Rehmann, Jan
"Abolition" of Civil Society?: Remarks on a Widespread Misunderstanding in the Interpretation of "Civil Society"
«The demand for a revitalized "civil society" was already a watchword of movements against the Eastern European Communist regimes. In that setting, the concept performed the ideologically charged function of blurring a legitimate popular desire for enriched civic life with what was to become the crushing hegemony of market relations.... Jn Rehmann, responding to an argument along these lines that appeared in an earlier issue of Socialism and Democracy, offers an important clarification of the terms in which this issue has been debated, at least in the English-speaking world. He draws attention to the dual meaning of the original German expression used by Marx ("bürgerliche Gesellschaft"), documents Marx's and Engels' own discomfort with that expression, and explains Gramsci's differentiation of its two senses -- a differentiation which appears to be insufficiently represented in major English-language treatments. Rehmann goes beyond a purely philological critique to underscore the political importance of his findings, which make it possible for the Left to reclaim a commitment to civil society, now freed of its capitalist trappings» [from the Editors' Introduction].
| Language | eng |
| Names |
[author] Rehmann, Jan |
| Subjects |
Società Civile
Ehrenburg, John
Civil society
Ehrenburg, John |
