art|c|pat|on vo|unteer|sm and act|v|sm as

a spectrum
WhaL does lceland Lell us?
hlhLs
1 LaLesL CSl fndns new Lrends n cc enaemenL
2 WhaL does lceland Lell us?
3 uersLy of parLcpaLon
4 Cnlne lnformal AcLsm
3 1ypoloy of Lhe role of lC1s n socal parLcpaLon
6 Cl SoceLy means much more Lhan
7 arLcpaLon and acLsm as a specLrum
LaLesL CSl fndns
- ConLnun pub||c trust |n c|v|| soc|ety as an |dea buL low
leels of nolemenL n formal cl soceLy acLLes
compared Lo h|gher |eve|s of vo|untary nonforma|
part|c|pat|on
- CSCs achee greater |mpact |n the soc|a| sphere than |n
|nf|uenc|ng po||cy and Lhere s a ap beLween hh leels of
acLLy and medum leels of mpacL
8r|dg|ng the gaps C|t|zens organ|sat|ons and d|ssoc|at|on
C|v|| Soc|ety Index summary report 20082011
new Lrends n cc enaemenL
- Informa| act|v|sm seems Lo en[oy larer publc supporL Lhan LradLonal
olunLeern and formal CSCs
- new faces of cl soceLy (acLsL roups such as sLudenLs and
enronmenLalsLs) and Lhe faces of Lhe LransLon (such as pensoners)
represenL a snfcanL percenLae of Lhe whole
- owerful edence n Lhe CSl LhaL people wanL Lo assocaLe wanL Lo
mproe socal condLons and wanL Lo parLcpaLe n cc lfe
- ?eL they want to do so on the|r own terms
C|v|| Soc|ety Index summary report 20082011 8r|dg|ng the gaps C|t|zens
organ|sat|ons and d|ssoc|at|on
WhaL does lceland Lell us?
lceland
- opulaLon 320 Lhousand no army
- Was one of Lhe rchesL counLres n Lhe world
- ln 2003 all Lhe counLry's banks were praLed
- 1o aLLracL foren nesLors Lhey offered onlne bankn
whose mnmal cosLs allowed Lhem Lo offer relaLely
hh raLes of reLurn
- 1he accounLs called IceSave aLLracLed many
Lnlsh and uuLch small nesLors
lceland oes bankrupL
- 2003 lceland's debL was equal Lo 200 Ls Cn
- 2007 900
- 2008 World fnancal crss Lhree man lcelandc banks
Landbank kapLhn and ClLnr wenL bankrupLed and were
naLonaled whle Lhe kroner losL 83 of Ls alue wLh
respecL Lo Lhe Luro
- AL Lhe end of Lhe year Ice|and dec|ared bankruptcy
nternational negotiations
- Cer aarde Lhe rme MnsLer neoLaLed a loan aansL
drasLc measures
- 1he lMl/Luropean unon wanLed Lo Lake oer Ls debL
clamn Lhs was Lhe only way for Lhe counLry Lo pay back
olland and CreaL 8rLan who had promsed Lo remburse
Lher cLens
CLen uprsn
- Cnon proLesLs and roLs eenLually forcn Lhe
government to res|gn
- LlecLons n Aprl 2009 resulLed n a lefLwn coalLon whch
condemned Lhe neolberal economc sysLem buL mmedaLely
ae n Lo Ls demands LhaL lceland pays off Ls debL
each Ice|and|c c|t|zen wou|d have to pay 100 Luros a month
(about 5140) for f|fteen years at SS |nterest to pay off a
debt |ncurred by pr|vate part|es v|s a v|s other pr|vate part|es
norLhern Cuba or aL?
