Contested Civic Spaces: A European Perspective

Maecenata Schriften |  Band 22 | 2023

For some years, we have observed a broad public discussion over the shrinking civic space. While the focus has generally been on countries with authoritarian governance systems, it has more recently become apparent that the issue is neither restricted to these countries nor indeed to countries with weak or non-existing democracies. It has been demonstrated that the space in which civil society actors and individual citizens may contribute to public affairs is undergoing fundamental changes in Europe. While in some areas, the clout of civic initiative is larger today than ever before, in others, civic action is highly disputed and governments are attempting to crowd out non-governmental actors from the public sphere.

This edited volume examines the wellbeing of civil society in the Europe and its riparian states. Presented by experts from 12 European countries the book presents insights in the latest developments of civil society and aspect like the shifting interaction between the state, market and civil society or the influence of populist movements on civil society and tackles the question wether there is a shrinking civic space in Europe. It addresses policy and decision makers, civil society academics and actors in the field, as well as the public.

The series Maecenata Schriften is an interdisciplinary scientific book series that focuses on civil society research. It was founded by Rupert Grad Strachwitz, Eckhard Piller and Christian Schreier in 2007, publishing studies, monographs and anthologies. From 2007-2015 the series was published by Lucius & Lucius, Stuttgart and has been published by De Gruyter, Berlin, since 2016.

Publications that may be eligible for the series include those that examine civil society, civic engagement, not-for-profit organisations, the third sector, philantropy and foundations. The series is open to contributions from authors outside the Foundation and publication is available in German and in English.

>> More about the Shrinking Civic Spaces Project

• Civic Space
• civil society
• Demokratie
• Engagement
• Europa
• shrinking space
• solidarity
• Zivilgesellschaft