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2011 state of civil society report
Civicus
April 10, 2012

http://socs.civicus.org/

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Executive Summary

The State of Civil Society 2011, published by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, April 2012, is the first report on the changing health and state of civil society. This pilot report was produced with inputs from a number of civil society activists, leaders and other stakeholders, and in future years will be developed through increasing collaboration with a widening spectrum of civil society actors.

Introduction

2011 marked a critical juncture for civil society. Authoritarian regimes buckled under the weight of citizen pressure, and prevailing political and economic orders faced unprecedented opposition from people power movements in a great wave of protests across many countries. The opening of new arenas and avenues for civic participation and mobilisation in turn provoked significant state backlash against activists and CSOs, with a heavier focus on restricting Internet usage. Foreign investments by emerging powers, particularly China, impacted on civil society space in donor recipient countries, but this was not matched by a rise in advocacy by CSOs based in emerging powers to press for more progressive foreign policies by their governments. On the global stage, civil society continued to experience limited access to key multilateral forums and despite the rise of a cluster of economic and political powers, states tended to use the year's key global meetings to advance national interests. Many CSOs are facing existential crises, which includes problems caused by a deteriorating funding environment. New and broad-based coalitions between diverse civil society formations are needed to best capitalise on what is currently a generational opportunity to demand transformational political, social and economic change.

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