Undergoing the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic as ruptures in American civil society create conditions for right action

The American experiment with democracy faces challenges due to the waning of the moral and religious underpinnings of the original social contract. Religion has played a key role in the development of an American civil society from the pre-revolutionary era to the present. The lessons of historical interpretation have much to offer in illuminating the nation's civil society. This essay evaluates Gordon S. Wood's thought, contrasting it with Alexis de Tocqueville and others, in light of the American tradition of political thought. Wood is a proponent of the civic republican approach to history, which advocates an expanded public sphere and is sceptical of the private realm of civil society. This approach, however, is outside the mainstream of American thought, for civil society has formed an essential component of American life from the earliest days of the colonial and national periods. A promising way to repair the breach in the American social contract is through a renewed awareness of the role of Christianity in the nation's genesis.

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Inn Civility: Urban Taverns and Early American Civil Society

History Reviews of New Books ◽

10.1080/03612759.2020.1696639 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 8-9

Author(s):

Kathryn Lasdow

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Early American ◽

American Civil Society

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Militær og mindfulness. Refleksioner over en uhellig alliance

Religionsvidenskabeligt Tidsskrift ◽

10.7146/rt.v0i61.21167 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 21

Author(s):

Sita Kotnis

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

English Abstract ◽

Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽

Us Military ◽

The Us ◽

Empirical Context ◽

The Military ◽

American Civil Society

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years, mindfulness has become a major resource in the US military. This has provoked substantial criticism in American civil society, not least within contemplative environments. Considered as an expression of underlying Western ideas of contemplation and spirituality, this criticism may offer crucial insights into mindfulness as a modern, secular phenomenon. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork this article presents the empirical context of current military uses and adaptations of contemplative practises. The article also seeks to open the field for a closer investigation of the various configurations of ’ethics’ and ’meaning’ that underlie the criticism of the military appropriation. Finally, the article points out that the study of the possible dark sides of mindfulness, i.e. the potential to enhance injurious and harmful practices, is an under-researched as well as under-theorized field.DANSK RESUME: I det amerikanske militær er mindfulness i de senere år blevet en central ressource. Dette har affødt en del kritik i det amerikanske civilsamfund, ikke mindst i kontemplative miljøer – en kritik, der anskuet som udtryk for underliggende, vestlige forestillinger om kontemplation og spiritualitet, måske kan fortælle os noget centralt om mindfulness som moderne, sekulært fænomen. Med afsæt i et længerevarende etnografisk feltarbejde redegør denne artikel for den empiriske kontekst bag den samtidige militære anvendelse af kontemplative praksisser. Artiklen søger også at åbne op for en nærmere udforskning af de konfigurationer af ’etik’ og ’mening’, der ligger til grund for kritikken af den militære appropriering. Endelig påpeges det, at studiet af mindfulness’ mulige skyggesider, i form af potentialet til at optimere skadevoldende praksisser, er et både under-researchet og under-teoretiseret felt.

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Associations and Activism: Mobilization of Urban Informal Workers in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs ◽

10.2307/166158 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 35-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Charles L. Davis ◽

Edwin E. Aguilar ◽

John G. Speer

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

Costa Rica ◽

Political Parties ◽

Political Participation ◽

Latin American ◽

Informal Sector ◽

High Intensity ◽

Informal Workers ◽

Politically Active ◽

American Civil Society

Studies of Latin American civil society tend to assume that popular organizations promote “high-intensity” forms of political participation while political parties mainly encourage voting. This study compares the influence of these two forces in the urban informal sector. Association involvement, low in both samples, is related to “higher-intensity” participation, but the differential influence of associations and parties holds only for Costa Rica; Nicaragua’s revolutionary FSLN has fostered a more politically active citizenry.

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