Introduction : Civil Society Responses to Changing Civic Spaces

Abstract

This introductory chapter contextualizes how the volume resonates to current global trends and research debates concerning democracy, civil society, and civic space. The chapter shows how the debates on the decline of democracy, civil society actors, and changing civil spaces underpin the book’s agenda of exploring civil society responses to civic space. The chapter argues in favour of contextual and relational analyses of how civil society actors and civic space are negotiated, in the context of historically formed governance systems. It also provides an overview of the chapters of the book underlying their original contributions to ongoing debates.