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Civil Society in Post-Conflict Scenarios

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International Encyclopedia of Civil Society

Introduction

The civil society plays a variety of roles in the complex task of peace building in the aftermath of conflict in the global age. On the one hand, civil society’s post-conflict roles correspond broadly with numerous and competing definitions of civil society. On the other hand, they match a wide range of tasks assumed by post-conflict peace builders. Thus, civil society conceptualized in terms of buoyant non-state sphere reinforces democratization in the Tocquevillian tradition; the creation of social capital in Putnam’s sense is conducive to development, and civil society as a space of civility and tolerance echoing Habermas’ thinking is deemed to be an answer to sectarianism. In sum, both scholars and practitioners of post-conflict peace building alike consider development of civil society critical to sustainable peace. Acknowledging the definitional elasticity of civil society, as well as problems arising from it, they have been preoccupied with the questions concerning...

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References/Further Readings

  • Brinkerhoff, D. W. (2007) Introduction – Governance challenges in fragile states. In D. W. Brinkerhoff (Ed.) Governance in post-conflict societies: Rebuilding fragile states (pp. 1–21). London/New York: Routledge.

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Kostovicova, D. (2010). Civil Society in Post-Conflict Scenarios. In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_33

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_33

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

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