The original essays brought together in this volume examine the relationship between state and society in India, discuss ideas of citizenship, and study the broad area known as public sphere. The eminent scholars who have contributed to this volume provide numerous fresh insights into issues that have been the subject of extensive debate in recent years. The first book which deals simultaneously with civil society, the public sphere and citizenship in the contemporary context, it also provides a comparative perspective with the West.

This book investigates how nongovernmental organizations can become stronger advocates for citizens and better representatives of their interests. Sabine Lang analyzes the choices that NGOs face in their work for policy change between working in institutional settings and practicing public advocacy that incorporates constituents' voices.

In this broad-ranging text, Peter Dahlgren clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere, and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. He demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism. These issues are linked to the potential of the audience to interpret or resist messages, and to construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of the functioning and the capabilities of television imply for citizenship and democracy in a mediated age?

"Devoting particular emphasis to Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico, proposes a theory of civil society to explain the economic and political challenges for continuing democratization in Latin America"--Provided by publisher.

This book shows how legal, political, social, and participation rights are systematically related to liberties, claims and immunities.

This books explores the relationships between learning, democratic citizenship and the public sphere from thee interconnected angles: theory, methodology and research. The main message of the book is that civic learning necessarily has a public character, as it is learning that emerges from engagement in democratic processes and practices that occur both at the centre and the margins of society. Through a combination of theoretical development, methodological reflection and empirical case study, the chapters in the book provide new insights in the complexities of learning in the context of the ongoing struggle for democracy.