While much has been written in recent times on the concept of civil society, the idea that it is part of an Orientalist construct of West and non-West has not been explored. This dissertation addresses this lacuna in the literature by examining Western concepts of civil society and establishing the ways in which these concepts are constructed through the deployment of a mirroring construction of non-Western Others. I examine the work of three theorists (Montesquieu, Ferguson and Hegel) who wrote on civil society during the Enlightenment or in its aftermath. These theorists are emblematic of a discursive formation which differed from prior discursive formations in two related respects: their concept of civil society and their construction of non-Western Others. During the eighteenth century both constructions of the concept of civil society and of non-Western Others were undergoing significant changes leading eventually to a concept of civil society as distinct from the state and to what might be termed a "post-Enlightenment geographical imagination". To demonstrate the disjuncture between discursive formations, the work of two seventeenth-century theorists (Hobbes and Locke) is compared and contrasted with that of these writers. The work of three late twentieth-century social scientists (Shils, Gellner and Fukuyama) is examined and their concept of civil society and use of non-Western Others is contrasted with those of the prior discursive formation. I show how their concept of civil society is informed both by the concept of civil society developed in the Enlightenment and its aftermath and by the mirroring constructions of non-Western Others of the post-Enlightenment geographical imagination. Underscoring the work of all these theorists are methods of comparison and the representational practices they authorize. These are explored through two conceptions of alterity which have operated in Western thought and their connections to questions of comparison. An analysis is made of the relationship of the ideas of comparison and comparative method to questions of translation in Western philosophy and social science. The implications of this discussion of comparison and representation for theories of civil society and their constructions of non-Western Others is analyzed.

While much has been written in recent times on the concept of civil society, the idea that it is part of an Orientalist construct of West and non-West has not been explored. This dissertation addresses this lacuna in the literature by examining Western concepts of civil society and establishing the ways in which these concepts are constructed through the deployment of a mirroring construction of non-Western Others. I examine the work of three theorists (Montesquieu, Ferguson and Hegel) who wrote on civil society during the Enlightenment or in its aftermath. These theorists are emblematic of a discursive formation which differed from prior discursive formations in two related respects: their concept of civil society and their construction of non-Western Others. During the eighteenth century both constructions of the concept of civil society and of non-Western Others were undergoing significant changes leading eventually to a concept of civil society as distinct from the state and to what might be termed a "post-Enlightenment geographical imagination". To demonstrate the disjuncture between discursive formations, the work of two seventeenth-century theorists (Hobbes and Locke) is compared and contrasted with that of these writers. The work of three late twentieth-century social scientists (Shils, Gellner and Fukuyama) is examined and their concept of civil society and use of non-Western Others is contrasted with those of the prior discursive formation. I show how their concept of civil society is informed both by the concept of civil society developed in the Enlightenment and its aftermath and by the mirroring constructions of non-Western Others of the post-Enlightenment geographical imagination. Underscoring the work of all these theorists are methods of comparison and the representational practices they authorize. These are explored through two conceptions of alterity which have operated in Western thought and their connections to questions of comparison. An analysis is made of the relationship of the ideas of comparison and comparative method to questions of translation in Western philosophy and social science. The implications of this discussion of comparison and representation for theories of civil society and their constructions of non-Western Others is analyzed. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

by Susan Blumberg Liu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-116). / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / ABSTRACT / DECLARATION / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- NTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Civil Society as a Theoretical Concept / Relevance of Thesis / Organization of Thesis / Chapter II. --- CIVIL SOCIETY AND LATE IMPERIAL CHINA --- p.11 / Habermas and the Public Sphere / Habermas as Applied to the Chinese Case / Recent Debate on Civil Society in Late-Qing China / Rankin versus Wakeman / Rowe versus Wakeman / Recent Discussion on Civil Society in Contemporary China / The Question of Autonomy / Civil Society with Chinese Characteristics / Gathered Comments / Chapter III. --- THE DYNAMICS OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE LATE-QING ERA --- p.44 / The Emergence of a New Public / Social Class Correlation / The Constitutionalists / Women in Late-Qing China / The Press and Public Opinion / Chapter IV. --- THE MOVEMENT FOR ESTABLISHING PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES --- p.63 / Getting Started / The Elections / Chapter V. --- THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES COMMENCE --- p.75 / The Nature of the Assemblies / Interaction and Organization of the Assembly Members / Chapter VI. --- TWO CASE STUDIES FROM THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES --- p.83 / The Jiangsu Assembly / Organization and Preparation / The Assembly Commences / Zhang Jian: Example of the New Gentry in Late-Qing China / The Hubei Assembly / Organization and Preparation / The Assembly Commences / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.107 / The Fate of the Assemblies / Analysis of Findings / Lasting Implications of Civil Society in China / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.112