Abstract
AbstractThroughout the world, we recognise a tendency for civic space to be limited by governments and private sector actors. A common reason is to reduce the advocacy pressure of civil society groups on their interests. But the issue seems to be more complex than just a tendency of ‘shrinking civic space’ which is undermining development. We see the influence of historical latency on civic agency and actors within socio-political processes, contributing to a renaissance of nationalisms as being a key problem. The question arises how civic agency is deployed to counteract these initiatives, and how latent civic resistance is being mobilised. A framework of civic-driven change is applied to analyse the political potential of these forces, and in this way also to ‘interrogate’ civic space. Is this really a useful tool for analysing opportunities for social resistance, or is it rather a way to depoliticise civil society discourse?
Publisher
Springer International Publishing