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

Similarly to many governments around the world, the Mubarak regime of Egypt was hostile to the activities of civil society. Following the Revolution of 2011 in Egypt, the members of civil society organizations and activists in general were expecting an improvement of their working conditions. However, despite the promises made by the new president, conditions have worsened and the repression has increased. Pressurized by harsher restriction, the civil society needs to create strategies to ensure its survival. This study aims to understand what sorts of strategies are required under a repressive environment. The conceptual frame of this study was grounded on several articles that researched several relevant areas. These concepts were the repression, the civil society in Egypt, and the state – civil society relationship. In researching these behaviours, the goal was to understand the patterns of such environments, which are not usually present in western society. The core of the research process concerned the gathering of qualitative data through interviews with members of the Egyptian civil society. The results of the research provide a model that should be replicated with data from other repressive countries in order to ensure its accuracy. This model is based on four major strategic goals that are vital to the survival of a civil society under oppressive regimes. These four goals are fulfilled by behavioural choices that are influenced by the repression’s context. These behavioural choices illustrate the way civil society strategizes and eight of them could be isolated. Mapping the four goals against the eight BCs demonstrate two aspects. The BCs have a tendency to overlap when it comes to their strategic objectives, meaning that one behavioural choice can contribute to several strategic goals. However, this mapping also showed that some goals were sufficiently fulfilled by the BCs. The main issue is the cut of funding and this restriction has not been dealt with in an efficient way by the civil society. This problem needs follow ups and international funds and grant providers should be aware of these sanctions. Moreover, the lack of understanding the government has of the advantages of civil society should also be investigated. Indeed, the research shows that this hostility mainly comes from the government perceiving civil society as a threat.

In Zimbabwe, reconciliation has become a contentious process and has been politicised at the international, national and community levels. Criticisms have been raised against the government related to its failure to implement inclusive reconciliation processes that can amend broken relationships in Zimbabwe, particularly at the community level. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that are traditionally assumed to have a role in bringing about reconciliation on the community level have, in Zimbabwe, become part of the politicisation of reconciliation in various ways. This research has explored the challenges of reconciliation in Zimbabwe, with the Nkayi District in Matabeleland as a case study, because it stands at the intersection of the conflicts that have occurred in Zimbabwe over the past three decades. It serves to illustrate the political debates behind the alleged failure of government to implement reconciliation processes at the community level. Research findings revealed that the complexity of reconciliation in the Nkayi District is rooted in the lack of consensual understanding among stakeholders as to who ought to be reconciled and how the process should occur. This complexity is enhanced by the lack of an enabling environment due to the polarisation of the community by government security agents, a lack of political will by political actors, shortage of resources and a lack of common voice in the undertakings by CSOs. The research concluded that the systematic marginalisation of the Matabeleland region and the fact that the Gukurahundi massacres were never dealt with by the government, undermines any attempts at reconciliation in this region. This research argues that reconciliation in the Nkayi District begins when the government acknowledges all incidents of violence that occurred. / Political Sciences / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Unrestricted

This thesis is focused on the issue of citizenship and patriotism of Czech Republic Army members, ie soldiers. Since citizenship, patriotism and military service has been historically linked, I decided to focus on those links in today's world and especially in the Czech Republic context. The aim is to determine how Czech Republic Army soldiers understand their citizenship and patriotism, and how is their citizenship and patriotism manifested. Furthermore, I also try to determine, which motivations soldiers consider the most important for their performance of military service. To achieve the goals, I present the relevant literature and introduce my own mixed sociological research that was realised on one selected military unit. Whereas that topic is considerably neglected in the Czech context, this thesis represent a contribution to the debate on the current form of the army and also point out the connection between civil society and army. One of the most important conclusions of this work is the finding, that soldiers feel the necessity of greater cooperation between the military and citizens, which could take place through civil society organizations and could thus open the way for greater interconnection of military world and civil society, and strengthen the links between them. Key Words:...

ii Abstract This research project explores the impact of Western broadcasting on the public opinion of the Soviet audience in the Perestroika and Glasnost periods. Specifically, it focuses on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) contribution to changing attitudes of the Soviet public to the communist regime and ruling party, and constructing a positive image of Western democratic values during the relevant period of study. The theoretical approach to the investigation of RFE/RL broadcasting is based on media effects theories, particularly agenda-setting and framing theories. According to them, the media are not simply a conduit of information, but able to shape public opinion. By emphasising the salience of topics and particular aspects and characteristics of the issues, the media set public agenda and influence on people's perceptions about these issues. The study to assess RFE/RL's impact draws on audience research, quantitative and qualitative data analysis. It examines geographical reach and transmission frequencies of the Radio's broadcasts and analyses the content of the most featured programmes to explore how they framed the reality. The findings from the quantitative and qualitative analysis, as well as the audience research data, demonstrate that RFE/RL's programming set anticommunist agenda...

