Concept

Four different approaches of civil society form the base of our work, which are likewise the outcome and focus of our debate. We regularly look into this multilayered concept and we will keep record of new developments of our civil society concept on this website.

We deal with each of these concepts of civil society from three perspectives:

• On the empirical level we ask: what can we observe and describe?
• On the theoretical level we are interested in the question: How can we explain and classify developments in civil society?
• On the experimental-strategic level we discuss the question: How can we evaluate and influence developments in civil society?

The theoretical discussion about civil society is internationally held in several different “dialects”, according to different historic traditions and social realities. In order to balance out one-sidedness and blind spots it is necessary to lead discourses that cross boundaries. There is the possibility that discourses, which are familiar to us, are one-sidedly embossed by our experiences as industrialised states or from a eurocentric perspective. Therefore it is important to include civil societal developments from other parts of the world in order to meet this risk and to adjust and advance discourses and options for action.