The banner of 'civil society' has been raised in recent years by social movements, in East Asia and Latin America quite as much as in Eastern Europe, seeking to push their societies from authoritarianism to democracy. The popularity of the concept is, however, almost inversely related to its clarity.

The prime task of this volume is accordingly better to define what is meant by 'civil society', not least so that the extent of its usefulness, descriptively rather than merely prescriptively, can be established. To that end, analysis is comparative and historical quite as much as theoretical. Particular attention is paid to the relations between civil society and other social forces, most notably to nationalism and to populism. The distinguished contributors include Ernest Gellner, David Wank, Victor Perez-Diaz, Adam Seligman, Chris Bryant, Salvador Giner, Hudson Meadwell, Philip Oxhorn, Chris Hann, Serif Mardin, Wlodimierz Wesolowski and Nicos Mouzelis.

John A Hall is Emeritus James McGill Professor of Sociology at McGill University and the author of many books including Powers and Liberties: The Causes and Consequences of the Rise of the West (Blackwell, 1985), Liberalism: Politics, Ideology and the Market (Paladin, 1988), Coercion and Consent: Studies on the Modern State (Polity, 1994) and International Orders: Essays, Interpretations and Rejoinders (Polity, 1996).