Knowledge and Civil Society

This open access book focuses on the role of civil society in the creation, dissemination, and interpretation of knowledge in geographical contexts. It offers original, interdisciplinary and counterintuitive perspectives on civil society. The book includes reflections on civil and uncivil society, the role of civil society as a change agent, and on civil society perspectives of undone science. Conceptual approaches go beyond the tripartite division of public, private and civic sectors to propose new frameworks of civic networks and philanthropic fields, which take an inclusive view of the connectivity of civic agency across sectors. This includes relational analyses of epistemic power in civic knowledge networks as well as of regional giving and philanthropy. The original empirical case studies examine traditional forms of civic engagement, such as the German landwomen's associations, as well as novel types of organizations, such as giving circles and time banks in their geographical context. The book also offers insider reflections on doing civil society, such as the cases of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, epistemic activism in the United States, and the #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa.

Chapter 1. The Place of Civil Society in the Making of Knowledge. - Part I: (Re-)Thinking Civil Society. - Chapter 2. The Dialectic of Civil and Uncivil Society Fragility, Fault Lines, and Countervailing Forces. -Chapter 3. Civil Society as an Agent of Change. - Chapter 4. Undone Science and Smart Cities: Civil Society Perspectives on Risk and Emerging Technologies. - Part II: Analyzing Civil Society Organizations. - Chapter 5. Specialists for Crumble Cakes? The German LandFrauen Organizations in Social Innovation and as Educational, Social, and Political Institutions. - Chapter 6. Schools of Democracy? Giving Circles and the Civic and Political Participation of Collaborative Philanthropists. - Chapter 7. Time Banks as Transient Civic Organizations? Exploring the Dynamics of Decline. - Part III: Spaces, Networks and Fields. - Chapter 8. Civil Society as Networks of Issues and Associations: The Case of Food. - Chapter 9. The Geography of Giving in the Philanthropic Field. - Chapter 10. Global Authenticity, Local Authority: Epistemic Power, Discursive Geographies, and the Creation of Civil Society Knowledge Networks. - Part IV: Doing Civil Society. - Chapter 11. Democracy Movement and Alternative Knowledge in Hong Kong. - Chapter 12. Epistemic Activism in the United States: Examining Meetings Across the Silos of Civil Society. - Chapter 13. Seeding a New World: Lessons From the #FeesMustFall Movement for the Advancement of Social Justice. - Chapter 14. Civility, Education, and the Embodied Mind Three Approaches to a New Sentimental Education.