Civil Society in a Globalizing World

What role can social movements and civil society play in promoting transformative development in the global South? This paper argues that inclusive and democratic forms of development depend on a delicate balance between the market, the state and civil society. Globalization has created new opportunities for economic development, but market power has often expanded at the expense of democratic and social accountability. Democratization in the global South and the emergence of new forms of transnational activism offer the hope of re-embedding markets. The paper explores these possibilities both through an analysis of existing global configurations of power and emergent forms of global civil society, as well as through an analysis of how movements and civil society have shaped three very different developmental trajectories in Brazil, India and South Africa. It argues that at both the global and domestic level, prospects for more inclusive development depend largely on the balance between civil society and political society. 6