Power to the People?
(Con-) Tested Civil Society in Search of Democracy

Uppsala, March 23-24, 2010

International conference organized by the Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development, Uppsala University in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)/Team Civil Society

Civil society has over the past decades been considered of increasing relevance in processes of democratization, development, the protection of human rights and in demands for transparency and accountability of states and governments. In these discussions, civil society is commonly described as composed by autonomous individuals freely engaging in horizontal networks to promote shared interests. However, in many - perhaps most - places in the world, people's form of engagement with others is influenced by obligations and loyalties to collectivities such as kin or ethnic groups, often in combination with a particular social status or class interest. Differences in state regimes and informal power structures also influence the way people will strive to enhance their welfare, safety and interests.

In this conference, we explore differences of civil society formation across the world. Furthermore, we look at the implications such differences have for the ways people strive to achieve political change, especially in the context of present late neoliberal era. What are the consequences for democratization? How can actors wanting to promote democratic change - as activists or through development cooperation - best form their work in these different contexts?

With key-lectures by top scholars from four continents - Lloyd Sachikonye, Nandini Sundar, Evelina Dagnino and Saad Eddin Ibrahim - prominent long-standing activists - such as Duncan Okello from Kenya - and a series of participatory parallel sessions, we will have two full days of reflections and discussions.

NB! The subject asks for breaching the divide between research and practice. Thus, we welcome contributions from scholars, practitioners and activists alike.

The topical sessions to be addressed are (see attached document for session descriptions):

- Uncivil attachments: The role of ethnic affiliations, kinship bonds and patron-client relations in contemporary popular politics

- Gendered participation in civil society: "New" spaces for women or a less powerful road? What kind of space and what kind of power?

- Contradictory interests within civil society: Open conflicts and new state-civil society relations

-  Civil society and the demands from donors: Caught between a rock and a hard place

- The role of Middle East civil society in democratization

- African governments, civil society and democracy

- Religious discourses as part of civil society formation and democratization in Asia

- Latin American ciudadanía or citizenship - different notions of citizens and political participation

Most welcome!
Mia Melin and Heidi Moksnes