From Social Sphere to Intermediary Association

A Critical Analysis of Civil Society's Neoliberal Transformation

Bibliographic Data

ID2371045
AuthorsAcar Kutay (0000-0003-1403-9195, Molde University College, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume50
Issue1
Pages31-47
Publication date2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/08969205231180263
OpenAlexW4379796672
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited50

In this paper, I examine the neoliberal transformation of civil society through Mitchel Foucault's insights concerning knowledge, power, and governmentality. The objective of this paper is to trace the evolving understandings of civil society and how they relate to governmental rationalities and technologies of power. The traditional notion of civil society as a distinct and autonomous sphere has shifted toward an intermediary associations approach under neoliberalism. I posit that the mobilization of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations by states, international organizations, and donor agencies since the 1990s constitutes a form of governmental technology, influenced by neoliberal rationalities. This technology serves the neoliberal agenda of undermining the social state, promoting market creation, and encouraging non-partisanship. This argument suggests that the rise of civil society as intermediary associations coincides with the decline of society

Civil society · Governmentality · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Social movement · Sociology · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics