Overview

In East and Southeast Asia, the creation of civil society is a crucial yet most difficult issue. Europeans have had the luxury of centuries in a slow-moving world characterised by weak governments in which the foundation institutions, norms and values of civil society could ferment and develop. Asia, however, faces this task when a nation's currency can devalue in seconds, destabilising its government, and when states have far more effective means of surveillance, suppression and terror. This book examines these issues and shows that a better understanding of civil society in the Asian context is central to promoting contemporary political, social and economic reform in Asia. It will appeal to students and teachers of politics, law and sociology because it provides new perspectives on how to understand civil society drawing on Asian examples, as well as indications for rethinking what civil society means in Asia. Individual chapters combine theoretical and empirical issues in a way which fills a major gap in the literature. Henceforth, works about 'civil society' will need to take more account of the Asian evidence and Asianists will need to have a clear idea of what civil society in Asia means.

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9781472423313

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'In this timely, well-informed and rigorously-researched collection, editors Fahimul Quadir and Yutaka Tsujinaka have brought together seven new contributions by new and established scholars from inside and outside Bangladesh. The chapters throw important new light on the complex relationship between civil society and democracy in Bangladesh, and readers will find the book's conclusions to be highly original, enlightening and at times challenging. Academics, policy makers and practitioners will benefit enormously from the perceptive insights that are on offer here: insights that will also have implications well beyond Bangladesh itself.' David Lewis, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK 'This book provides an exciting, path-breaking exploration of the problematic relationship between civil society, democracy and development in Bangladesh. Presenting the work of senior and junior scholars from Bangladesh, Japan, North America and the United Kingdom, the collection debunks the argument that civil society is necessarily a force for democracy, good governance and human development, let alone human security. Working with both qualitative and quantitative data, the book illuminates the analytical potential of a more comparative, case-based, in-depth approach to the varieties of civil society and the dangers of assuming its transformational capacity for advancing the post-2015 development agenda.' Jane Parpart, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA

Author Information

Fahimul Quadir is an Associate Dean in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Professor of Social Science and Development Studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. He specializes in international development, International Relations and international political economy. His current research focuses on Southern aid providers, South-South cooperation, aid effectiveness, civil society, and democratization. Yutaka Tsujinaka is the president-elect of the Japanese Political Science Association and Professor of Political Science at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He is currently serving as director of the Center for International, Comparative, and Advanced Japanese Studies at the University of Tsukuba.

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