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<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=2>In an informal context, an amateur
does what they do, for the love of their art, craft, or other activity,
sometimes inexpertly, sometimes very well.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=2>A professional is often given that
status because they are paid to carry out their activity, as opposed to an
amateur, who does not get paid. Sometimes this indicates a higher level of
quality, but this is not always true.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000080 size=2>Since in this discussion we are not
talking about mercenaries as paid combatants in an armed conflict, what is the
difference between a professional and a mercenary? In the best case scenario,
isn't a professional someone who gets paid to do what they want to do anyway?
Wouldn't we RATHER have professionals working with us? </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=garth.graham@telus.net href="mailto:garth.graham@telus.net">Garth
Graham</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=governance@lists.cpsr.org
href="mailto:governance@lists.cpsr.org">governance</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, May 25, 2008 10:53 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [governance] Mercenaries on
the list</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>On 24-May-08, at 2:46 PM, Jacques Berleur wrote:<BR><BR>>
2b) "The civil society covers all the active networks in the <BR>>
political public space which do not depend<BR>> upon either the
administrative and governmental system, or the <BR>> business
system." ([Weerts, 2004],<BR>> .......<BR>><BR>> Definition 2b has my
preference. Hope this may help. But I don't <BR>> see how to derive
the "mercenaries on<BR>> the list" from the definition!!!<BR><BR>The way
you get to "mercenaries" is by being a bit less descriptive <BR>and a
bit more cynical about the system's process in the definition.
<BR>In answer to that “what is civil society?” question, I prefer the
<BR>argument of Martin Carnoy and Manuel Castells that global alliances
<BR>of common interest among corporations and governments have invented
a <BR>construct called “civil society.” They said:<BR><BR>“The
other axis of the nation-state's reconfiguration is its attempt <BR>to
regain legitimacy and to represent the social diversity of its
<BR>constituency through the process of decentralization and devolution
<BR>of power and resources. This translates primarily into revitalizing
<BR>sub-state national governments (such as Scotland or Catalonia),
<BR>regional governments, local governments, and non-governmental
<BR>organizations. Indeed, the dramatic expansion of non-governmental
<BR>organizations around the world, most of them subsidized and
supported <BR>by the state, can be interpreted as the extension of the
state into <BR>civil society, in an effort to diffuse conflict and
increase <BR>legitimacy by shifting resources and responsibility to
the <BR>grassroots.” …..<BR><BR>….. “What emerges is a
new form of the state. It is a state made of <BR>shared institutions,
and enacted by bargaining and interactive <BR>iteration all along the
chain of decision making: national <BR>governments, co-national
governments, supra-national bodies, <BR>international institutions,
governments of nationalities, regional <BR>governments, local
governments, and NGOs (in our conception: neo- <BR>governmental
organizations). Decision-making and representation take <BR>place all
along the chain, not necessarily in the hierarchical, pre- <BR>scripted order.
This new state functions as a network, in which all <BR>nodes interact,
and are equally necessary for the performance of <BR>state's functions.
The state of the Information Age is a network state.”<BR><BR>…. “Thus, the
state diversifies the mechanisms and levels of its key <BR>functions
(accumulation, reproduction, domination and legitimation), <BR>and
distributes its performance along the network. The nation-state
<BR>becomes an important, coordinating node in this interaction, but it
<BR>does not concentrate either the power or the responsibility to
<BR>respond to conflicting pressures.”<BR><BR>….. “The second way to establish
legitimacy in the new historical <BR>context is decentralization of
state power to sub-state levels: to <BR>sub-national groupings, to
regions, and to local governments. This <BR>increases the probability
that citizens will identify with their <BR>institutions and participate
in the political process. While nation- <BR>states cede power, they also shift
responsibility, in the hope of <BR>creating buffers between citizens'
disaffection and national <BR>governments. Legitimacy through
decentralization and citizen <BR>participation in non-governmental
organizations seems to be the new <BR>frontier of the state in the 21st
century.<BR><BR> Still, the state will have to respond to social
movements' demands <BR>to avoid a legitimacy crisis.”
……<BR><BR>Quotes from: Martin Carnoy and Manuel Castells, “Globalization,
the <BR>knowledge society and the network state: Poulantzas at the
<BR>millennium,” Global Networks, 1, 1, 2001, 1-18<BR><BR>There is, after all,
some joy in the thought that many of the debates <BR>about
representation on the IGC list are merely a reflection of "the <BR>new
frontier of the state in the 21st century." Also that, if "the
<BR>state of the Information Age is a network state," then the protocol
<BR>that governs its structure is called "Internet
Protocol."<BR><BR>GG____________________________________________________________<BR>You
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