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Civil society and varieties of academic, public and political discourses in Croatia

Transformation of meaning of the notion of civil society in different debates were depending on development of the sector and on involvement of different stakeholders in these processes. In the beginning of 1990s, dominant notion of civil society in academic debates were related to the social mobilisation in the form of civic movement actively involved in the process of democratisation of society and promoting the idea of pluralism in the public sphere. These reflexive debates were grounded in locally developed endogenous alternative initiatives and in practical experience of academic people being the member or, very often, leaders of these initiatives. By introducing the concept of civil society research focus was very much under influence on international comparative projects were some transitional countries made empirical evidence on the scope, structure, financing and role of civil society organisations. In that time secondary statistical data have been used as a source of empirical evidence for the justification of development of the sector. Public debates, from the beginning of 1990s, with dog-watch role of these organisations and initiatives, were dominated with the perception of such organisations as opposition to government, notion non-governmental organisation got a meaning as anti-government. Limited capacities and lack of skills of such organisations made then known as organisations acting under the motto “We are against”. Political debates on civil society were marked with facts that citizens politically engaged during the communist period or even some political leaders who lost privileged positions became the part of the staff of civic organisations with respective foreign funders supporting them. Legacy of relationships of civil society organisations and governments in other transitional countries is complex from confrontation to partnership in recent development. Civil society organisations for a longer period of time were perceived as a trouble makers or necessary evil. Insufficient rooting of civil society organisations in local communities and society (the concept of virtual civil society, building-up civil society without citizens), very often adversarial relationship with the state and para- state organisations responsible for funding of civil society and weak connection with private sector stress the issue of “meta level civil society”.

Civil society; Academic discourse; Public discourse; Political discourse; Croatia

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