civil society

["zaina 2" <xeena16@hotmail.com>]

       The classic definition of civil society according to a Hegelian or a 
Marxist is the right to property, freedom of contract, and a free market.  
In a civil society, human rights are protected because citizens, through 
associations, have the power to have an opposing view to the ruling power.  
Most people believe that in addition to holding elections, for a democracy 
to thrive there needs to be a civil society.  In fact, Tocqueville believes 
that democratic government is strengthened when it faces a civil society.  
But what does civil society mean?
         Zubaida and Sadowski see civil society as a means to limiting state 
control.  Zubaida believes that for a civil society to occur, the state has 
to lessen its control and allow for “free spheres (of civil society) of 
social autonomies and initiative, economic or associational with clear 
legislation and for institutions that provide the framework for rights and 
obligations of these spheres.”  Gellner also believes that civil society is 
that “set of diverse non-governmental institutions, which is strong enough 
to counterbalance the state.”  Thus, in a civil society, a large group of 
people cooperate and form networks or associations. Through these 
association and interaction with others, people learn to trust, cooperate, 
and compromise for the purpose of achieving a common goal.  Thus, to 
establish the trust and social responsibility needed, there has to be 
freedom of association that has to come about by lessening governmental 
control.  Without the interference of the government, interaction between 
individuals through associations leads to toleration and respect.  Sadowski 
explains that civil society is the collection of autonomous social groups 
that have a certain level of internal organization and assertiveness so as 
to challenge the powers of the state.
The Western concept of civil society is being imposed and exported to other 
nations in the world, but some essentialists have given up on the 
possibility of a democracy based on civil society in the Middle-East.  As 
stated in the Sadowski article, many Orientalists believe that “Islam 
promotes political submission and is therefore incompatible with democracy.  
Although Gellner does not believe Muslim countries can ever have a civil 
society, in reality a nation does not have to be democratic to be a civil 
society.  Gellner would agree with Putnam’s exclusion of religious 
associations as ones leading to civil society because of their hierarchical 
nature.  Orientalists such as Crone, Pipes, and Gellner portray Islam as a 
“social entity whose “essential” core is immune to change by historical 
differences and ignore the negative effect the imperialistic West had on 
societies in the Middle-East.”  They claim that Islam does not allow for the 
formation of a civil society.  Eva Bellin, on the other hand, states after 
seeing Sheila Carapico’s work on Yemen for the role tribal associations have 
played in pressing for citizenship rights in that country that factors 
thought to hinder the development of civil society, such as conflict among 
primordial lines, may actually lead to the development of civility and 
rights of citizenship.  Tocqueville further explains how religious unity can 
be a successful method of representational selection (theoretically) because 
when all the citizens agree on one view, there is no need for voting or 
elections.  Tocqueville describes early Puritan America society as a 
religious one with homogeneous ethic and that "the observance of the divine 
laws leads man to civil freedom."
	Goldberg and Ibn Khaldun like Tocqueville believe that a homogenous 
religious state can have civic values and that democracy is not the only 
government capable of fostering a civil society.  Ellis Goldberg in 
“Smashing Idols and the State,” describes in depth the similarities between 
Calvinism and contemporary Sunni movements in Egypt, and discusses how both 
these cultures have a homogeneous system of beliefs that in every day life 
transcends individual concerns and draws on the voluntary compliance of its 
constituents.  Ibn Khaldun, on the other hand, stresses the strength of 
“primordial associations” of kinship, tribe, village, or religious 
community.  Because of the need for survival, the Bedouin people had to rely 
on each other and an “asabiya” or group feeling, the affection and 
willingness to fight and die for each other, resulted, a feeling that can 
also result from loyalty to family.  The constituents of the tribe feel that 
if they defend the tribe, then they are defending their own interests.  This 
group feeling unites a group of people, who depend on each other, around a 
leader and leads to the formation of civic rules that the group feels the 
responsibility to follow.
Saad Ibrahim defines civil society as the formation of voluntary 
associations such as trade unions, political parties, sporting clubs, 
professional syndicates, and pressure groups that encourage individual 
autonomy.  Tocqueville goes on to say that countries where political 
associations are forbidden, civil associations are rare.  Tariq al-Bishri's 
definition of civil society, on the other hand, is that it is an informal 
network of
relationships.  These social relations are based on dependency and trust.  
His example is of the Islamic investment companies that are unregulated by 
government because they bypass the financial network of official banks.  
Because they are based on authentic traditional relationship, small savers, 
who are suspicious of government controlled banks, invest their wealth in 
these investment companies.  They are a private enterprise not controlled by 
bureaucracy.
	Putnam stresses the importance of the formation of non-governmental 
associations.  He believes that these social networks form a buffer against 
state power and lead to trust between the constituents of a society.  These 
associations instill habits of “cooperation, solidarity, public 
spiritedness, and contribute to effective social collaboration.”  By having 
this trust, collective action takes place and leads to economic development. 
  Putnam stresses the importance of the civic nature (character of the
citizens) in a democratic government. He, as other republicans, emphasizes 
community and obligations of citizenship and believes that the democratic 
government depends on the degree to which its surroundings have the ideal of 
a civic community. Civic virtue includes pursuing the public good at the 
expense of individual needs, and thus active participation in public affairs 
is important. In other words, citizens should not just pursue personal 
interest, but should cooperate. There should be an equality and reciprocity 
between citizens instead of relationship based on authority and dependency.
Leaders are not absolute, as Hobbes believes they should be, but are
responsible for their fellow citizens. Virtuous citizens respect, trust, and 
tolerate one another.
	Thus, through formal, informal, and/or political associations, civil 
society develops, which serves to check the governmental power and protect 
the freedoms of speech, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.  Although 
Orientalists believe that democracy is the only way to form a true civil 
society, in reality other forms of governments do portray civic virtue.




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