Can Civil Society Happen Here? (18 Mar 99)
My Fellow Americans (and interested foreigners):
Let me begin by reassuring you that there is no immediate danger of
IT happening in America. Nevertheless, eternal vigilance requires that we
take account even of distant and improbable dangers and not always start
thinking about defense policy the morning after Pearl Harbor.
The vast majority of people who talk about "civil society" are
undoubtedly quite harmless. They say "civil society" instead of just "society"
for the same reason they say "society" rather than "we." Six syllables is
better than four syllables is better than one. It is as simple as that. Walking
around on verbal stilts may not be a great idea, but it is certainly nothing for
their fellow citizens to be alarmed about.
HOWEVER, there are a few who actually mean something in
particular by "civil society," and these folks will bear watching. Most of them
want to be watched, anyway, although not with the cold fishy eye
recommended here. This page is accordingly divided into two parts: (1)
where to watch them, and (2) what to watch for. That means (1) links to
sites where the Civil Socialists present their own versions or visions of IT
Happening Here and (2) scribbles by El Chipo de Silicio against visionaries
of that sort.
(To spare you reading the trashy amateur stuff, suffice it to say that
my own position always boils down in the end to keeping boring old
Democracy and not trading it in for shiny new CivSoc.)
http://www.civilsociety.org (Institute for Civil Society)
http://www.civsoc.com (Prof. Thomas Bridges)
http://epn.org/civilsoc.html (EPN/American Prospect )
http://ipmwww.ncsu.edu:8080/conlect/civilsoc (Ireland, Poland &c.)
http://divweb.harvard.edu/csvpl/ee/hsev/civ-soc.htm (Harvard Divinity)
Straight from the Horse's Mouth!
Why is there no Civil Socialism in the US?
No Vacancy?
Oh Read Over Doctor Bridges!
(regress)