Summary

This book examines the ways in which nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) contribute to the development and maintenance of global civil society. Basing his argument on the contention that 'people make politics,' the author investigates eight NGOs and connects their organizational activities to global civil society's dynamics and processes. In constructing an analytical framework for understanding global civil society, the author reviews traditional understandings of civil society, integrates these with a classical theoretical approach that places people at the center of world politics, and conceptualizes global civil society in terms of three elemental characteristics: dynamism, inclusiveness, and cognizance. This framework is then used to present case studies that evaluate the roles of the Internet and of environmental and development NGOs in an age of globalization. Visit the author's Web site for this book.