Edyta B. Pietrzak

Civil Society: Ideas, Interpretations, Transgressions is essential to learning about the place and importance of civil society in creating and maintaining a liberal democracy. Edyta B. Pietrzak takes us on a journey of interpretation, addressing the critical role the idea of a civil society has for our world and how it has evolved over time. She uncovers the meanings of theories and clarifies ways of thinking that are sensitive to peculiarities, intermittences, contrasts, or unique things.Part I introduces the theory and key terms. What is the public sphere and how can it be understood? Is it synonymous with civil society or does it only establish its area of activity? It aims to illustrate how social life has changed over centuries and its basic components have been experienced and interpreted in various ways.Part II represents a collection of interpretations and approaches to the idea of civil society. Pietrzak begins with the traditional Republican interpretation, continues with liberal, Hegelian, sociological, and historical-materialistic interpretations, and concludes with modern communitarian and neo-liberal concepts.Part III reminds us that civil society is not an abstract concept, nor does it exist in a vacuum or out of context. When describing the process of change and transformation in civil society, reference must be made to transgressions. Here we learn about issues such as transnational civil society, citizenship and diversity, feminist citizenship, and civil society in the era of the Anthropocene, to name a few.

This book explores the socio-political practice of collective memory in the context of prejudices and stereotypes that circulate in the public sphere with regard to the role of women experiencing wartime and political violence.With a focus on Poland and Central and Eastern Europe, it draws on memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, testimonies by women authors, ideological proclamations and secular ‘hagiographies’ of heroines, female leaders and contemporary role models to examine the ways in which the oppression experienced by women during war is reflected in public discourse, how prejudices and stereotypes concerning the role of women are used politically and how women respond to the politicisation of their own narratives and participation in violence. Guided by the idea that memory is political, such that how we think about it, speak about it and how create it is a political issue, Women’s Roles in Times of War and Political Violence highlights the fate and experiences of those who have been and are still denied their ‘own voice’ by society. It will therefore appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in women’s studies, collective memory and women’s wartime experiences.

Civil Society: Ideas, Interpretations, Transgressions is essential to learning about the place and importance of civil society in creating and maintaining a liberal democracy. Edyta B. Pietrzak takes us on a journey of interpretation, addressing the critical role the idea of a civil society has for our world and how it has evolved over time. She uncovers the meanings of theories and clarifies ways of thinking that are sensitive to peculiarities, intermittences, contrasts, or unique things.Part I introduces the theory and key terms. What is the public sphere and how can it be understood? Is it synonymous with civil society or does it only establish its area of activity? It aims to illustrate how social life has changed over centuries and its basic components have been experienced and interpreted in various ways.Part II represents a collection of interpretations and approaches to the idea of civil society. Pietrzak begins with the traditional Republican interpretation, continues with liberal, Hegelian, sociological, and historical-materialistic interpretations, and concludes with modern communitarian and neo-liberal concepts.Part III reminds us that civil society is not an abstract concept, nor does it exist in a vacuum or out of context. When describing the process of change and transformation in civil society, reference must be made to transgressions. Here we learn about issues such as transnational civil society, citizenship and diversity, feminist citizenship, and civil society in the era of the Anthropocene, to name a few.