Emergence of global civil society

In the current scenario of retrenching internationalism holding sway spearheaded by no less than political supremos of the US and Britain, it is progressively becoming difficult to talk about global civil society.

However, it is conveniently neglected that global civil society is about political emancipation and its underlying assumption is the empowerment of individuals and the extension of democracy. The ravages of international conflicts have resulted in internalisation of international relations in which citizens have increasingly participated working at cross purposes with governments that were previously the sole arbiters in this area. Moreover, the concept and practice of global civil society is considered an imperative part of the reaction against lack of accountability of governance exercised on global level.

The emergence of global civil society in the last few decades has transformed the international realm and it has become a sphere of transnational values and is fast becoming an arena in which transnational actors are increasingly able to influence and overcome the narrow interest of national elites.

The emergence of global civil society follows a new normative and ethical international agenda that is at times in variance with the conventional patterns of conduct followed by the nation-state. Global civil society therefore imbues a spirit of activism on part of common citizens that may not necessarily be in consonance with the views of the state apparatus particularly those segments that thrive on holding notions of status quo more relevant.

The actual strength of global civil society is that like the concept of human rights, few people would argue against the normative or ethical concept of civil society or global civil society. Even those who may dispute the existence of global civil society in practice would not argue against the use of the concept to highlight a positive normative goal or ideal. It is based upon the extension of political community as international politics is no longer seen as a political sphere limited to the narrow national interests of states. Moreover, the role of global civil society is the extension of democracy, the recasting of decision-making processes beyond exclusive national boundaries.

Global civil society actually represents a break between old forms of citizenship tied to the nation-state and new forms of moral and political community. Most of the members of global civil society proclaim morality as the basis of their actions as compared to the conventional state-based politics as the strategic basis for required political change. The traditional practice of realpolitik mostly defined as the struggle for power is negated by members of global civil society as they emphasise ethical and normative concerns of the normal and good life. The visible new situation is that the sphere of power and contestation has been internalized by the considerations of ethics and civility. It is considered the responsibility of non-state actors forming nucleus of global civil society to overcome the empirical and ethical divide between the domestic political realm and the happenings of the international arena.

The state system did experience a paradigm shift in the distribution of power within its parameters. This was quite unexpected, and the established systems of power were not prepared for this change and the developing world particularly saw quite a contest in this respect that often proved violent and deeply destabilizing. As was expected the struggle is lingering in nature and now it is in the throes of a reversal spearheaded by conventional corridors of power. On the other hand, the influence of transnational civil society looks to have come to stay as it is not easy to be eased back into pre-Cold War situation. The ingress of transnational society is quite formidable, and it is dynamic in nature regulated by high social sense and spirit of camaraderie transcending physical boundaries.

The increasing activity of transnational actors has given rise to a phenomenal increase in the number of non-governmental agencies though many states of the developing world have tried to muzzle them as much as possible. Descriptively there can be little doubting the dramatic rise in non-state actors in international affairs and this phenomenon has been valued as symbolizing crisis of old statist solutions to development and the need to free global economic initiative from bureaucratic constraints that are no longer rated as relevant. Non-state actors have gradually become a crucial mechanism for opening up political space and challenging state regulation in the developing world. Their benefits have however been discredited by the traditional forces of status quo quoting their connections with international institutions that are usually debated as dubious particularly in the developing world.

The decisive impulse of the global civil society hinges upon the adoption and expansion of international norms and regimes on human rights, the environment, children’s and women’s rights and rights of minorities and indigenous peoples in the last century. More importantly, the current global civil society is greatly devoted to highlighting the international terrorism and along with it champions the environment issues particularly the impact of changing climate on it. The multiplication of the agenda of civil global society threatens the political monopoly of nation-states in international decision-making and reflects a growing alternative to states and the market representing a third force capable of empowering citizens and possibly transforming the international system itself.

The repertoire of non-state activists is wide and ever-expanding, and the nature of such campaigns has initiated parallel summits organized at UN conferences on the environment and women’s rights and have won greater involvement in World Bank and international financial institutional decision-making. In the process global civil society has gained more currency as it provides a platform that is open in its intentions and approaches, and it believes in a consensus-oriented decision-making process. Global civil society is still in its nascent form and will take time to evolve into a mature alternative with the passage of time. This is the only way available to it to proceed and realise its full potential as it is the logical outcome of the resistance against arbitrary and often cynical conduct of a nation state.