Civil society
This topic explains what civil society means, how does it work and how we can valorise it
Ways to be engaged in civil society
Occupying the middle ground between the state and private life, the civil sphere encompasses everything from associations to protests to church groups to nongovernmental organisations.
The short videos show different forms of active participation of citizens on changes in state and policies.
The gathering of the people on the order to change the regime
The movement for LGBT rights that is represented by the Rainbow Parade - Tokyo
The people joined their power in a protest against destroying of their tribal lands that were in danger of flooding or drying up as the water table is changed. Their ancestors lived in the forest before the word Brazil existed. The Brazilian Government is pressing ahead with the project disregarding their opinions.
There are different ways how the public try to express itself, one of the large movements of the last years were the world-wide protests of citizens - “The Occupy” movement.
As you could see there is a video of the demonstration under the rule of non-democratic regime of Soviet Union that represents the uniformity, ideology and abuse of freedom and civil society. Then there is another video showing citizens supporting the rights of LGBT community. And finally video showing opponents of the Belo Monte dam in Brazil. The last video shows the world-wide occupy movement as an example of an international protest movement against perceived social and economic inequality, its primary goal being to make the economic and political relations in all societies less vertically hierarchical and more flatly distributed. Local groups often have different loci, but the movements’ prime concerns deal with large corporations and the global financial system which control the world in a way that disproportionately benefits a minority, undermines democracy and is unstable.
However the civil society is not only about fighting for human rights freedoms and uprising or rebellion. It is also about the responsibility and the ability to engage in changing of society we live in. Compared with complicated political processes, civil society can be much more flexible in its demands and reactions. It acts directly and very often effectively.
Questions to reflect on
- Did Occupy movement also emerged in your country? What do you think about it?
- Was LGBT Pride organized in your country? Were there any opposing movements present in your country at the time of the Pride? Have you participated or supported the Pride? If yes - how and why you opt for that? Do you also recognise the right of the opponents to gather and advocate their own interests?