Civil Society and Distributional Conflicts in Southeast Asia

This contribution examines the debate about civil society in a comparative political economy perspective. Its main approach relies on two inspirations: One is the famous assertion by Karl Polanyi that markets do not evolve organically but are instead the creations of vested interests. Another is the assertion by Karl Marx, “that free competition is the final form of the development of productive forces, and thus of human freedom, means only that the domination of the middle class is the end of the worlds history - of course quite pleasant thought for yesterdays parvenus”. The first part of the chapter focuses on the competing theoretical definitions and assumptions about civil society, democratization and social change; the second part explores the attempts by civil society actors to impact conflicts over resources and distribution of welfare in Southeast Asia; the third section focuses on the conflictual relationship between civil society organizations (CSOs) and the state and various types of social and labour market regulations, laws and contractual relationships, and finally the need for progressive social reform is emphasized as one important type of social resistance against the downsizing of the social and public sector's provision of collective goods.