Power to the People?
(Con-) Tested Civil Society in Search of Democracy
Uppsala, March 23-24, 2010
International conference organized by the
Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development, Uppsala University
in cooperation with the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)/Team Civil Society
Civil society has over the past decades been
considered of increasing relevance in processes
of democratization, development, the protection
of human rights and in demands for transparency
and accountability of states and governments. In
these discussions, civil society is commonly
described as composed by autonomous individuals
freely engaging in horizontal networks to
promote shared interests. However, in many -
perhaps most - places in the world, people's
form of engagement with others is influenced by
obligations and loyalties to collectivities such
as kin or ethnic groups, often in combination
with a particular social status or class
interest. Differences in state regimes and
informal power structures also influence the way
people will strive to enhance their welfare, safety and interests.
In this conference, we explore differences of
civil society formation across the world.
Furthermore, we look at the implications such
differences have for the ways people strive to
achieve political change, especially in the
context of present late neoliberal era. What are
the consequences for democratization? How can
actors wanting to promote democratic change - as
activists or through development cooperation -
best form their work in these different contexts?
With key-lectures by top scholars from four
continents - Lloyd Sachikonye, Nandini Sundar,
Evelina Dagnino and Saad Eddin Ibrahim -
prominent long-standing activists - Thierno Kane
and Kumi Naidoo - and a series of participatory
parallel sessions, we will have two full days of reflections and discussions.
NB! The subject asks for breaching the divide
between research and practice. Thus, we welcome
contributions from scholars, practitioners and activists alike.
The topical sessions to be addressed are (see
attached document for session descriptions):
- Uncivil attachments: The role of ethnic
affiliations, kinship bonds and patron-client
relations in contemporary popular politics
- Gendered participation in civil society: "New"
spaces for women or a less powerful road? What
kind of space and what kind of power?
- Contradictory interests within civil society:
Open conflicts and new state-civil society relations
- Civil society and the demands from donors:
Caught between a rock and a hard place
- The role of Middle East civil society in democratization
- African governments, civil society and democracy
- Religious discourses as part of civil society
formation and democratization in Asia
- Latin American ciudadanía or citizenship -
different notions of citizens and political participation
Abstracts (summary) of your presentation of no
more than 300 words should be submitted to
<mailto:(Heidi.Moksnes /at/ csduppsala.uu.se)>(Heidi.Moksnes /at/ csduppsala.uu.se)
Please write "Power to the People?" as the topic
of your e-mail. Be sure to note which session you wish to address.
Deadline for submission of abstracts is January 25, 2010.
Submitters will be notified by February 10,
2010. Note that only 3-4 presentations per
session will be chosen. If you prepare a written
paper for your presentation, we wish to have
this paper by March 15 to send to the chair and
discussant of your session. The abstracts of all
session presentations will be distributed to all
participants, and will also be included in the
ensuing volume of conference proceedings.
Deadline for conference registration (for
participants not making presentations) is February 22.
Venue: Missionskyrkan, S: Olofsgatan 40,
Uppsala. (Suggested hotel, across the street
from venue: Hotel Uppsala, <http://www.profilhotels.se>www.profilhotels.se)
Time: March 23-24, 2010
The conference, including lunches and coffees, is free of charge.
This conference is organized with the support of
The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.
Most welcome!
Mia Melin and Heidi Moksnes
Coordinators of the Civil Society Project (see
<http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/civsoc/>http://www.csduppsala.uu.se/civsoc/)
--
Henric Barkman
Phd Candidate
Stockholm University
<mailto:(henric.barkman /at/ statsvet.su.se)>(henric.barkman /at/ statsvet.su.se)
+4673 918 03 18
