The changing

1
The changing rules of engagement
cross-cultural and cross-national perspectives

• Dr Beatriz Cardona
• UWS Engagement
• University of Western Sydney

2
civil society and civic engagement

• Civil society and civic engagement translate
  differently in different settings (contesting the
  tendency to make them universally applicable).
  Roots of difference historical as well as
  distinct theoretical concepts and philosophical
  roots
• Alexander Tocqueville (1805-1859) stressed the
  role of these independent associations as civil
  society He saw them as schools of democracy .
  They should be built voluntarily at all levels of
  society -promoting civic virtues
• Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) Marxist theoretical
  angle he stressed the potential oppositional
  role of civil society, separate from state and
  market in which ideological hegemony is
  contested.
• Jurgen Habermas (1929) as a way for marginalized
  groups to articulate their interests.
• Emerging concepts such as self-expression and
  actualization new encounters with politics
  through IT channels

3
Civil society in practice cross-national
differences

• US and Western Europe rich debate in the 1990s
  linking social capital to democratic
  participation and positive health and social
  outcomes - Putnam has also highlighted the
  decline in social capital. SUPPORTING
• Latin America the concept of civil society
  gained importance mainly in the fight against
  military dictatorship in the 60s a Gramscian
  understanding civil society as an agent for
  political resistance and social justice
  CONTESTING
• Africa great diversity and strong emphasis on
  post-colonial search for national identity and
  reconciliation NATIONAL IDENTITY PROJECTS
• Various forms of control and regulation of civil
  society in different countries (ie. NGO Act 2002
  in Tanzania jail sentences for Syrian human
  rights NGOs linking funding to service delivery
  at the expense of advocacy in Australia new
  anti-terrorist laws in the US)

4
The relationship between the state and civil
society

• Community participation, membership and
  objectives are shaped by local forces different
  public spaces for participation
• Australia and US Neoliberalism and the Third
  Sector in Australia Gramberg Bassett (2005)
  argue that community engagement has been
  constructed in such a way to reinforce neoliberal
  agendas that emphasize greater individual agency
  and communitys responsibility for local social
  and economic problems. - Success requires a
  pro-active civil society -
• Mexico, Colombia, Brazil community organisations
  articulating alternative visions, struggles for
  reform, more confrontational.
• Emerging forms of participation in civil society

5
What does it mean to be civically engaged today?
And what does it mean to be a citizen?

• The transformation of how we engage and act in
  society challenges how we perceive the concepts
  of civic engagement and citizenship, their
  content and expression. The introduction of new
  information technologies, most notably in the
  form of internet, has in turn reinvigorated these
  discussions. we need to explore the impact
  netizens are having on extending democratic
  processes today.
• Stephen Coleman lists some democratising
  characteristics of the blogosphere including
  bridge between the private, subjective sphere of
  self-expression and the socially fragile civic
  sphere in which publics can form and act access
  to debate for traditionally unheard or
  marginalised voices. (Coleman 2005a 277)

6
Traditional versus emerging views of citizenship

• Obligation to participate in government centred
  activities
• Voting as the core democratic act
• Informed about issues and engaged with mass media
• Joins civil society organisations

• Diminished sense of government obligation higher
  sense of individual purpose
• Voting is less meaningful
• Greater emphasis on transnational and consumerism
  activism
• Favours loose networks of community action
  reliance on information technologies (Bennet
  2004)

7
Youth engagement Competing views of young people
and civic life

• On one hand there is the view that younger
  generations are disconnecting from conventional
  politics and government

• At the same time there are signs of youth civic
  engagement in non-government areas volunteer
  work, consumer activism and strong involvement in
  social causes.
• Some even see civic engagement in online social
  networking and entertainment communities
  (blogging)

8
Universities at the cross-roadsIt is no longer
clear what the place of the University is within
society nor what the exact nature of that society
is, and the changing institutional form of the
University is something that intellectuals cannot
afford to ignore (Readings 19962)

• Challenges and opportunities
• New models of engagement that take into account
• The complexity, diversity and constraints facing
  civil society organisations
• Design of models informed by local context rather
  than global agendas and visions
• Learn more about citizenship and communication
  preferences and how to engage with them
• Design better civic education programs that takes
  into account how generational social identities
  and political preferences are changing so we can
  design more engaging civic education models
• Rethink the relationship between the University
  and society serve and strengthen society?
  challenge and advocate? support collective
  values? foster critical thinking?- micro and
  macro issues?

9
Taking the theory/praxis nexus on engagement
seriously
Sudanese Youth Conference UWS
International Film Festival