Civil Society and (its) Indian Critiques

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the concept of civil society, with

special relevance to its meaning in the post-colonial and non-

Western world, seeking to underline the problems and challenges it

faces both in theoretical literature as well as in its practical applica-

tion. I start by contextualizing civil society and explaining why the

concept has been witnessing a renaissance over the last decades.

I then briefly point out the challenges and problems suxrounding

the debate on civil society. In the third part I will concentrate on

the particular understanding of civil society (and political society) as

proposed by Partha Chatterjee, one of India's leading post-colonial

scholars, thus addressing the problematic in an exclusively Indian

context. I finalize by critically scrutinizing his main arguments and

justaposing them with critiques by other authors.