The Birth of the Citizen in Civil Society
In this paper, I seek to provide a conceptual framework of civil society. I conceptualize civil society as a distinctive type of social organization that has been described by classical sociologists. In classical sociology, there seems to be a widespread agreement about the elements and boundaries of civil society as a social organization. Though classical sociology does not offer one unified perspective of civil society, it is in agreement that the social organization of civil society is a category of individualized society that Ferdinand Tönnies typified as the Gesellschaft. Individualized society is composed of civil society, nation-state and market, which jointly open the possibility for emancipation from communities like the extended family, church and state, and for autonomy from hierarchy, enabling individual persons to choose their own principles by which they want to live. The distinctiveness of the elements and boundaries of civil society may be interpreted in different ways (Burawoy, 2005: 288). In this paper, three different civil society perspectives that dominate current discussions – mediating structures, social capitalism and Tocquevillianism – are outlined. My argument is that, if it is accepted that civil society is a social organization of the Gesellschaft, then it must be concluded that civil society supports individualism (Sardamov, 2005).
