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Mariya Y. Omelicheva, Purdue University
The existing empirical records reveal considerable imbalances within the structure
of global civil society reflecting global inequalities. This study attempts to assess the
implications of global disparities for the formation of the normative structure of global
civil society. In other words, examining the normative content of global civil society, the
study is set to establish the extent to which the distribution of economic and political
power in the world is reflected in the types of norms and principles constituting the
normative content of global civil society, and the ways in which those rules and norms
are set.
There are manifest important reasons for developing a comprehensive
conceptualization and operationalization of global civil society, and subjecting it to
systematic empirical tests. First, it is a necessary step toward developing and testing a
theory on the socio-genesis of global civil society in relation to the system of states and
the global market. Deciphering the contours of global civil society will enable us to gain
a better understanding into the type (causal vs. reciprocal), direction (“do the structures of
the most powerful states have an impact on institutional and normative arrangements
within global civil society, or is it global civil society that exert influence on the system
of states and the global market?”), and the strength of the relationships existing among
these three complexes of social life.
Secondly, the conceptualization and operationalization exercise will make explicit
the normative aspect of global civil society (Anheier and Stares 2002, 241-242). The
empirical tests of the normative conceptual attribute of global civil society will bring it to
light whether it has a solid normative base. The latter is supposed to enhance a sense of
community among the members of global civil society. The absence of the element of
consciousness indispensable for any society to exist renders global civil society fictitious.
The empirical inquiry will help to discern, at least preliminary, what constitutes the
normative content of global civil society.
From the methodological and policy-related perspectives, rigorous analysis of
global civil society will facilitate a shift from the state unit of analysis to other ‘above-
the-state’ levels of aggregation that will produce measures comparable with those of
economic globalization. It will assist in finding alternative empirical indices to measure
multiple complex components of global civil society and in identifying the attributes that
are best suited for testing pertinent theories, collecting data, and running empirical tests.
In the opening section of the study, I propose a conceptualization of global civil
society grounded in a thorough examination of the conceptual definitions of global civil
society proposed in the literature. The second section builds on the careful inspection of a
variety of meanings of global civil society to operationalize the concept and select
empirical indices to be looked at to measure the constituent components of the concept.
In the following section, I lay out the research strategy and results of the analysis of
primary and secondary data. General conclusions and prospects for the future research
close the study.
Theorizing and Conceptualizing Global Civil Society
Global civil society has been subjected to extensive conceptualization and
theorization in recent years. The mushrooming studies of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), citizens’ networks, and social movements operating across
Convention