[Kictanet] What is civil society?

[Wainaina Mungai]

1. Definition on BBC 
'A civil society is a public space between the state, the market and the
ordinary household, in which people can debate and tackle action'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/010705_civil.shtml
2. Definition by Centre for Civil Society 
Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around
shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional
forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in
practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market
are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly
embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying
in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are
often populated by organisations such as registered charities,
development non-governmental organisations, community groups, women's
organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations,
trades unions, self-help groups, social movements, business
associations, coalitions and advocacy group. (LSE Centre for Civil
Society - http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/what_is_civil_society.htm
)
3. Definition from DfID
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/intheuk/workwithcs/cs-how-to-work-what.
asp 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/pipermail/kictanet/attachments/20050928/cf163e45/attachment.htm>