Locating 'civil society'
By Tariq Bhatti
Before the advent of a 'funded' civil society, a sense of social cohesion, feeling of togetherness, and communal affiliations, were the indigenous elements constituting civil society
Civil society, a concept, as we understand it today, originated and evolved in a specific socio-cultural context with a distinct history.
Over the past two decades, the concept of 'civil society' has found massive global favour. Civil society as a distinct social entity came into being and fought for its recognition, more recently in Eastern and Central Europe (1970s and 1980s). Of course, a growing discontent among the communist blocks in the backdrop of cold war had cataclysmic effects on the concept as a potent social reality. The writings and speeches of Robert David Putnam, a professor at Harvard, and the works of theorists like Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba have contributed to widen the scope of this phrase.
The rationale behind the civil society groups depends, largely, on the premise of resistance to overgrown coercive organs of state and market. The concept adheres to the struggle of obtaining independent space for civil society outfits to fight a tendency of the institutions of state, family and market.
The question arises whether the concept of 'civil society' has any relevance in non-western contexts. Academicians come out with four possible answers.
The first answer is a clear 'yes', based on the idea of a positive, 'universal' view of the desirability of the civil society as part of the political project of building and strengthening democracy around the world.
The second is a clear 'no'. The proponents of this view argue that a concept which emerged at a distinctive moment in European history has little meaning for other cultural and political settings.
The third opinion that endorses an adaptive view, suggests that while the concept is potentially relevant to non-western contexts it will take on local, different meanings and should, therefore, not be applied too rigidly.
Yet another argument is that the idea of civil society -- whether explicitly recognised as such or not -- has long been implicated in colonial histories of both domination and resistance.
Looking at Pakistan, with regard to 'civil society', one finds military coups and decades of dictatorial regimes that have caused fissures in the fabric of all other institutions of state and society.
The evolution of civil society in post-independence Pakistan was made more difficult by the interplay of innumerable conflicting factors. The divisive trends manifested in the formative years of a new born country owed much to the ethnic and linguistic diversity. The inherited heterogeneity, coupled with the myopic vision of those at the helm, impeded the growth of civil society as a determinant active force of the country. Different regional, ethnic, linguistic and economic interest groups remained at daggers drawn. Policies of the state paid little attention to welding the gaps posing a threat to societal integration. Antagonistic wrangling within the various organisations of Pakistan has been going on since Independence. The inability of the state in dealing with the issues of political and cultural nature has had negative repercussions on the growth of civil society in the country.
Theorists maintain that the institutional forms of civil society are distinct from those of the state, family and market. Nevertheless, in the context of Pakistan, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market have always remained disproportionately blurred.
Civil societies are often populated by organisations such as registered charities, foundations, trusts, developmental organisations, community groups, women's organisations, faith-based institutions, professional associations, right based organisations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups.
Mainstreaming of the term civil society in the context of Pakistan, owes a lot to the mushroom growth of the registered non-governmental organisations -- largely funded by foreign donors, with a little bit alien set of priorities -- in the late 1980s. The indigenous civil society models in this part of the world were largely confined to the Islamic concept of welfare and charity. Civil society organisations such as Anjuman Himayat Islam, Aligarh Movement, and Edhi Foundation focused on the provision of basic services like health care and education. This character of the civil society posed little or no threat to the centralist state structure and dictatorial rulers.
The orientation of community and its collective response to social issues, in traditional Islamic societies, revolve largely around altruism, empathy, and sympathy. Pakistan, till recent past, was no exception to this rule. Before the advent of a 'funded' civil society, a sense of social cohesion, feeling of togetherness, and communal affiliations, were the elements constituting civil society.
Intricacies of politico-economic framework of civil society aside, it has had positive effect on expanding the space for non-state actors in Pakistan, in the past one decade or so. Assumption of roles like advocacy, watchdog, and influencing state policies, has widened the sphere of civil society in the country. For instance, mainstreaming the discourse on human rights, participatory and accountable governance -- though superficially - owes much to the modern civil society pressure groups in Pakistan.
One might pose questions regarding the financial transparency and the legitimacy of many civil society outfits; nevertheless, one cannot deny the fact that these groups have contested the ideological hegemony and challenged the repression of the existing order.
A large array of civil society organisations of lawyers, journalists and other professional bodies do not face any questions of legitimacy. They have impeccable integrity check within their organisations. The commendable ongoing struggle of legal community and other segments of civil society against the unconstitutional suspension of Chief Justice of Pakistan, and the tortuous hardships borne by journalists and political workers during the rule of Ziaul Haq are evidences to support the democratic character of a civil society in Pakistan.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/apr2007-weekly/nos-29-04-2007/pol1.htm#5 a link of this article published in The news on Sunday
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