisations, with significant exceptions in Latin America and Southeast
Asia. Russia, China, most of Africa and the Arab world constitute islands
which remain relatively isolated from the general growth of transnational
civil society. (Search or Think here about Arab Spring)
The uneven concentration of the Global North, results geopolitical
imbalance. The gains realised by political activism have mostly been in
line with agendas framed in northern states and benefitting northern
constituencies. However, this is unlikely to continue as agendas arise from
the developing world and international Western power and influence
gradually declines. In such a climate, Western civil society organisations .

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Dr. S. Venkata Krishnan
will have to share the stage with civil society organisations coming from the
developing world. This will not always be easy, but it will hopefully make the future
global civil society more genuinely ‘global’.

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CHALLENGES : Civil society organisations need financial resources, public
recognition and political support
FUTURE OF CIVIL SOCIETY:
In today’s complex world, traditional institutions have struggled to provide
effective and legitimate responses to global issues such as climate change,
financial instability, disease epidemics, intercultural violence and global
inequalities. In recent decades most global regulatory bodies/governments
have begun to develop closer relations with civil society organisations
precisely in order to fill this gap.
Civil society groups are becoming more tech savvy as they use social
media platforms and formats such as video and podcasts to raise
awareness about their causes and charitable donations.
They are also using technology in ways that are more directly linked to
improving the efficacy of their work. Human rights group Amnesty
International, for example, is experimenting with a form of artificial
intelligence known as machine learning to see what influence it could have
in areas such as policing, criminal justice, the development of autonomous
weapons and its possible impacts on our rights to work and earn a living.

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The WWF, on the other hand, is harnessing aerial drone technology, animal
tracking devices and infrared cameras in its battle against the illegal
poaching of endangered species.
Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/what-is-civil-society/

10. OVERVIEW OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS : INDIA
History of NGO Activity in India –
 A long history of civil society based on the concepts of daana (giving)
and seva (service).
During the second half of the 19th century, nationalist consciousness
spread across India and self-help emerged as the primary focus of
sociopolitical movements. Numerous organizations were established
during this period, including the Friend-in-Need Society (1858), the
National Council for Women in India (1875) etc. The Societies
Registration Act (SRA) was approved in 1860 to confirm the legal status
of the growing body of non-government organizations (NGOs). The SRA
continues to be relevant legislation for NGOs in India.
After independence, the Government of India increased its presence in
social welfare and development but recognized the potential of civil
society. The Central Social Welfare Board was established in 1953 to
promote social welfare activities and support people’s participation
programs through NGOs. International NGOs entered India in
significant numbers to provide drought relief during two consecutive 10
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11. agricultural seasons, 1965–1966 and 1966–1967. During the 1970s the
government pursued a “minimum needs” program, focusing on the
basic impediments to improving the quality of life. Around this time,
Foreign-trained Indians entered civil society in greater numbers, leading
to a professionalization of the sector.
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12. 1980s, NGOs began to be formally recognized as development partners
of the state.
The process of structural adjustment begun in the early 1990s—large
corporate NGOs
LEGAL FRAMEWORKS IN INDIA: Societies registration Act of 1860, the
income tax Act of 1961, the Public trust Act (1976), the foreign contribution
regulation Act of 1976
INTERNATIONAL & REGIONAL ORGANISATIONs & FOREIGN
COUNTRY & NGOs IN INDIA:
IOs/ROs has recognised the effectiveness of India’s NGOs. For example,
ADB has recognized NGOs as significant players in the development
process and cooperated with them to improve the impact, sustainability,
and quality of its services.
GOVERNMENT– CIVIL SOCIETY RELATIONS :
Civil Society approaches to government now range from strongly 12
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13. oppositional to closely collaborative, with the majority of NGOs keeping an
uneasy, sometimes reluctant, but pragmatic and often sophisticated
partnership with the state in its various forms.
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