[governance] "civil society" (was Re: COMMENTS SOUGHT: draft letter...)

[Fouad Bajwa]

SSR: 'A civil society is a public space between the state, the market
and the ordinary household, in which people can debate and tackle
action'.

WB: The World Bank has adopted a definition of civil society developed
by a number of leading research centers: “the term civil society to
refer to the wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit
organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing the
interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical,
cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic
considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to
a wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable
organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations,
and foundations”.

CSI: Perhaps the simplest way to see civil society is as a "third
sector," distinct from government and business. In this view, civil
society refers essentially to the so-called "intermediary
institutions" such as professional associations, religious groups,
labor unions, citizen advocacy organizations, that give voice to
various sectors of society and enrich public participation in
democracies.

We are part of the third sector in the IG ecosystem though we are not
the only ones. The legal rationale to IGC's existence and CS status is
its charter and its diverse membership and this list is an example of
our inclusive debates.

Best

Fouad

On Sun, Mar 17, 2013 at 11:52 AM, Norbert Bollow <nb at bollow.ch> wrote:
> McTim <dogwallah at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> For the purposes of this list however, any one who subscribes
>> to the IGC charter is de facto CS, no?
>
> I strongly disagree.
>
> The IGC charter presupposes that the term "civil society" has some
> meaning independent of the action of "subscribing to the IGC charter".
>
> Since (perhaps unfortunately) there is nothing in the charter that
> would provide information on what this meaning of the term "civil
> society" should be taken to be, I would suggest that the reasonable
> interpretations are:
>
> a) For the purposes of the IGC, there is no normative definition of
> what is "civil society". Everyone should personally form an opinion
> of what it means in their view, and act accordingly.
>
> b) For the purposes of the IGC, the meaning of the term "civil
> society" is to be determined by exegesis of the WGIG documents.
>
> c) For the purposes of the IGC, the meaning of the term "civil society"
> is to be determined by how the term was interpreted in context of the
> WSIS accredition processes.
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
>
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-- 
Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
ICT4D and Internet Governance Advisor
My Blog: Internet's Governance: http://internetsgovernance.blogspot.com/
Follow my Tweets: http://twitter.com/fouadbajwa

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