Civil Society in an Age of Uncertainty: Institutions, Governance and Existential Challenges

by Paul Chaney (Editor), Ian Rees Jones (Editor)

Overview

This book explores how the uncertainties of the 21st century present existential challenges to civil society. These include changing modes of governance (through devolution and Brexit), austerity, migration, growing digital divides, issues of (mis)trust and democratic confidence, welfare delivery and the COVID-19 pandemic and the contemporary threat to minority languages and cultures. Presenting original empirical findings, this book brings together core strands of social theory to provide a new way of understanding existential challenges to the form and function of civil society. It highlights pressing social issues and transferable lessons that will inform policy and practice in today’s age of uncertainty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447353416
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Series:	Civil Society and Social Change
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paul Chaney is Professor of Politics and Policy at Cardiff Universityand Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD). Ian Rees Jones is Professor of Sociological Research at Cardiff Universityand Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD).

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction – Locating Civil Society – Paul Chaney and Ian Rees Jones Chapter 2: Existential Challenges – Paul Chaney and Ian Rees Jones Chapter 3: Civil Society and the Governance of City Region Economic Development – David Beel, Martin Jones and Ian Rees Jones Chapter 4: Civil Society, Pandemic, and the Crisis of Welfare: Exploring Mixed Economy Models of Welfare in Domiciliary Adult Social Care in a Devolved UK – Paul Chaney and Christala Sophocleous Chapter 5: The Contemporary Threat to Minority Languages and Cultures: Civil Society, Young People and Celtic Language Use in Scotland and Wales – Rhys Jones, Elin Royles, Fiona O’Hanlon and Lindsay Paterson Chapter 6: Digital Threat or Opportunity? Local Civil Society in an Age of Global Inter-Connectivity – Michael Woods, Taulant Guma and Sophie Yarker Chapter 7: Democratic Decline? Civil Society and Trust in Government – Alistair Cole, Ian Stafford and Dominic Heinz Chapter 8: Xenophobia, Hostility, and Austerity: European Migrants and Civil Society in Wales – Stephen Drinkwater, Taulant Guma and Rhys Dafydd Jones Chapter 9: Meeting the Challenge? Prospects and Perils for Civil Society in the Twenty-First Century – Paul Chaney and Ian Rees Jones

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“With multiple insecurities threatening well-being and health in a post-Brexit UK and globally, this book examines civil society’s autonomy, precarity and resilience. A vital critical reflection on the challenges facing civil society in uncertain times.” Linda Milbourne, Birkbeck, University of London

“This timely scholarly and highly readable volume examines contemporary challenges facing civil society at various spatial scales, demonstrating that, in an age of uncertainty, a vibrant civil society does matter.” Irene Hardill, Northumbria University