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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Democracy and non-violent structural change : a critical inquiry into the concept of civil society and its relationships with adult learning Palacios, Carolina
Abstract
Globalization, the democratic movements in Latin America and Eastern Europe of the 1980s and 90s and the recent worldwide decline in human security have contributed to the reemergence of civil society as an important notion in relation to democracy. Using the techniques of analytic inquiry, this critical analysis of the concept of'civil society' sought to gain a richer and deeper understanding of the term and its relationship with adult learning. Recent political, social and democratic theories, in addition to theories of civil society and the public sphere were explored and key conceptual distinctions and relations were examined. Moreover, the historical roots of civil society were investigated in relation to the state-civil society relationship and differentiation of societal spheres, including the postnational context. The analysis led to a proposed expansion and modification of Habermas's system-lifeworld model and draws connections with Gramscian concepts such as hegemony, common sense and the historical bloc, as employed by these two theorists and others who have expanded on their theories and concepts. The notions of political and economic society were also integrated into the framework and the workplace and homeplace were identified as important sites because of the democratic potential of their location overlapping intimate and non-intimate spaces in the lifeworld, civil society, state and economy. The inquiry concludes adult learning, particularly in social movements, has an important role to play in energizing civil society and cultivating a vibrant public sphere by challenging hegemonic relations and contributing to collective will articulation in the on-going construction of a radical, deliberative, plural and participative democracy.
Item Metadata
Title |
Democracy and non-violent structural change : a critical inquiry into the concept of civil society and its relationships with adult learning
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2004
|
Description |
Globalization, the democratic movements in Latin America and Eastern Europe of the
1980s and 90s and the recent worldwide decline in human security have contributed to
the reemergence of civil society as an important notion in relation to democracy. Using
the techniques of analytic inquiry, this critical analysis of the concept of'civil society'
sought to gain a richer and deeper understanding of the term and its relationship with
adult learning. Recent political, social and democratic theories, in addition to theories of
civil society and the public sphere were explored and key conceptual distinctions and
relations were examined. Moreover, the historical roots of civil society were investigated
in relation to the state-civil society relationship and differentiation of societal spheres,
including the postnational context. The analysis led to a proposed expansion and
modification of Habermas's system-lifeworld model and draws connections with
Gramscian concepts such as hegemony, common sense and the historical bloc, as
employed by these two theorists and others who have expanded on their theories and
concepts. The notions of political and economic society were also integrated into the
framework and the workplace and homeplace were identified as important sites because
of the democratic potential of their location overlapping intimate and non-intimate spaces
in the lifeworld, civil society, state and economy. The inquiry concludes adult learning,
particularly in social movements, has an important role to play in energizing civil society
and cultivating a vibrant public sphere by challenging hegemonic relations and
contributing to collective will articulation in the on-going construction of a radical,
deliberative, plural and participative democracy.
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Extent |
7463647 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-12-02
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0064458
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2005-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.