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Introduction
W. Robert Connor
W. Robert Connor, Director, National Humanities Center In November 1991 leading scholars, diplomats, foundation leaders, business executives, and thoughtful citizens came together at the National Humanities Center to explore the idea of a civil society. The Center convened the conference not only to illuminate a long historical and philosophical tradition that locates the institutions of civil society as crucial mediators between the power of the state and the privacy of the individual, but also (and especially) to ask "What role does this idea play in today's world?" and "How might it shape the future?" In a time that has seen the absolute power of the state wielded by both the right and the left and has also known the consequences of self-seeking individualism pushed to the limit, there is indeed reason to believe that the idea of a civil society may well be, as one conference participant forcefully put it, "the idea of the late twentieth century."
It [the idea of a civil society] is a conception with the power to surmount geographical and ideological barriers and to raise questions about the values that shape economic decisions, the role of the state, and the nature of sovereignty and authority. The impulse for the meeting came from the astonishing events in central and eastern Europe in the preceding two years--the collapse of Marxist-Leninist regimes, the struggle to establish free institutions, and the effort to redefine the relationship between the state and citizens. Since much of the new thinking about political and social institutions in these countries had invoked the phrase "civil society," the Center sought to open up a dialogue about it between Americans and their colleagues in central and eastern Europe.
As it turned out, the conference was more far-reaching and significant than we had dared hope. It was a gathering, which in the words of one participant, the North Carolina editor, Hal Crowther, "addressed itself directly to the greatest of all political dilemmas, the problem of establishing legitimate authority with enlightened principles and goals." As planning for the conference progressed, it had become clear that the idea of a civil society is one of great significance not only in the countries of the former East Bloc but in many other parts of the globe, including large sections of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It is a conception with the power to surmount geographical and ideological barriers and to raise questions about the values that shape economic decisions, the role of the state, and the nature of sovereignty and authority. It challenges us to imagine the kind of society in which we wish to live. Ultimately, as Eduardo Rabossi suggested, it leads us to envision a truly global civil society, one that reconciles universal human rights with a respect for local traditions and practices.
It was appropriate to find this idea of a civil society under discussion at an American institution. De Tocqueville had noted that "civil society arose most strongly in America because of the historical absence of aristocratic intermediaries. The citizens learned the value of association by necessity." And political leaders from countries that had overthrown statist regimes have often pointed to the importance of the American example. As Vaclav Havel has said: "[The foundations of a civil society] were laid in the United States of America over two hundred years ago, and civil society has been under construction in this country, without interruption, ever since."
Yet it was also surprising to have the conference held here, for in the United States, as became clear when we were organizing the meeting, the term "civil society" often produces puzzled looks and gropings for a definition. The idea seems alien, an import from a European past that we are suddenly being asked to help export. But is a civil society not also something that still needs to be fully realized in our own country, as our European guests tactfully suggested? "[The idea of a civil society] concerns . . . both Europe and the United States," Bronislaw Geremek pointed out. "Politics in the traditional democracies is increasingly becoming the sphere . . . in which the main role is played by . . . party apparatuses. . . . The role of the citizen as a political actor is shrinking."
Czeslaw Milosz and Bronislaw Geremek The Center framed the conference to take advantage of the need to define the phrase "civil society." Invitations to the gathering used a spatial metaphor by describing a civil society as the space between the individual and the state, the area where private institutions, voluntary associations, free markets, the free expression of ideas, and the free exercise of religion can be imagined or realized. The participants were thereby challenged to fill that space with their own conceptions of what a truly civil society would be. In her summary comments at the end of the session, one of the Center's trustees, the historian Anne Firor Scott, spoke of the importance of that space and of the voluntary and autonomous organizations that fill it. They not only mediate between the individual and the state, she pointed out, they also help make the "life of a society more full, rich, and varied."
This publication contains the answers of several other speakers at the conference: Bronislaw Geremek, the distinguished medieval historian who has served his country so well both in the Solidarity movement and now as a leader of the Polish parliament; György Varga, the editor of Figyelö in Budapest, who raises the question of the relationship between social values and economic structures; Conor Cruise O'Brien, Irish statesman and intellectual; and Eduardo Rabossi, a legal philosopher who spearheaded the restoration of human rights in Argentina. In addition, Czeslaw Milosz has allowed us to print the final section of his poem "Far Away," which he read so eloquently at the conference.
This pamphlet cannot hope to convey the full range of ideas expressed or the excitement they generated: the corridor conversations, the insights arising from the discussion of the papers, the seeds of new thoughts that may come to fruition long thereafter. Hence, we include a sampling of remarks to capture a few such moments during the conference.
In the next few years the National Humanities Center plans to continue its inquiry into the idea of a civil society and its implications. There will be lectures, symposia and small conferences, all designed to explore the conception in greater depth. We are also giving high priority to disseminating the insights. A series of broadcasts have already been produced for the Center's radio program "Soundings." Furthermore, we expect to issue several occasional papers containing important presentations from this conference and other gatherings at the Center. As an independent voice for humane learning in the United States, the National Humanities Center looks forward to a dialogue with colleagues and friends from many parts of the globe about the nature of a civil society.
Introduction
W. Robert Connor
Civil Society
and the Present Age
Bronislaw Geremek
Economics and
Human Values
György Varga
Religion, Nationalism,
and a Civil Society
Conor Cruise O'Brien
On Being Sane
in the Midst of
Madmen
Eduardo Rabossi
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Comments to: lmorgan@ga.unc.edu
Revised: February 1998
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