What is Civil society?

Civil society is a space outside the private domain. It is also a non-state non-market space in society where individuals can voluntarily create their associations and organizations. Civil society is a space within the private domain but outside the domain of both state and market. Civil society is part of the state used to educate and facilitate citizens. Civil society is a space in Indian society which is attached to the market.

Civil society is a space outside the private domain. It is also a non-state non-market space in society where individuals can voluntarily create their associations and organizations.

Civil society is the name given to the broad arena which lies beyond the private domain of the family, but outside the domain of both state and market. Civil society is the non-state and non-market part of the public domain in which individuals get together voluntarily to create institutions and organisations. It is the sphere of active citizenship: here, individuals take up social issues, try to influence the state or make demands on it, pursue their collective interests or seek support for a variety of causes. It consists of voluntary associations, organisations or institutions formed by groups of citizens. It includes political parties, media institutions, trade unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious organisations, and other kinds of collective entities. The main criteria for inclusion in civil society are that the organisation should not be state-controlled, and it should not be a purely commercial profit-making entity. Thus, Doordarshan is not part of civil society though private television channels are; a car manufacturing company is not part of civil society but the trade unions to which its workers belong are.