The master thesis deals with the area of social circus, which works with groups with risk of exclusion in the form of creative expression. The aim of the thesis is to map social circus projects in the Czech Republic and Spain, in relation to the phenomenon of empowerment in working with groups at risk of exclusion, especially in terms of social circus projects, the way they work with empowerment and for what purpose and subsequent comparison of gathered data with existing research and empowerment theories. The thesis therefore offers an insight into the current state of social circus and its connection with civil society by empowerment of people at risk of exclusion. Key words: Empowerment, Social circus, social inclusion, civil society

This master thesis introduces a form of volunteering which is not well known to the public, so-called puppy raising of guide dogs for the visually impaired. This phenomenon is introduced on the background of a comparison of two civil society service organizations, one based in the Czech Republic and the other in the United States of America. These organizations both come from a different type of civil society but have many similarities as well. At the end of this thesis, the results found through qualitative research are presented, where these data were gained through interviews, documents, but also by participatory observation directly in the respective organizations.

This diploma thesis is focused on engaged art in the Prague public space after 2000. The theoretical part deals with the characteristics of engaged art and artivism and places them in the context of civil society. It describes the participants dealing with engaged art in Prague after 2000, the topics of the participant's interventions and the tactics they use for their implementation. The empirical part offers, based on biographical research and ethnography, an perspective of the participants. It describes their motivations leading to the creation of interventions, their relationship to public space and to the audience. Work deals with the goals of their activities and focuses on their own concept of success. Last but not least, the thesis is focused on the political orientation of the participants. The thesis thus provides a comprehensive view of contemporary engaged art and pursues on its important role in our society.

Examples of state and non-state actors collaborating on issues of global politics abound. Non-state actors are increasingly involved in policy formulation processes, in peace-keeping processes, in human rights and environmental issues by advising governments or inter-governmental organisations. This type of collaboration mostly takes place at the discretion of states. However, non-state actors sometimes appear to initiate diplomatic processes. The Kimberley Process is an example of such a case. States and another non-state actor, namely business, were forced to the negotiating table by NGOs who were effectively raising consumer awareness about the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict and who held the power over launching a possible consumer boycott. Polylateralism is a term that was coined to represent the participation of non-state actors in the conduct of international relations. The study uses the Kimberley Process negotiations from 2000 to 2002 as a case study to analyse the dynamics of polylateral diplomacy by examining the nature and form of interaction between the three sets of actors, namely states, civil society and business in order to understand the role played by each group in both agenda setting and rule making, and the extent to which their interactions conform to the central ideas of polylateralism as advanced by international scholars. In so doing the study examines the evolving mode of interaction between states and non-state actors in the Kimberley Process, the ability of non-state actors to influence diplomatic processes, the extent to which states determined the boundaries of non-state diplomatic involvement and, finally, the limitations of polylateral diplomacy. The study concludes that the apparent increase in collaboration between state and non-state actors in diplomatic processes does not constitute a new method of diplomacy and that this will not change until non-state actors have become recognised polities. It also finds that the involvement of non-state actors in diplomacy, particularly as consumers of diplomatic outcomes is likely to become more-and-more prevalent and that professional diplomats, especially those in developing countries, may have to adapt their working methods in order to benefit from this phenomenon by allowing for a more systematic engagement with non-state actors. Finally, it finds that while the Kimberley Process is a good example of the involvement of non-state actors as producers of diplomatic outcomes, this phenomenon is less likely to reoccur and may well be the exception rather than the rule for the foreseeable future. / Dissertation (MDiplomatic Studies)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

The KONID Survey 2019 surveyed the significance of religion for social identities in a multi-thematic, country-comparative representative survey of the population in Germany and Switzerland aged 16 and older, paying particular attention to Muslim minorities. In both countries, more than 3,000 people were surveyed from spring to summer 2019. The KONID Survey 2019 surveyed no fewer than 21 possible social identities and placed them in their social and religious contexts.

This thesis aims to illustrate how civil society organizations reflect on and communicate for societal change. The aim is also to broaden the understanding of how norms and logics on social media platforms characterize communication and the discourse about social engagement. With a basis in discourse theory, the particular focus of the study is on identifying discursive themes, and conflicts that exist within these themes. The analysis draws upon critical theories about the power position and technical affordance of social media platforms, as well as perspectives on the political subject - individually and collectively. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with representatives from six environmental organizations, two of which are newer network-based movements. The results show discursive nodal points such as autonomous, individual-based and political.  These partly gain their meaning through social media and technical affordances, which enable lower engagement thresholds, which in turn challenge the organizations’ ideas about long-term engagement. Political engagement is largely associated with online engagement, via social media, at the same time an opposite relationship shows that screen time takes focus from deepened or physical engagement. The results also show that organizations are aware of the power of social media platforms, where hidden algorithms and commercial logic contrast with the organizations’ visions, while at the same time the platforms play an important role for the organizations’ communication.

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In recent years, Gambia is one of the few countries having experienced development in a more democratic direction. As part of democratic consolidation, the process of reviewing the constitution was started in 2017 with an aim to be participatory and inclusive. This thesis seeks to investigate how the Gambian civil society organization TANGO has tried to impact the constitutional review process, to further contribute to the understanding of civil society in democratic consolidation. This is achieved through an explorative and descriptive case study focusing on TANGO’s practice of advocacy and accountability. The method used is mainly semi-structured informant interviews with persons central to civil society in the constitutional review process together with secondary sources such as legal documents and news articles. The results show that TANGO has exercised advocacy mainly in terms of position papers to the Constitutional Review Commission, whereas accountability has primarily been exercised through press conferences and lobbying. However, statements on their efforts as lacking and too late have been persistent in the study, meaning that even if efforts were done, they could have been improved or have other focal points for leveraged impact in the constitutional review process.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between state and civil society. The last decades there has been major changes across state, market and civil society. During these changes, civil society has become an important part of the welfare service. In this study an idea-driven public partnership (IOP) in Malmö is examine. My theoretical starting point is Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, integral state, consent-coercion and Jonathan Davies concept of creeping managerialism. Using interviews and document studies I am able to deepen the understanding of state-civil society relationships. The result of the analysis shows that the case study is an example of when civil society is compliant to the hegemonic order. This can be understood on the basis that civil society is also part of the hegemonic order. The strong actors in civil society, together with the state and capital, are all part of the historical bloc that governs society. Lastly, the study indicates managerialism in the partnership.

The role of civil society in conflict resolution has moved from the margins to the core of analyses of peace processes. However, existing literature has put little attention on examining the contribution of civil society in the implementation of peace agreements in the immediate time upon their conclusion. I aim to fill this gap by asking “How does the mode of civil society inclusion during the pre-agreement stage influence the degree of civil society participation in the implementation of peace agreements?”. I argue that when civil society can directly influence the peace talks by having a seat at the negotiation table this can have downstream effects on how much they will be involved in the implementation of the agreed provisions. The research question is answered in the context of a qualitative study of the cases of the peace process in Mozambique and El Salvador, through the method of structured focused comparison. The findings do not support this expectation. The analysis rather indicates that direct participation is not enough for civil society actors to ensure continuity in their participation, and more substantive engagement and ownership might be needed.