Civil Society in Hybrid Regimes: Trade Union Activism in Post-2003 Iraq

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110053
Author(s):  
Benjamin Isakhan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
The State ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Primary Materials ◽  
Union Activism

This article explores the relationship between hybrid regimes and civil society. It examines the extant debate between ‘neo-Tocquevilleans’ and their opponents over whether or not a robust civil society portends democratic transition and consolidation. It demonstrates the limits of these two models by arguing that civil society in hybrid regimes can in fact agitate against the state, advocate for democratic freedoms and achieve significant political reforms even when these do not lead to broader democratization. To demonstrate, this article documents the case of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions through 15 years of complex Iraqi politics, from the 2003 US-led intervention and during the incumbency of Prime Minister’s Maliki (2006–2014) and Abadi (2014–2018). By analysing primary materials produced by and about the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, it finds that this case holds important lessons for those seeking to understand the complex interface between civil society and the state in hybrid regimes.

Eine komplexe Friedenstheologie und Friedensethik

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Mierzwa
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Ethical Approach ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Preferential Option ◽  
Religionless Christianity ◽  
The Relationship

Peace has to be thought of in a more complex way, which is mainly stimulated by women from civil society. Many questions can no longer be addressed in a thematically and politically isolated or delimited way; chains of action and challenges are too interwoven. So far, too little attention has been paid to the preferential option for the poor, the approach of religionless Christianity and a feminist-liberation-theological-pacifist approach. Topics that are more marginal, such as a peace-ethical approach to money and the relationship between peace and health, are also addressed. Finally, the difficult question of how far one may still cooperate with the state when one is on the trail of peace is explored.

Civil society and the state

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-324
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Lugano
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Transformative Potential ◽  
State Authority ◽  
Organizational Relations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Political Settlement

This chapter provides an overview of the relationship between civil society and the Kenyan state. It unveils two contradictory trends: civil society’s opposition to, and co-optation by/cooperation with, the state. The chapter argues that these tendencies are contingent on organizational positionality within the prevailing political settlement, which constitutes state authority. The trends further affirm the centrality of civil society in Kenya’s political settlements, and associated reflections of key societal divisions along ethnic and political lines that in turn help to shape organizational relations with the state and broader society. Overall, the checkered relationship between state and civil society supports both popular perceptions of the latter’s contributions to democratization, as well as concerns regarding its transformative potential.

scholarly journals Toward a Non-Androcentric Historical Analysis of Women’s Prisons: The Cases of Santa Fe and Buenos Aires (Argentina, 1924–1936)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sol Calandria ◽  
Luis González Alvo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Correctional Institution ◽  
Santa Fe ◽  
Archival Research ◽  
Women's Prisons ◽  
State Agents ◽  
The Relationship

This article analyzes the administration of women’s prisons in Argentina during the process of state consolidation, using two prison cases: the Correctional Institution for Women (Santa Fe) and the Olmos Prison for Women (Buenos Aires). In both cases, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd’s administration faced resistance from several state and non-state agents. We revisit an old issue using a new gender approach to investigate the relationship between female punishment, civil society, the state, its agents. The aim is to contribute toward a historical, non-androcentric analysis of women’s prisons using archival research.

Value Orientations of Russian Youth in Interaction Models between the State and Civil Society

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
Oleg Vladimirovich Lagutin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Young People ◽  
The State ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
State University ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
State Models ◽  
Multidimensional Methods ◽  
The Relationship

In the context of the formation of civil society in modern Russia with the traditionally significant role of the state, the problem of studying the inclusion of young people in a particular model of the relationship between these two institutions is of particular relevance. This choice will determine a certain type of political system in Russia in the future. The purpose of the study is to identify empirically groups of young people who are determined by the direction of value orientations in public life and their involvement in various models of interaction between the state and civil society. The empirical basis of the study was a project conducted in 2019 by Saint Petersburg State University and Altai State University to study the political consciousness of Russian youth. As a result of using multidimensional methods of analysis, the connection between the involvement of the citizen-state models and the types of value orientations of Russian youth is revealed. Four groups of young people were obtained, stratified by value orientations, the specifics of relations between the state and citizens of our country, and the choice of the preferred type of state to live in.

Civil Society and Philanthropy in Africa: Parallels, Paradoxes and Promise

2021 ◽  
pp. 089976402110574
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Obadare ◽  
Kelly Krawczyk
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
The State ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Third Sector ◽  
The Relationship

Civil society and philanthropy in Africa are regularly theorized in formal terms and oft perceived as inherently democratizing forces. Yet, existing evidence exposes the limitations of these assumptions. This article provides an introduction to the symposium issue on civil society and philanthropy in Africa. The objective of the introduction, and the articles contained in the symposium, is to examine important questions related to civil society and philanthropy on the continent: What is the complex history and role of civil society and philanthropy in Africa? How have donor dependence and professionalization affected the effectiveness of the third sector? What are the contours of the relationship between the state and civil society? We ask these crucial questions in an attempt to provide a more nuanced and contextualized understanding of civil society and philanthropy on the continent.

