Dr. Gideon B. Baker
(University of Salford)

Global Civil Society
and the Democratization of the World Order:
A Critical Perspective

Mittwoch, 18. Juni 2003, 16.15 Uhr, Senatssaal der NatFak (7. OG)

Many who study global politics now claim that movements in global civil society represent the best hope for the democratization of the world order in terms of moving global politics beyond 'Westphalia' (state sovereignty). This talk will investigate these claims, first, by setting out the key approaches to conceptualising such a role for global civil society, and, second, by questioning whether what is being proposed can be a viable alternative to inter-state politics. A further problem here, it is argued, is that these approaches try to specify the ends of action in global civil society in advance, which, apart from being dubious from a democratic point of view, is to ignore the fact that politics – which is to say conflict – is present as much on the global as on the national level.

Dr. Gideon B. Baker is lecturer in Political Theory at the School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford, UK. His research activities focus on democratic theory, civil society and citizenship, non-western political theory, as well as politics and postmodernity.

Selected Bibliography:
Problems in the Theorisation of Global Civil Society (2003). In: Political Studies (forthcoming).
Civil Society and Democratic Theory: Alternative Voices (2002). London: Routledge.
Civil Society and Republican Democracy (2001). In: Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 4(2), pp. 59-84.
Civil Society and Democracy: The Gap Between Theory and Possibility (1998). In: Politics 18(2), pp. 81-87.