So What's This Whole Civil Society Thing Anyway?

After being in Turkey for over a month, the inevitable question sets in: what am I doing here?

Existential questions aside, I am here to investigate youth attitudes toward civil society development in Turkey.

Civil society suffers from the curse of too many definitions. Right now it is a hot term, one that peppers most conversations about society, development, globalization and politics. It has both supporters and critics, and arguments on either side are complicated by its slippery definitions. As Michael Edwards writes in 'Civil Society,' "An idea that means everything probably means nothing, and when the idea of civil society goes on sale to the highest bidder, its worth as a political and intellectual currency is likely to be devalued over time."

Supporters include liberal lefties who back grassroots radical movements, conservatives who see the civil society arena as a "new direction," and libertarians who like the idea of society functioning outside of the governmental realm. Millions of people around the world are touched by civil society in one form or another-- as supporters who contribute money and time, operators working in these organizations, and beneficiaries spanning the globe. The long arm of civil society reaches many, but as a concept it is poorly understood.

So what is it? Basically, civil society can be viewed as any organization outside of the realm of government or economy. Organizations that offer services, education, work to change society, or simply those that are an association of like-minded people pursing a common activity. The following are all civil society organization: Greenpeace International, the Halo Trust (mine clearing), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Meals on Wheels Association of America (providing home delivered meals to people in need), Synergos (reducing poverty in the developing world), Open Society Institute (promoting global development of open societies), Network 20/20 (educating future leaders about foreign policy), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, unions, choirs, book clubs...

Turkey has an interesting history of civil society, in that its history is short and is making up for lost time. In the past two decades, two developments have helped the growth of civil society. The first was the prospect for European Union membership. In order to be eligible for membership, Turkey has had to make a number of changes, including developing a civil society that could act as a check on the government. The EU invested a lot of money in this development and the result has been a booming NGO industry, though with unknown results. The other major development was the 1999 earthquake in which the Red Crescent and other organizations outside of the government took action more swiftly and decisively than the government (think of the contrast between the U.S. government and the Red Cross and other individual and associational efforts in the wake of Katrina). This inverted response gave NGOs in Turkey an added boost.

That said, participation in organizations, especially those with a political tinge, is limited in Turkey. Of about 1.5 million university students in Turkey, less than 10,000 of them are active volunteers, and this could be a generous number. (I apologize if my numbers are incorrect. I received them through those working in the NGO sector in Turkey specifically with university students.) This could be for a number of reasons, one of which is that current university students did not grow up in a volunteer culture. What would be really interesting would be to come back in 10-20 years and see what the attitudes of current high school student are toward civil society. They will be the first group to grow up with a notion of civil society and the legal capability to form associations for a young age. (Turkey just passed a law a few months ago making it legal for minors to form associations.)

Despite the uphill battle of legal difficulties and societal malaise, change is happening, and not just in the in urban and "European" areas where the majority of NGOs are concentrated. The KaMer Women's Center in Diyarbakir (southeastern Turkey) was established in 1997 to stop violence against women and has developed projects against honor killings. Started by a woman from that region and set to expand to several other towns, the group provides a helpline and services to women suffering from physical and psychological abuse and has undertaken an educational campaign against honor killing.

Over the past month, I've had the opportunity to meet with many people working in the NGO sector in Turkey. There is a marked contrast between civil society in Turkey and the US. I feel a sense of urgency here that doesn't exist at home, as though the force of change that has been bottled up here for decades has finally been unleashed, but against a ticking clock. It seems to me that those committed to developing a strong civil society in Turkey suffer from a Cinderella syndrome. Their moment to act is finally here, but because they do not know when or if the clock will hit midnight, they must cover as much ground as they can.

I took the photo on this posting this morning from my apartment. Istanbul weather makes New England weather look stable. In the span of a few hours the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue several times. During that time there were also several intense rainstorms. The silver lining to this erratic weather are rainbows, and lots of them.