samoqalaqo sazogadoeba - Center for Social Sciences

Marina Muskhelishvili
Centre for Social Studies
CIVIL SOCIETY – COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Course of lectures
Duration: one semester, 2 hours twice a week
Description of the course
Concept of Civil Society is highlighted from various perspectives: civil society in its historical
development – both theory of concept and transformation of socio-political reality; place and
importance of the concept for Western societies and its return into theory and practice in a third
wave (especially post-soviet) democracies. Classical theories of civil society are devoted relatively
less time as compared to the contemporary debates on civil society. When describing
contemporary debates on civil society main focus is done on comparison and critical analyses of
competing approaches and standpoints. Special attention is devoted to specifics of civil society
development in countries of late capitalist and democratic development (particularly in Georgia). In
this respect mostly two aspects are analyzed in depth: discursive aspects of civil society in their
relation with the structural formation of mass media; and institutional development of civil society in
a context of global civic institutions, market economy development and international support for
democracy development worldwide.
Course objectives
Course main objective is studying and analyzing those approaches, which exist in civil society
theory and analyses. After studying this course students should get deep understanding of theories
of civil society and should be able to analyze critically writings of various authors on civil society.
Students should be able to use the acquired knowledge for critical analyses of situation in Georgia,
should apply this knowledge to the empirical reality and work out their own vision of this reality.
Students should get practice of written and oral analytical deliberation on the subject.
Course structure (each topic – 2 hours)
Each lecture starts with the about 15 minutes discussion and questions on a previous lectures
topics and issues. After that follows about 1-hour lecture, which is, in its turn, followed with the 45
minutes of questions and general discussion. Students are required to read literature before the
lecture.
1. Introduction. Institutional approach towards definition of Civil Society
2. Civil Society and the State: evolution of notion in history
3. Robert Putnam: Social capital
4. Tocqueville. Democracy in America
5. Modern theories of Civil Society and the State. (Republican vs. liberal civil society)
6. Democracy: Three political traditions
7. Three political traditions, discursive notions of the Political and Civil Society
8. Habermas: Structural transformation of the Public Sphere
9-10. Civil Society in Georgia
11. Mass Media systems: comparative analyses, three ideal types of system and three ideal type
discourses
12. Mass Media in Georgia
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