Civil Society and Local Development

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to deconstruct elements of this civil society discourse, disclosing the associated or underlying dynamics. The point is that each form of civil society discourse can be understood, and analysed, at the level of theory, ideology and politics. To deconstruct civil society discourse in these terms we will, first of all, review the origins and contemporary uses of the concept ‘civil society’. We then turn towards the development dynamics associated with the contemporary discourse on civil society.