Civil Society

What is civil society? Where did the idea come from, why does it matter, and can it still deliver on its promises in an age of rising authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, and collapsing public trust? Now in its fourth edition, Michael Edwards’s compact and authoritative guide has become the standard reference for anyone who wants to understand the terrain on which charities, voluntary organisations, and social movements operate.

Few concepts in modern politics and public life are deployed more frequently, or more vaguely, than ‘civil society’. Politicians across the spectrum invoke it; academics have built entire research programmes around it; funders use it to describe everything from neighbourhood associations to global advocacy networks. Yet it remains persistently ill-defined, and the assumptions behind its use are rarely examined.

Michael Edwards set out to change that, and Civil Society, now in its fourth edition and continuously updated since its first publication in 2004, has become the essential guide to what the concept actually means and what it can and cannot do.

Synthesis of three schools of thought required

Edwards traces three distinct schools of thought about civil society.

The first understands it as associational life, the vast, diverse ecosystem of voluntary organisations, clubs, charities, and community groups that exists between the state and the market.

Buy the book now

The second understands it as the good society, a vision of the kind of world that voluntary action is trying to build, rooted in ideals of equity, justice, and human flourishing.

The third understands it as the public sphere, the arena of deliberation, debate, and dissent through which democratic societies reason together.

None of these, Edwards argues, is sufficient on its own; only a synthesis of all three offers a framework adequate to the complexity of real civic life.

Fully updated

This fourth edition is fully updated to address the urgent challenges of the present moment: the rise of authoritarianism and populism; the digital transformation of civic space; the growing overlap between civil society and the market in the form of social enterprise and venture philanthropy; and the scandals and crises of trust that have buffeted the charity sector in recent years. Edwards is clear-eyed about what civil society can realistically achieve — and what it cannot substitute for: principled, effective government and structural economic change.

For UK charity leaders, fundraisers, and anyone working in or around the voluntary sector, Civil Society provides the intellectual scaffolding that makes sense of the world they inhabit. Why does the sector exist? What are its distinctive strengths and characteristic weaknesses? What is its relationship to the state, the market, and democratic life? This slim, lucid, and rigorously argued book answers those questions better than anything else in print.

About Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards is a writer and activist based in upstate New York, and editor of Transformation at openDemocracy. He spent many years as a senior official at the World Bank and the Ford Foundation, working on civil society and international development, before leaving institutional life to write and advocate independently. His other books include Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World and Future Positive: International Co-operation in the 21st Century. He maintains a website at futurepositive.org.

Reviews

“All over the world, political systems are paralysed by incompetence, polarisation, and authoritarianism. Can voluntary organisations, engaged citizens, and intermediate associations rescue democratic participation and oversight? Michael Edwards’s book provides essential guidelines for understanding the revitalising possibilities of civil society.”
John Ehrenberg, Long Island University

“This significantly updated edition provides an authoritative account of the contemporary complex relevance of civil society for the future of participatory democracy. Lucidly conceptualised and fluently written, this is required reading for twenty-first-century citizens of conscience.”
Richard Falk, University of California, Santa Barbara; former UN Special Rapporteur

“Essential reading for understanding the idea of civil society.”
Voluntas

“Drawing insights from history, philosophy, economics, and politics, Edwards peels back the layers of logic, assumption, and fact to offer a clear-eyed assessment of civil society’s contribution to society at large.”
Democracy & Society

“This ambitious and compact book provides a very useful summary of the ongoing civil society debate and will appeal to a broad audience motivated to contribute in some way or another to positive social change.”
Development and Change

Diminished Democracy (Skocpol) for a detailed empirical account of how civic associational life has weakened in practice
Public Good by Private Means (Davies) for the specifically British dimension of civil society and philanthropy
Voluntary Organisations and Social Policy in Britain (Harris & Rochester) for the policy context
Seeing Like a State (Scott) for a compatible analysis of institutional blindness to civic complexity.