By Naba Bhattacharjee
A shoe-thrower; a swami who wants to raise a private army; a national debate over whether dancing is decorous; determining the length of a skirt; blockades; human chains; burning effigies et al – as governance vacillate from silence to uncertainty. The events during last few years were unique in many ways. As people, we must also confront our contradictory responses to the phrase that has come to define — ‘civil society’. It’s a term has that has countless definitions. As a concept, it was born in the effort of citizens to assert their individual rights in 18th century Europe, in the face of an aristocratic State. In India, the ‘civil society’ debate is a polarised one, pitching ideologues of the left against right; left of centre and right of centre against each other while the “centre” dithers. After all, civil society is not an exclusive, members-only club. In our country civil society can be construed as a group of the ‘dominant classes’ of society.
In case of advanced capitalist societies where civil society is highly developed, it works as a powerful system of bulwark standing behind the State. In developing societies, it is a fraction of an entire society where the State seeks its protective armour directly from the masses. We are witnessing this scenario in India today, where civil society is agitating against the State which in turn is deriving its legitimacy from the masses directly. Hence, civil society organisations need to expand their reach by engaging with the masses to be the true bearers of public opinion vis-à-vis a popular mandate. Or else the predicament and cynicism shall continue.