civil societyn.
/ˌsɪvl səˈsʌɪəti/, U.S. /ˌsɪvᵻl səˈsaɪədi/ Civilized or civic society; society considered as a community of citizens characterized by common interests and collective activity; (now also Social Sciences) that aspect of society concerned with and operating for the collective good, independent of state control or commercial influence; all social groups, networks, etc., above the level of the family, which engage in voluntary collective action. Also as a count noun: an instance or example of this.The term civil society has a long history in political discourse. In early use it generally referred to organized political society as a whole, and as such included the state. For Hegel, however, civil society (bürgerliche Gesellschaft) was that part of society intermediate between the family and the state where individuals interact with one another in pursuit of their individual interests. This distinction between civil society and the state has persisted, although modern usage chiefly relates to independent associations acting collaboratively for the common interest. For a more detailed treatment of the history of the term see J. Ehrenberg Civil Society: The Critical History of an Idea (1999).
ΚΠ
?1575 J. Hooker Orders Enacted for Orphans Ep. Ded. sig. C.ij People assembled togither to the end to liue well, and in ciuil societie.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan i. xiv. 70 Before the time of Civill Society, or in the interruption thereof by Warre, there is nothing can strengthen a Covenant of Peace agreed on, against the temptations of Avarice, Ambition, Lust, or other strong desire, but the feare of that Invisible Power, which they every one Worship as God; and Feare as a Revenger of their perfidy.
1669 W. Charleton Two Disc. 92 Primitive Sages laboured to reclaim savage and rude Multitudes and mollifie their iron Minds by mansuetude and other Virtues necessary to common safety and the maintenance of Right in Civil Societies.
1689 W. Popple tr. J. Locke Let. conc. Toleration 45 No Opinions contrary to human Society, or to those moral Rules which are necessary to the preservation of Civil Society, are to be tolerated by the Magistrate.
1759 A. Smith Theory Moral Sentiments vi. §iv. 547 Without this precaution, civil society would become a scene of bloodshed and disorder.
a1770 J. Jortin Serm. (1772) VII. i. 15 Since then infants are subjects of the state, and members of civil society.
1838 H. Reeve tr. A. de Tocqueville Democracy in Amer. I. Intro. p. xi I speedily perceived that the influence of this fact [i.e. the general equality of conditions] extends far beyond the political character and the laws of the country, and that it has no less empire over civil society [Fr. sur la société civile] than over the Government.
1883 Harper's Mag. Oct. 669/2 They should carry with them into civil society the most conciliating disposition.
1955 Yale Law Jrnl. 64 794 Absenters and deserters were forced to go ‘underground’ in civil society during the war.
1972 D. Dunkerley Stud. Organizations i. 6 Essentially, Marx accepts the Hegelian approach whereby the organization is the means by which the civil society (constituting the particular interests) and the state (constituting the general interest) come together.
2002 Foreign Policy Sept.–Oct. 54/2 Working with nonstate actors, such as NGOs, is central to communication with civil societies in other countries (and hence central to influencing their governments).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.?1575