'Helen James, (2007) Civil Society, Religion and Global Goverance: Paradigms of Power and Persuasion' (London and New York: Routledge) Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics Series.
This is one of the first books to explore the nexus between civil society, religion and global governance, their impact on human security and well-being, and significance for current debates in international politics.
This topical volume explores salient aspects of the secular state whose monopoly on, and control of, institutional violence has reified its use of power to such an extent that the modernistic separation of church and state is being called into question, as institutional limits are sough to the abuse of that power. This scholarly work looks to the notion of 'civil society' as the balancing factor with the capacity to restrict predatory state behaviour, whether in the political, economic or social sectors of human society. It also explores the notion that 'civil society' itself can be flawed, predatory, violent or corrupt, not necessarily a miracle cure for socio-political ills.
The product of a major international conference held at The Australian University in September 2005, this book is clearly divided into six key sections: human security and human rights; the politics of civil religion; the ethics of civil development;civil society and global governance; cross-cultural perspectives on institutional development for civil society and international civil society. Within these sections the illuminating case studies span a wide geographical extent from Central and Eastern Europe to Egypt, to Latin America, Iran, Bangladesh, Australia, the Pacific, and East and Southeast Asia.
Shattering the myth of the divisive politics of fear fostered by the return of identity politics post-September 11, this book will be of strong interest to students, policy makers and researchers in the fields of human rights, religion, political science and sociology.'
