International Civil Society

Since the end of the Cold War, activists and scholars alike havecelebrated the phenomenal growth of transnational social movementsacross the globe. For some, this new eruption of grass-rootspolitical activism on a world scale - from the Rio EarthSummit to the Seattle anti-globalization protests -represents the emergence of a global or transnational civilsociety.
This book provides a critical survey of recent approaches to thestudy of civil society and international relations, presenting analternative historical and sociological account of the interactionbetween these two spheres. It makes a theoretical case for theimportance of social movements in world politics arguing thatmodern social movements emerging out of civil society have beeninstrumental in shaping the contemporary internationalsystem.
In this wide-ranging engagement with past and presentcontroversies in international relations, Colás shows how arenewed conception of international civil society can illuminatefuture possibilities for international social movementactivity.
This book will be of great interest to students and scholars ofinternational relations, political sociology and social history, aswell as those who seek to play a part in global politics.