Recently, a special issue of the journal Social Science History was published at Cambridge University Press. Dr Maarten van Dijck was one of the editors of this special issue, with contributions regarding European civil society.
Citizens and society
Civil society is widely considered as a crucial element in contemporary society. Academics and policy makers have traditionally associated it with voluntary associations and organizations, assuming that associational life is an ideal intermediary between citizens and government. While members of associations form large social networks, which they can mobilize at critical moments, the conviviality of group sociability fosters the development of a set of common values, such as a democratic political culture and other civic virtues. Its origins are generally situated in the eighteenth century, and are mostly attributed to secularization, Enlightenment thinking, the birth of the “public sphere,” and growing emancipation from oppressive structures such as the church and the state.
Contributions
This special issue of Social Science History contains articles from various scholars:
- Joseph Bradley (University of Tulsa)
- Bert de Mucnk (University of Antwerp)
- Jan Hein Furnée (Radboud University Nijmegen)
- David Garrioch (Monash University, Australia)
- Isabel dos Guimarães Sá (University of Minho)
- Nicholas Terpstra (University of Toronto)
- and Maarten van Dijck (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Van Dijck edited this volume, together with Bert de Munck and Nicholas Terpstra.
- More information