Civil SocietyIn the absence of noble public goals, admired leaders, and compelling issues, many warn of a dangerous erosion of civil society. Are they right? What are the roots and implications of their insistent alarm? How can public life be enriched in a period marked by fraying communities, widespread apathy, and unprecedented levels of contempt for politics? How should we be thinking about civil society? Civil Society examines the historical, political, and theoretical evolution of how civil society has been understood for the past two and a half millennia. From Aristotle and the Enlightenment philosophers to Colin Powell's Volunteers for America, Ehrenberg provides an indispensable analysis of the possibilities-and limits-of what this increasingly important idea can offer to contemporary political affairs. Civil Society is the winner of the Michael J. Harrington Award from the Caucus for a New Political Science of APSA for the best book published during 1999. |
Contents
Civil Society and the Classical Heritage | 3 |
Civil Society and the Christian Commonwealth | 28 |
Civil Society and the Transition to Modernity | 55 |
The Rise of Economic Man | 83 |
Civil Society and the State | 109 |
Civil Society and Intermediate Organizations | 144 |
Civil Society and Communism | 173 |
Civil Society and Capitalism | 199 |
Civil Society and Democratic Politics | 233 |
Notes | 251 |
| 271 | |
| 281 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action activity Adam Smith affairs American aristocratic Aristotle Aristotle’s articulated associations authority autonomous bourgeois bureaucracy capitalism central Christian Church cial ciety citizens civic civil soci civil society claim classical commonwealth constituted contemporary culture democracy democratic dependence drive economic Enlightenment equality ethical exist freedom French Revolution G. W. F. Hegel God’s Hegel Hobbes Hobbes's human Ibid Immanuel Kant important independent individual interest inequality institutions intermediate Jürgen Habermas Kant Kant’s Karl Marx liberal liberty limited litical live Luther Marx Marxism medieval modern Montesquieu moral nature Niccolò Machiavelli nomic notion Plato polis political power possible princes private interests production protect public sphere reason republic republican requires Revolution Rousseau rule secular self-interest serve Sidney Verba Smith social capital social relations society’s sovereign structure theories of civil theorists tion Tocqueville totalitarianism tradition understanding unity universal voluntary voluntary associations wealth York