CIVICUS

Respecting diversity – celebrating independence
By David Robinson, New Zealand Social and Civic Policy Institute; Board member of CIVICUS

The challenge facing civil society as we enter the second decade of the 21st century is to preserve the independence of citizens and their right to act collectively without Government direction or coercion – as individual citizens, as members of associations of all kinds and, when appropriate, in partnership with Government.

Although sometimes criticised as having negative connotations, the very strength of civil society is expressed by the definition of organised groups as NGOs (non-government organisations). These associations are created outside of government and, while they need to adhere to the general laws of a country, they are not creations of, or subject to direction by, the state.

This independence is under increasing threat from Governments from all ends of the political spectrum; what they have in common is wanting to exert more control over civil society. Moves by established conservative governments under the slogan of the “war on terror” have been exceeded by “liberationist” regimes under the goal of preserving the “integrity” of the state in their controls on the transfer of money and other resources within and between countries and restrictions of the freedom to critique government policies. An example of this tendency is the decree issued this week by the self-appointed Prime Minister of Fiji that elderly Fijians who criticise the country’s military regime will have their pensions cut. Only last week he announced that the Methodist Church would be barred from holding its annual conference until 2014.

These growing restrictions are an acknowledgement of the potential power of civil society to express the realities of people’s experiences and aspirations beyond any political or religious directives. However, this does highlight a major challenge to civil society in 2010 and beyond.

What needs to be done by civil society cannot be centrally defined and directed. The task we face is:

to recognise and celebrate the wide diversity within civil society, not just in the range of activities but also in the forms of organisation - from customary village councils in the Pacific and local community associations in urban areas around the world to the highly structured global NGOs.
to work together collectively while respecting these differences, as the independence that we value can best be defended through collective action.

A major challenge is to build the awareness of people at the community grassroots level of their own rights and capabilities; to help them build their own forms of association (both informal and legally registered) and their own networks; to provide ways for their reality to be reflected in local, regional and global decision making forums and not be overwhelmed by a forced globalisation.

CIVICUS has a key role to play in ensuring that these different forms and levels of civil society are recognised, respected and nurtured.

At the global level there is a danger that we become removed from the community, from the people and from the reality of civil society. The threat “from within” is of the independent space being occupied by professional civil society experts rather than by civil society itself.

As CIVICUS has developed over the last decade, our programmes have the potential to play a critical role at each of these levels: providing support to groups at the local level through the AGNA (Affinity Group of National Associations) network;, acting to ensure that the civil society space is defended (and extended) through Civil Society Watch and its early warning system.

And as civil society deals with the positive and negative impacts of globalisation including escalating developments and changes in communications technology we must ensure that opportunities are provided so that people at the local grassroots level experiencing the reality of climate change, natural disasters and religious and political repression can share an open exchange of views, experiences and hopes.

The CIVICUS contribution to this dialogue is to ensure that the World Assembly and e-CIVICUS (along with our other programmes) maintain their connections with and reflect the realities of citizens and civil society at all levels.

Subscription to e-CIVICUS:
Do you have a friend who works for a more just world? Would you like to share this newsletter with them? Why don’t you suggest they register for a free subscription?

They can send us an e-mail to subscriptions@civicus.org or fill out the subscription form click here. Alternatively, please forward their e-mail address to subscriptions@civicus.org and we’ll contact them on your behalf.

Comments, Suggestions and Contributions:
Please send us your contributions no later than Monday every week to editor@civicus.org. All contributions must be focused on civil society issues or have a civil society angle.