Studying civil society and changing civic spaces: where from and where to?

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Discussion

Abstract

An interesting new debate has emerged about how and to what extend civil society organizations have influenced changing civic spaces worldwide. A recent volume outlined this discussion and analysed a range of initiatives by civil society organizations to counter the pressure on limiting their space to exercise basic citizenship rights (see Biekart, Kontinen, Millstein, 2023). Chapters in this volume describe a variety of actions by civil society organizations as a response to restricted civic spaces. Examples are: community-level reactions, street protests, women’s initiatives, artist interventions, donor-funded NGOs, co-optation with the regime, and advocacy efforts. Many more actions have been analysed in different civic space settings through comparative country studies in Tanzania, Ghana, Costa Rica, Nepal, Laos and Hungary (Fowler and Biekart 2020), in Jharkhand-India (Toppo 2023) and in Morocco (Colin, 2023).

This proposal for a round table at the Antwerp ISTR conference is building on this debate by adding researchers’ perspectives to these and other empirical standpoints arising from recent research and publications (cf. Biekart and Fowler, 2022). Important to highlight is an emerging consensus that authoritarian (and hence anti-democratic) forces are contributing to a further restriction of civic spaces all over the world. Biekart and Fowler (2023) argue that, paradoxically, civic space is actually expanding for the constituencies relied on by authoritarian and neo populist governments. These citizens use key tools of civic space (such as social media) to become dominant civic forces by using fake news and half-truths to manipulate public opinion. Civic spaces are therefore changing in different directions and with unclear outcomes.
The question triggered whether current developments in civic space actually provide civil society actors with opportunities to be hopeful? On the one hand, after seeing the diversified ways in which civil society actors are responding to the reduction of civic freedoms, one may be optimistic that eventually democratic forces will overcome these restrictions. On the other hand, the many instances of shrinking civic spaces seem to be pointing instead towards darker outlooks for the near future.

The proposed format is a participatory roundtable (with brief introductions by the participants to trigger debate), which will focus on two questions:
• What can be learned from recent research on civil society responses to autocratic obstructions to civic space?
• What should future research that focuses on civic agency in changing civic spaces have to take into account?

Members of the roundtable:
• Kees Biekart – Moderator and session organizer
• Alan Fowler - Presenter, outlining civil society research agenda debate
• Tiina Kontinen - Presenter, outlining debate on civil society responses to civic spaces
• Richard Toppo - Presenter on case from India, Jharkhand
• Ana Luísa Silva – Presenter on role NGOs in Brazil and Europe

References

Biekart, K. Kontinen, T. Millstein, M. (eds) (2023) Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces. London: Palgrave MacMillan

Biekart, K. & Fowler, A. (eds) A Research Agenda for Civil Society. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Biekart, K. Fowler, A. (2023) ‘Interrogating Civic Space: Applying a Civic-Driven Change Perspective’. In Biekart et al. Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces. London: Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 27-48.

Colin, F. (2023) Emerging Political Spaces for Citizenship: Insights from Petitions in Local Morocco. Draft paper presented at the EADI Conference Lisbon

Fowler, A., & Biekart, K. (2020). Activating civic space for sustainable development: Helping and hindering factors for effective CSO engagement in the SDGs. Synthesis Report. Task Team CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment.

Toppo, R. (2023) Countering and Contesting Hegemonies: Identity-Politics and Adivasi Social Movements in Jharkhand, India. PhD Thesis International Institute of Social Studies

Sub Unit

• Third Sector organizations and civil society under different political regimes and contexts: role and regulations

Discussants

• Alan Fowler, Wits Business School

• Tiina Kontinen, University of Jyvaskyla

• Richard Toppo, ISS / Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Ana Luísa Silva, CEsA, ISEG, University of Lisbon

Moderator

• Kees Biekart, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) / Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR)