The Politics of Civil Society: Big Society and Small Government

by Fred Powell

Overview

The politics of civil society is an original, thought provoking analysis which challenges one-dimensional neoliberal thinking about civil society, and seeks to rediscover its radical roots. The original edition shifted the scholarly debate onto the new ground, offering an accessible and compelling analysis of one of the central issues of our times. In the second, revised edition of this indispensable book, the author looks behind 'the mirror of power' to discover the reality of civil society - or 'Big Society', as it has become known. He finds not one but three forms of civil society: radical, liberal and conservative. In complex interplay between state and civil society, the author argues that citizens contend for power through civil society. This is both an age-long pursuit dating from antiquity and a contemporary democratic struggle between competing visions of modernity that determines the 'real' in politics, as experienced by the citizens. The book will have wide appeal to a broad cross-disciplinary audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447309499
Publisher:	Policy Press
Publication date:	04/24/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	740 KB

About the Author

Fred Powell is Professor of Social Policy and Dean of Social Science at the National University of Ireland, Cork. He has published extensively on civil society, political thought and citizen participation.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Doublethink: the Big Society, Small Government Debate; The renaissance of civil society; Modernity, civil society and civic virtue; Radical Civil Society, Early Social Movements and the Socialisation of the State; Nietzsche’s Revenge: Totalitarian Big Society; Rights talk, New Social Movements and Civic Revolts; American Exceptionalism, Multicultural Civil Society and Plato’s Noble Lie; Global civil society: myth or reality?.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This is a closely argued and fascinating book, and we are in Fred Powell's debt for updating his treatise." Citizen's Income Trust newsletter 2015

“Fred Powell has written an original and important book which draws civil society from the margins into the centre of political and social theorising. The Politics of Civil Society will be essential reading for anyone concerned with the strengthening of market power and the erosion of democracy in contemporary society.” Professor Peadar Kirby, Emeritus Professor of International Politics and Public Policy, University of Limerick, and UNESCO Chair, University of Valencia

Editorial Reviews

"A book that will be on the reading lists of political science undergraduates...[and] it should be read by those interested in the development and politics of the welfare state" Journal of Social Policy

"The book explores a great deal of very complex theoretical debate and does so in a very accessible manner......a lively read and a thorough investigation of the contemporary literature." Community Development Journal

"Offers analytic tools to comprehend the economic and political context within which we live and invites us to explore the inherent complexity of civil society activities." Voluntary Sector Review

From the Publisher

A book that will be on the reading lists of political science undergraduates . . . [and] it should be read by those interested in the development and politics of the welfare state.

Journal of Social Policy

Offers analytic tools to comprehend the economic and political context within which we live and invites us to explore the inherent complexity of civil society activities.

Voluntary Sector Review

This is a closely argued and fascinating book, and we are in Powell’s debt for updating his treatise.

Citizen’s Income Newsletter 2015

Powell has spent many hours . . . reading vast amounts of academic and media print, trying to make sense of the various shifts in power and democratic forms evident in new civil society energies as diverse as the World Social Forums, Arab Spring, Occupy, and the Tea Party. For that this reader is grateful. Powell’s exploration enables the reader to meaningfully theorize and reflect on such recent events. The book explores a great deal of very complex theoretical debate and does so in very accessible manner. He makes good creative use of often long quotations from some of the emerging literature (Badiou, for example) and from the classics, but also draws on contemporary media (he is clearly a Guardian reader). I particularly liked his liberal use of George Orwell. The result is a lively read and a thorough investigation of the contemporary literature. . . . Powell poses big questions. He is provocative and he is not afraid to come off the fence. . . . The task of civil society is to produce the new political imaginary for the 21st century and this book is a worthy contribution to this challenge of creating a ‘social left.'

Community Development Journal - Mary P. Murphy

This is a closely argued and fascinating book, and we are in Powell’s debt for updating his treatise.

Citizen's Income Newsletter 2015

“This is a closely argued and fascinating book, and we are in Powell’s debt for updating his treatise.

Citizen’s Income Newsletter 2015