Call for Papers: Whatever Happened to Civil Society?

Civil society is a development buzzword that is used by many, but whose meaning has become unclear. INTRAC’s international conference will re-examine the concept and role of civil society and focus on its significance to current debates and practice in development, human rights and democracy promotion.

Is civil society still a useful concept? The term has been challenged as a catch-all category that fails to differentiate between different types of social practices, participation in the public sphere, formal organisations and informal networks and associations. The tendency to conflate civil society with organisations that follow the model of northern NGOs has had an impact on funding from donors attempting to strengthen civil society in developing countries.

Beyond the conceptual level, is there still a practical role for civil society?

The conference will explore the following issues:
1. Concepts and practice: what do we mean by civil society?
2. Relationships between civil society and the aid industry.
3. Civil society and the State – contractor, watchdog or critic?
4. New challenges for civil society

Contributions are invited that relate to the conference themes set out above. We would particularly welcome case studies that document the roles, activities and interactions of civil society actors in their work on development, human rights protection and democracy promotion.

Please submit your abstracts to Zoë Wilkinson ( zwilkinson@intrac.org ) by the 25 August 2008.

For more information about the conference, please visit INTRAC's Website.