Civil Society: Ideas, Interpretations, Transgressions is essential to learning about the place and importance of civil society in creating and maintaining a liberal democracy. Edyta B. Pietrzak takes us on a journey of interpretation, addressing the critical role the idea of a civil society has for our world and how it has evolved over time. She uncovers the meanings of theories and clarifies ways of thinking that are sensitive to peculiarities, intermittences, contrasts, or unique things.
Part I introduces the theory and key terms. What is the public sphere and how can it be understood? Is it synonymous with civil society or does it only establish its area of activity? It aims to illustrate how social life has changed over centuries and its basic components have been experienced and interpreted in various ways.
Part II represents a collection of interpretations and approaches to the idea of civil society. Pietrzak begins with the traditional Republican interpretation, continues with liberal, Hegelian, sociological, and historical materialistic interpretations, and concludes with modern communitarian and neo liberal concepts.
Part III reminds us that civil society is not an abstract concept, nor does it exist in a vacuum or out of context. When describing the process of change and transformation in civil society, reference must be made to transgressions. Here we learn about issues such as transnational civil society, citizenship and diversity, feminist citizenship, and civil society in the era of the Anthropocene, to name a few.
Part I introduces the theory and key terms. What is the public sphere and how can it be understood? Is it synonymous with civil society or does it only establish its area of activity? It aims to illustrate how social life has changed over centuries and its basic components have been experienced and interpreted in various ways.
Part II represents a collection of interpretations and approaches to the idea of civil society. Pietrzak begins with the traditional Republican interpretation, continues with liberal, Hegelian, sociological, and historical materialistic interpretations, and concludes with modern communitarian and neo liberal concepts.
Part III reminds us that civil society is not an abstract concept, nor does it exist in a vacuum or out of context. When describing the process of change and transformation in civil society, reference must be made to transgressions. Here we learn about issues such as transnational civil society, citizenship and diversity, feminist citizenship, and civil society in the era of the Anthropocene, to name a few.
This book provides an important understanding of the place and value of a civil society in securing the development in some cases, and the maintenance in other cases, of liberal democracy. And thus it represents a way to advance liberal democracy in spite of the authoritarian tendencies now afoot that threaten it.
Steven M. DeLue, Professor Emeritus Political Science, Miami University
Pietrzak's study of civil society is sophisticated and nuanced, analysing it as a philosophical proposition with many challenges and "transgressions." Approaching civil society as one of the most important political questions of our time, the discussion in this book is both historically focused and urgently timely.
Tim Dale, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Wisconsin La Crosse
Steven M. DeLue, Professor Emeritus Political Science, Miami University
Pietrzak's study of civil society is sophisticated and nuanced, analysing it as a philosophical proposition with many challenges and "transgressions." Approaching civil society as one of the most important political questions of our time, the discussion in this book is both historically focused and urgently timely.
Tim Dale, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Wisconsin La Crosse