Course Description

Examines the theoretical and practical challenges NGOs and other stakeholders encounter in an emerging global civil society. Language of instruction differs by year.

グローバル化する世界を市民の立場から理解するとどうなるのか。様々なNGOや社会運動などが構築する地球市民社会の理論と実践について概観する。開講年度によって、開講言語が異なる。

This class deals returns to the theoretical question about the position of civil society between political state actors and economic actors, and introduced the concept “public sphere” as developed by the German philosopher Juergen Habermas.

The following questions are raised in the lecture:

How can civil society actors be influential?

Can civil society contribute to more democracy?

Can real democracy work in mass societies?

Can democracy work in highly specialized social, economic, and political systems?

Will democracy work in representative systems?

Redefinition of democracy:

Can Global Civil Society bring about more democracy?

More civil organizations – more democracy?

(Robert Putnam, Francis Fukuyama, Larry Diamond)

Does globalization bring more or less democracy?

Globalization from above

Globalization from below

Concepts:

Public sphere:

space of communication and deliberation where citizens identify and discuss social problems, forming a ‘public opinion’, which in turn informs the decision making of political actors (Habermas 1989; 1992; 1996).

Effectiveness of communicative action, not the density of associations, is the key measure of democracy.

The importance and the problems of pubic communication (communicative action).