SOCIAL SELF-ORGANIZATION, CIVILITY AND SOCIOLOGY - A COMMENT ON KUMAR CIVIL-SOCIETY

Through the 1980s and into the 1990s, there has been a resurgence of interest in 'civil society' in Eastern and Western Europe. In many writings, the precise lineaments of civil society remain unclear. Kumar objects to attempts to remedy this by formulating some neutral, historically decontextualised concept - though he errs in so far as he implies that this is particularly a sociological practice. Instead he does social science, and potentially the public sphere, a great service by distinguishing different past and present conceptions of civil society. However he dismisses too readily the value of the sociological variant which refers to a space or arena between the household and the state, other than the market, which affords possibilities of concerted action and social self-organisation. De Tocqueville's 'art of association' is crucial to it, as is 'civility' - the equable treatment of others as fellow citizens however different their interests and sensibilities.