Using a life history approach, looks at what influences citizens to participate in the voluntary associations that comprise and promote civil society.

There is a clear relation between the way children are raised and the way the world is heading. Famous philosophers and educationists such as Kant, Dewey, Montessori and Freire, exposed clearly the direct link between the social and political abuses of their time and the way in which children were brought up. From their analysis they each conceived the ambition of making the world a better place through educational reform. For various reasons it is not fashionable these days to make any kind of direct connection between child upbringing and ‘the state of the world’. The project of child-rearing gradually became focussed on individual development. In this book, Dutch child-psychologist Micha de Winter argues that there should be much more to child-raising, education and youth policy – for example, to learn to understand and practice democratic citizenship, humanity and freedom. What does it mean to live in a democratic society, how do you resist the seductions of ‘them-versus-us’ thinking which both offers the feelings of security and of belonging to a group and at the same time invites the risk of dehumanizing and excluding the other? Socialization from this perspective is a common responsibility that requires an educative civil society.

Using a life history approach, looks at what influences citizens to participate in the voluntary associations that comprise and promote civil society.

This volume is unique because of its focus on small states. There are many studies on civil society and social movements, but none that specifically deal with this category of countries. As is well known, small states have particular characteristics, including a limited ability to reap the benefits of economies of scale, a high degree of exposure to forces outside their control, and the proximity of politicians to the voters, often leading to clientelistic relationships and patronage networks. The small island developing states have the additional problem of high environmental vulnerability, with some also dealing with disproportionate ecological footprints. These factors have a bearing on the organization and performance of civil society organizations and social movements, as explained in several chapters of this book. The volume is organized in three parts, dealing with aspects of civil society and social moments in small states in the political, social and environmental spheres, respectively. Various definitions of civil society are proposed in the chapters, but most authors associate the term with organized groups, operating in the interest of citizens, independently of government and commercial business, including various forms of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Civil society also encompasses social movements, which are considered to be loosely organized collective campaigns in pursuit of social goals. These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably; however, some authors argue that social movements tend to engage in ‘contentious politics’ including protests, while NGOs engage through more organized and institutional routes.

Social capital - networks of civic engagements, norms of reciprocity, and attitudes of trust - is widely seen as playing a key role for the health of democracy. While many authors have examined the consequences of social capital, there is a pressing need to explore its sources. This collection brings together leading American and European scholars in the first comparative analysis of how social trust and other civic attitudes are generated. The contributors to this volume examine the generation of social capital from two directions: society-based approaches that emphasize voluntary associations, and institutional approaches that emphasize policy.

This volume--an outgrowth of the annual meeting of the Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology--focuses on examples of social change and community action, and the processes at work in creating change. The presenters engaged each other and the audience in thinking about how best to create and sustain social change. This volume represents a product of their cumulative insight, research results, and perspectives, including chapters from each of the symposium presenters, as well as a few selected chapters from other noted scholars. Taken as a whole, the volume is highly accessible and presents findings from provocative and programmatic research that offer illuminating lessons for anyone interested in attempts at community change, civic participation, and social action. Processes of Community Change and Social Action provides cutting-edge and complementary approaches to understanding the causes and effects of broad civic participation. The contributors to this volume are all distinguished researchers and theorists, well known for their work on different aspects of processes of community change and social action. They address topics related to service learning, social movements, political socialization, civil society, and especially volunteerism. This unique interdisciplinary collection appeals to social, personality, community, and developmental psychologists, sociologists, and public health researchers. It also should be of considerable interest to practitioners of social action and individuals working to create social change.

Following on from his earlier volume, Globalization and the Human Factor, Senyo Adjibolosoo focuses attention on the prospects for establishing civil society through the development of a positive human factor. As civil society can neither be brought into existence by factors such as stringent legislation, economic development, political manoeuvring and violent civil disobedience, nor by chance, these orthodox procedures have proved to be nothing more than unproductive quick-fix solutions. This study examines how previous social engineering programmes failed because of the preoccupation with the symptoms of severe human factor decay (HFD). The necessary conditions for a successful evolution of a principle–centred civil society is the availability of a positive human factor, without which no group of people can achieve and sustain civil liberties, human rights or the rule of law. Provocative and challenging, this book illustrates how positive human factor is essential to not only developing but also industrialized countries.