Structured Response 2 - Anjali

As discussed in class, civil society has quite a complex definition. Ultimately, though, the definition of civil society depends on who is doing the defining. Roger Owen, for example, points out that civil society has a definition that is "too slippery and too ambiguous to be of any help as a tool for the analysis of the political process" (Owen 2004, 201). The actors in a civil society are generally assumed to be non-state and non-political actors. Furthermore, civil societies all work on development projects. But if civil societies are non-political actors, what exactly does that development entail? For the most part, development has to do with the development of the state, politically. The line is extremely blurred when defining, for example, religious groups, political parties, and violent organizations. All of these groups have to do with politics and are the cause of change in state politics. This blurred line clearly suggests that civil societies do in fact play a large role in broadening the space for political participation.

In Palestine, civil societies have faced a number of challenges, especially after their peak in the 1980s. The main change in policy between the 1980s and the present is the source of funding of civil societies. When funding gradually switched from internal to external (Western) funding, the way that civil societies functioned in Palestine completely changed. This same switch seemed to cause civil societies to function more "professionally," focusing more on development and less on true mobilization of citizens. Because of this funding switch, it seems that many citizens and volunteers fell out of the civil society scene because less was being accomplished. Palestine is not the only country to see this change in funding. The West is becoming increasingly involved in civil societies in the Middle East/North Africa region, perhaps because the 'West' believes it can have an influence on the politics of the MENA region. However, Palestine demonstrates clearly that civil societies function much more efficiently with regard to truly directing change when it is funded internally and has the support of NGOs and other organizations within the country itself.