Nature and the State Apparatus

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Whitehead ◽  
Rhys Jones ◽  
Martin Jones
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The State ◽  
State Interaction ◽  
State Function ◽  
Antonio Gramsci ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
State Organizations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
State Form

The previous two chapters have examined key moments and sites of nature– state interaction and have argued for the need to explore the manifold contexts within which these linkages develop. This discussion proved useful as a way of highlighting the different ways in which modern states have sought to frame national natures through ideological and material processes, and began to illustrate the ideological and concrete impacts of national natures on state organizations. This chapter focuses on the ways in which nature has been incorporated into the state apparatus, as well as showing how the state apparatus has helped to frame national natures. When referring to the state apparatus, we mean the ‘set of institutions and organizations through which state power is exercised’ (Clark and Dear 1984: 45). The state apparatus is distinct from the state form, which refers to the relationship between a given state structure and a particular social formation, and the state function, which alludes to the ‘activities which are undertaken in the name of the state’ (Clark and Dear 1984: 37, 41). Despite the reference to a state apparatus in the preceding sentences, it is clear that it does not represent a singular entity. If, as Neil Brenner (2004: 4) maintains, a reference to the state in the singular misleadingly ascribes to it a unity and uniformity that it does not possess, then by the same token, we need to think about the state apparatus as something that is not singular in character. Gordon Clark and Michael Dear (1984) have emphasized the multi-faceted and plural nature of the state apparatus. The state apparatus, in this sense, comprises an agglomeration of different sub-apparatuses, which are the ‘collection of agencies, organizations and institutions which together constitute the means by which state functions are attained’, and para-apparatuses, namely those ‘auxiliary agencies’ that possess ‘some degree of operational autonomy’ (Brenner 2004: 49). The state apparatus ranges, therefore, from those bureaucracies charged with conducting the state’s executive functions to a plethora of agencies involved in its more mundane aspects of governance. For Antonio Gramsci, the state apparatus is even broader in scope, drawing in important aspects of civil society.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM OF MODERN RUSSIA

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 23-26
Author(s):  
Мельникова ◽  
Raisa Melnikova
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Political System ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Political Modernization ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Municipal Level

The article discusses issues related to referring of local government to the institutions of civil society and its role and place in modern political system of Russia in the context of the study of the principle of democracy at the municipal level. The author proves that in the context of political modernization, the local government and its reform should be viewed not only as economic and technological transformations in the local municipal areas of the state, but as an actor of political reforms, set up in modern political processes.

Staat und Zivilgesellschaft

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Path Dependencies ◽  
Contextual Dependence ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Of Tension ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the state and civil society can be characterised as complex, disharmonious and dynamic. The complexity results from the historical conditions of its origin and the different ways of thinking, grasping and structuring the relationship. The relationship is disharmonious because although it can theoretically be thought of as equal, this equality, in fact, hardly exists. The relationship is dynamic because it is in a permanent state of tension between the path dependencies of the history of ideas, and therefore can and must be constantly rethought. This anthology attempts to grasp and illuminate the relationship between the state and civil society in all its complexity by paying special attention to the contextual dependence of the genesis of this complicated relationship. With the emergence of the modern state based on sovereignty, the state entered into opposition with civil society. Modern political theory has devoted much of its energy to reflecting this antagonism and bridging the gap between the two. With contributions by Nelson Chacón, Julian Dörr, Christopher Gohl, Oliver Hidalgo, Heinz Kleger, Alexander Kruska, Antoine Lévy, Andreas Nix, Edwin QuirogaMolano and Michael Zantke.

Managing Society: Protest, Civil Society, and Regime in Putin's Russia

Slavic Review ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme B. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The State ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Stability ◽  
New System ◽  
Post Soviet Space

Postcommunist Russia has become a paradigmatic case of contemporary authoritarianism in which elections coexist with autocratic rule. In this paper, Graeme B. Robertson argues that it is vital for the stability of such hybrid regimes for incumbents to maintain an image of political invincibility. This means intensively managing challenges both during elections and in the streets. To do this, Vladimir Putin's regime has built on the Soviet repertoire of channeling and inhibiting protest, creating a new system for licensing civil society and crafting ersatz social movements that rally support for the state. This contemporary style of repression has become a model for authoritarian regimes in the post-Soviet space and elsewhere.

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