African Civil Society

The concept of civil society has an enviably rich history which is long and resides in

Europe. Even now that it is assuming global status; its origin continues to remind us of the context that threw it into relevance. In spite of the rich heritage that endears civil society to contemporary scholars, the concept, not just being problematic to operationalize, challenges scholars when it is applied to Africa. Thus, can we really agree that the idea of civil society as it is being operational, as a third sector, is meaningful in Africa, when state-society relationship is fraught with hostility arising from the immensity and brutality of the state? Or can we say that in terms of civil society as social value, Africa is in the civil society, when

Consequently, in an attempt to relate civil society in Africa, it is pertinent to historicize it. That is what precisely this paper attempts to do. And in doing so, the paper will look at the African view of civil society and cover the historical phases,

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An African View of African Civil Society

We often refer to Western civil society as if the American civil society is identical to that of Greece, Italy, France or Luxemburg. They have similar fundamental features but are not identical. Yet we refer to civil society in the West as an abstract model, despite the differences between the many countries generally referred to as the West. In the same manner we will refer to an African civil society as if civil society of Burkina Faso is the same as that of South Africa or that of Nigeria. Nevertheless, despite the specificities of the civil societies in different African countries, there are similarities in their fundamental characteristics. And it is these fundamental characteristics on which we will focus in our brief look at the African civil society.

Existing civil society in African countries has its origin from the colonial period.

1 st Phase

During the colonial period, the colonial state in African countries divided the population into two categories and applied different laws to each category - direct and indirect rule. Those in the urban areas, the colons (in settler colonies) or the freed slaves and educated elite in non-settler colonies, came under direct rule - which applied European or civil laws. This was the colonial civil society and the people in it were the citizens of the colonial state. They had freedom of association, free publicity, and representation. This