There is disagreement about the role of civil society in the development of society, both among researchers and in national agreements between the public and civil actors. The thesis aims to study the political parties' view of the role of civil society in the development of society in Sweden. The main question sounds • What is the role of civil society in social development according to Socialdemokraterna, Moderaterna and Sverigedemokrtaerna? In order to carry out a good analysis, the basic question is divided into three sub-questions: • What are the similarities in the view of the role of civil society in social development between the political parties? • Are there any clear contradictions between the political parties on the question of the role of civil society in social development and how can these be understood? • How can the picture that appears in the analysis of the political parties' view of the role of civil society in social development give us a better picture of the more general view of civil society in Sweden? The thesis analysis is carried out as an idea analysis and is based on four ideal types which are compiled in an analysis scheme. The three political parties are selected on the basis of "most different systems design". The analyzed parties differ in ideological origin and in the party's own history and growth. The essay's analysis shows that the views of the analyzed political parties on civil society differ in most respects. The Social Democrats and Moderate politics agree on several of the ideal types used in the essay, while the Swedish Democrats' policies fail from all ideal types. The parties 'views on the role of civil society in society have clear sayings, ties with the parties' ideological origins. The large differences in the parties' politics regarding civil society can explain the many contradictory roles that civil society in Sweden is expected to take on.

There is a growing body of literature arguing that NGOs are an important tool in the efforts of civil society to influence the actions of the State, especially in the process of economic development. NGOs are primarily seen as effective advocates for the less privileged sectors of civil society. This study examines the influence of local NGOs participation in the implementation of PLANAFLORO, a regional economic development program partially funded by the World Bank in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. This study focuses on four issues that are commonly used to justify the inclusion of NGOs in the development process: representativeness, accountability, autonomy and effectiveness. This study relies on three basic methods of data gathering: focused interviews of key informants, questionnaire-based surveys of different stake-holder groups, and information from secondary sources. This study’s results challenge the common wisdom regarding the positive impacts of NGO participation in economic development programs, and on their contribution to democratic governance. NGOs participating in PLANAFLORO faced great institutional and political difficulties in the process of participation. Many NGOs did not have either the institutional capabilities or the financial autonomy to influence the process of policy-making in PLANAFLORO effectively. Moreover, most NGOs did not have mechanisms of accountability to inform the program’s intended beneficiaries of the state of PLANAFLORO’s implementation. Finally, both the local State and the World Bank only reluctantly accepted the participation of NGOs in PLANAFLORO. This fact served to greatly limit the contribution of NGOs in PLANAFLORO. / Ph. D.

In the globalized world, the distribution of power is spread among different types of actors, including non-states. Diasporas in that respect possess an ability to gain actorness. Especially in the frames of ‘soft power’ since the sources of that power is tight to attractiveness. The notion of ‘soft power’ has gained attention from the states globally, and Russia is not left aside. It is activated by the Russian state to pursue its foreign policy goals, especially in the EU states, due to the difficult diplomatic relations as an outcome of the Crimean crisis. Public diplomacy, as a tool of soft power, refers to the communicational process with the foreign public, and the ground resource of it is civil society. The paradox is situated in the target of the Russian state, its diaspora. Rossotrudnichestvo, the main player in the Russian public diplomacy, carries direct responsibilities over compatriot policies. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the aim of Russian public diplomacy towards diaspora. This study utilizes the theoretical frames of ‘soft power’, its tool ‘public diplomacy’, and conjunction with the ‘diaspora’. For the purpose of this study, the Russian interest towards its compatriots is traced through its cultural institution in Brussels (the representative office of Rossotrudnichestvo). The thesis concludes firstly that the aim of Russian public diplomacy is not to construct an attractive image in the eyes of the public abroad but to secure itself. Through the prism of neo-functionalism, Russia identifies national security as a focal point in the construction of foreign policies, which cause institutionalization of its diaspora. Secondly, the research reveals the double behavior of Russia with civil society. While internally, it distances the civil sector from the engagement with the public diplomacy activities, externally, it is actively institutionalizing ‘the insiders of the foreign public’ through the diasporic organizations.

Please note: this work is indefinitely embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted. To request private access, please click on the lock icon and fill out the appropriate web form. / Based on a qualitative study on the new development of Presbyterianism in China, this thesis explores the urban and rational side of Chinese Christianity, so as to open an empirical window on meso-level social change in urban China. From an empirical perspective, although the organizational form of the Presbyterian Church in China and its scope are still in the fledging stage, the discursive practices and the institutional and coalition building of Chinese Presbyterians fit into the profile of a social movement. This preliminary data collected so far examines the emerging Protestant elites and their role in the precarious civil society of today’s China. On the normative side, these Chinese Presbyterians articulate a strong political theology that blends the Anabaptist and the reformed theologies. In addition, the institutional and the missional tension of this movement is also under examination. In the end, this project is an experiment that tests the commensurability between theology and social sciences, especially the viability of theologically engaged ethnography. / 2031-01-01

ABSTRACT From the 18th century, a considerable element of legislative democracy has been that of national budgeting. This has been substantially critical in assuring legislative statute over the government which has been controlled by kings. Predictably, the notion of public participation in budgetary processes has been disparate by governments in Africa. Due to its technocratic and elitist design, it is mostly a complex issue to recognise the making of national budgets by ordinary citizens in South Africa. However, topical developments have shown that the processes of creating national budgets should consider civil society’s role particularly in evaluating the impact of budgets on the poor. It is against this technocratic and elitist architectural backdrop of the state, regarding public budgeting and implementation, which this study employs the People’s Budget Campaign as a unique civil society organisation advocating for an alternative budget process in South Africa. This research has used a qualitative method in analysing data collected from primary and secondary sources, semi-structured interviews, as well as direct and participant observation of PBC activities.