"Transforming Civil Society, Citizenship and Governance: The Third Sector in an Era of Global (Dis)Order"
Graduate School in Humanities, University of Cape Town,
Cape Town, South Africa
July 7-10, 2002
ISTR Fifth International Conference

Plenary Session

Town Hall Meeting: Civil Societies as Agents of Global (Dis)Order

Civil society actors can be catalysts of disorder as well as agents of increased order. On September 11th, Al Quaeda's suicidal volunteers destabilized the international order by provoking a series of diverse responses form different actors across the globe. While the uncertain effects of this moment are still unfolding, human rights activists continue to risk their lives to increase the reach and steady influence of international law. Protestant and Catholic paramilitary groups bomb civilians to perpetuate and deepen a religious divide, while Irish mothers risk everything to bridge those chasms. The genocide in Rwanda pitched citizen again citizen, yet spawned new ways of people seeking dialogue and re-building trust. Again and again, across the world we see that, at different scales, initiatives rooted in similar sources of social energy can increase conflict and intolerance or advance harmony and justice.

This Town Hall Meeting will therefore focus on both the "dark" and the "light" sides of civil society in a rapidly globalizing world. It will provide an opportunity to collectively examine how civic associations and agencies can generate both constructive and destructive dynamics in society, as well as mediate between them. It will delve into the deep causes and conditions that shape and direct civic energy towards stabilizing or destabilizing outcomes. And, it will investigate the changing international landscape and the political and legal space available across the globe for civic action for justice and development.

Actors and scholars from around the world will be asked to reflect on the above and other examples to both provoke and illuminate a discussion of how we can understand these contrary roles of civic society organizations and comprehend the factors that lead to their diverse impacts.

After about an hour of opening critical conversation in plenary, participants will organize into small groups. Their task will be to discuss the presentations and identify implications for civil societies in the future. Issues raised in the small groups will then be shared in the plenary. All of the participants will be invited to compare and respond to the issues and draw conclusions from them both for and beyond research agendas.