The emergence of the idea of civil society

The artificial political order and natural social orders

Bibliographic Data

ID6254682
AuthorsJack Lively (University of Warwick), Andrew Reeve (0000-0001-7217-6601, University of Warwick)
Year1997
Volume4
Issue1
Pages63-75
Publication date1997-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510349708403502
OpenAlexW2077860646
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited7

A reformulation of the relationship between the state and civil society as a relation between a willed political order and an unwilled natural order is the core of this account. The development of the idea of civil society from its pre‐modern identification with the 'created political order' (where no separation between state and civil society was apparent) to its modern construction as a 'natural' sphere separate from the state is traced. Then the two variants of this modern, 'naturalistic' idea of civil society: one economic (the subject of political economy) and the other moral (closely tied to notions of nation and community) are examined. On this basis, the question is posed: how can the democratic state 'affect or purposefully intervene in civil society in general?' This is followed by an examination of the different modes of intervention which the state adopts depending on whether civil society is conceived as a natural economic or moral order

Civil society · Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Natural (archaeology · Natural order · Naturalism · Order (exchange · Philosophy of law · Political science · Politics · Social contract · Social order · Sociology · State (computer science · State of nature · Subject (documents · Law · Philosophy · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Theory and Influence · Religion and Society Interactions

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