This seminar critically examines the concept of civil society from the perspective of non-democratic and hybrid regimes. During the course, we will explore how the concept emerged, how it relates to neoliberal agenda and what problems does it cause. We begin by exploring key theoretical traditions, ranging from Habermas's concept of the public sphere and Cohen and Arato's ideas on civil society and political theory, to Jeffrey Alexander's approach to the civil sphere. Building on this, we will consider critical interventions that challenge liberal and Eurocentric interpretations of civil society. These include James C. Scott's concept of ?hidden transcripts? and critiques of global civil society research from a decolonial perspective.
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