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Civil Society and Neoliberalism

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The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa

Part of the book series: Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies ((NCSS,volume 20))

Abstract

This chapter portrays the civil society in Africa against the grain of the western neoliberal conception, which portrays the idea as either lacking or being anaemic in the continent. This chapter shows that the current dominant neoliberal conception is largely oblivious of the “really existing civil society” in Africa, a bevy formal and informal, state-led and anti-state, civil and uncivil and democratic and anti-democratic associational form that traverses various domains. Finally, the chapter argues that although the African civil society may carry both democratic and anti-democratic norms, this only goes on to show that the civil society, in its varying hues, is ever present in the continent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria

    Dr. Usman A. Tar

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  1. Dr. Usman A. Tar
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Correspondence to Usman A. Tar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

    Ebenezer Obadare

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Tar, U. (2014). Civil Society and Neoliberalism. In: Obadare, E. (eds) The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies, vol 20. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8262-8_16

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