‘Don’t mention the war’ … but: Could Britons draw lessons from German approaches to ‘organised’ civil society? VSSN conference, London, Birbeck University 16th May 2007 Ingo Bode At present: University of Edinburgh

Plan of the paper Introduction The Anglo-Saxon mainstream and its influence in Britain Civil society, state and social economy – the German experience - the political dimension - the economic dimension Changing intermediation – changing civil society: An application of the argument Conclusion

Introduction The sociological challenge: looking at the societal embeddedness of ‘organized’ civic action A key observation: a ‘seperationist’ Anglo-Saxon mainstream of conceptualizing civil society The suggestion: adopting a German view on ‘organized’ civic action The background: A broad literature review undertaken for one of the EU networks of excellence (CINEFOGO) … and a number of comparative case studies

The Anglo-Saxon mainstream and its influence in Britain (1) What is the Anglo-Saxon mainstream? Explicitly or implicitly, much of the Anglo-Saxon writing on civic action views civil society as a social sphere in which socially ‘unbound’ citizens organise themselves to foster their community or to defend particular civic causes, and as a sphere which is organically separated from the political and economic world ‘out there’ From this emanate dichotomic distinctions between - state and civil society - civic and economic action

The Anglo-Saxon mainstream and its influence in Britain (2) Where is this Anglo-Saxon mainstream? Leading philosophers of communitarianism The proponents of associative democracy The supporters of Third way politics The academia concerned with the (threatened) independence of the voluntary sector … going back to Anglo-Saxon social and political history

Civil society, state and social economy – the German experience Political intermingling, no structural opposition A tradition of viewing associations (‘Vereine) and interest groups (‘Verbände’) as being organically involved in local politics and the governance of welfare state … underscored by philosophical approaches to civil society as the socio-political foundation of the state (Hegel …) … and more recent contributions discussing the role of associations and social movements within the polity – inter alia, by recourse to classic writing (Weber …)

The economic character of ‘organized’ civic action A recent reminiscence to the tradition of ‘social economy’ - co-operative action (crowded out by the business agenda) - insurance mutuals (surviving to some degree) - social service provision (as an ongoing economic involvement) the economic dimension of civic action has being fundamental to the building of major institutions of the welfare state …. … and to the (socio-economic) character of the core of the Third sector in Germany: the welfare associations

Changing intermediation – changing civil society: An application Welfare associations in today‘s Germany A corporatist tradition based on - institutionalized partnerships - political exchange - ressouring at arm‘s length A transformation towards - disorganised partnerships - political campaigning - instability in ressourcing and infrastructure building

And Britain? A post-war configuration based on a junior-partner model embracing - a more or less ‘collaborative‘ welfare state - major charities involved in (local) politics - a loose economic partnership and recent transformation towards - ‘carrot and sticks’ policies of the state administration … - with voluntary agencies on flexible contracts and - … economic relations based on ‘output accountability’ So there was more systematic political intermediation and an institutionally embedded economic collaboration in the past while things become disentangled today

Conclusion In Germany, recent academic work on civil society chimes with the one dominating the Anglo-Saxon world Yet the German history of exploring the entanglement of the political, economic and civic dimensions of the voluntary sector provides a tool-kit for understanding current transformations in civil society and the welfare state While cultural and institutional differences remain, there may (exceptionally) be a case for bringing German thoughts to Britain, rather than vice versa