Europe and the other: Non-European concepts of civil society
The idea and contributions of this collection of articles on “Non-European concepts of civil society” originate from a European research project. The European Civil Society Network (CiSoNet) deals with a highly important aspect of European integration and enlargement, namely, the emergence, dynamics, and perspectives of a European-wide civil society. Ci- SoNet is embedded in the EC’s 5th Framework Programme’s Key Action on “Improving the socio-economic knowledge base”, spanning a period of work from 2003 to 2005. Its aim is to stimulate cross-disciplinary research concentrating on transnational dimensions of civil society, and thereby to contribute to the establishment of a European research area within the social sciences and the humanities.
Civil society theory, enlightenment and critique
This essay examines the current state of civil society theory and its debt to Enlightenment concepts of civil society. The central argument is that contemporary civil society theory loses touch both with the critical aspect of enlightenment thought itself and with the critique of enlightenment thought that we find most developed in Hegel and Marx. After charting the development of the Enlightenment perspectives on civil society, and the critique that Hegel and Marx make of civil society, two related points are made: first, that it is one‐sided and menacing to grant primacy to civil society, just as it is to grant primacy to the state or to the market; second, that further research in the area should develop a ‘third way’: one that recognizes the validity of the concept of civil society without romanticizing it, without idealizing it, and without abstracting it from its social and historical ground. In conclusion, it is argued that the identification of civil society with ethical life not only avoids confr...
Vaclav Havel's Heideggerianism
The philosophy of Czechoslovakia's President, Vaclav Havel has received little attention in the West. Most people assume that “the enemy of our (former) enemies must be like us,” i.e., that Havel must be a sort of Western-style liberal-democrat. When Havel addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington and quoted Hegel's claim to the effect that “consciousness precedes being” (with a Heideggerian anti-modemist twist), few if any of the cheering delegates had the faintest idea concerning what they were applauding. In a sardonic editorial the following day, The Washington Post traced Havel's ideas to Hegel and ridiculed the members of Congress for their lack of philosophical education. But it did not question the more important Heideggerian meanings of Havel's speech.