Description
Book SynopsisIn 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.
Trade Review"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
“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
"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
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 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?.