- 1he ead of SLaLe Clafur 8anar Crmsson refused to rat|fy
Lhe law LhaL would hae made lceland's cLens responsble
for Ls bankers' debLs and accepLed ca||s for a referendum
- 1he nLernaLonal communLy only ncreased Lhe pressure on
lceland
we wete tolJ tbot lf we tefoseJ tbe lotetootloool commooltys
cooJltloos we woolJ become tbe cobo of tbe Nottb 8ot lf we
boJ occepteJ we woolJ bove become tbe noltl of tbe Nottb
Crmsson
March 2010 8eferendum
- voted aga|nst repaymenL of Lhe debL 1he lMl
mmedaLely froe Ls loan
- 8uL oernmenL launched c|v|| and pena| |nvest|gat|ons |nto
those respons|b|e for the f|nanc|a| cr|s|s
- lnLerpol puL ouL an nLernaLonal arresL warranL for Lhe ex
presdenL of kapLhn Surdur Lnarsson as Lhe oLher
bankers mplcaLed n Lhe crash fled Lhe counLry
1owards a new consLLuLon
- lcelanders decded Lo drafL a new consLLuLon LhaL would free Lhe
counLry from Lhe exaeraLed power of nLernaLonal fnance and
rLual money
- 1hey elecLed 23 cLens from amon 322 adulLs (ncludn lawyers
polLcal scence professors [ournalsLs and many oLher
professons) noL belonn Lo any polLcal parLy buL recommended
by aL leasL LhrLy cLens
1owards a new consLLuLon
- ConsLLuenL's meeLns sLreamed onlne and ConsLLuLonal
Councl was hhly acLe on 1wLLer lacebook ?ou1ube and
llckr wLh loLs of room for feedback
- 29 !uly 2011 Lhe lceland parlamenL offcally rece|ved the
new const|tut|on
- SeL Lo be reewed and Lhen puL before oLe for raLfcaLon
by 1 CcLober
Marks a poss|b|e parad|gm sh|ft |n govern|ng
1owards recoery
- 1oday lceland s recoern from Ls fnancal collapse n ways
opposLe of Lhose enerally consdered unaodable as
confrmed by Lhe head of Lhe lMl ChrsLne Laarde Lo
lareed Zakara
- 1he people of Creece hae been Lold LhaL Lhe praLaLon of
Lher publc secLor s Lhe only soluLon And Lhose of lLaly
Span and orLual are facn Lhe same LhreaL
Socal CapLal
- CSl reporLs low leels of cLen enaemenL n CSCs and low and
someLmes declnn derees of olunLeern n CSCs
- 8u1 people n almosL all counLres sureyed are enan n
socal acLLy and are acLely and olunLarly noln
Lhemseles parLcularly aL Lhe local and communLy leel
eop|e may not see themse|ves as part of c|v|| soc|ety but
through the|r act|v|t|es they can be understood to be generat|ng
and strengthen|ng soc|a| cap|ta|
uersLy of parLcpaLon
- CSl reporLs d|vers|ty of part|c|pat|on appears to be sound een wLhn
marnalsed secLons of communLes
- 8uL Lhere may be aenues LhaL hae noL been fully explored
- 8y focuss|ng on |ess organ|sed and more |nforma| forms of part|c|pat|on
we can br|ng marg|na||sed groups more |nto the c|v|c ma|nstream
lnformal onlne acLsm
- lnformal onlne acLsm played a lare role n recenL socal
moemenLs and upheaals noL leasL by enab||ng rap|d
organ|sat|on of protest and unmed|ated |nternat|ona|
outreach
- 8oLh of Lhese forms of assocaLon hae one Lhn n common
1hey bypass organ|sat|ons as they are trad|t|ona||y
understood And they enta|| peop|e mak|ng th|ngs
happen on the|r own w|thout the |mpetus or support of
CSCs
1ypoloy of Lhe role of lC1 n socal
parLcpaLon
- As a Lool for mass mob|||sat|on for offlne acLsm
- As a ehcle for new forms of on||ne act|v|sm
- As Lhe creaLor and drer of on||ne c|v|c space
- As a plaLform for know|edgeshar|ng and co||ect|ve |earn|ng
- As a source of new mode|s of governance (as n Lhe lceland
example)
Cl soceLy means so much
more
1he CSl fndns challene us Lo renenL our defnLons and
sons of cl soceLy and Lo nesL our efforLs n buldn
broader coalLons beLween esLablshed oransaLons and more
nformal and looser forms of assocaLon Cne Lhn LhaL s clear
from Lhe CSl s LhaL c|v|| soc|ety means so much more than the
now trad|t|ona| typo|ogy of NGCs and CSCs
key quesLons
- ow can we beLLer make connect|ons between d|fferent forms of
part|c|pat|on vo|unteer|sm and act|v|sm? ow can we do so wLhouL
compromsn on Lhe ndependence and specal alue of dfferenL sLrands
of cl soceLy?
- ow can |n|t|a||y modest and apo||t|ca| forms of c|v|c act|on rooLed n
noLons of communLy or roup serce be supported?
- ow can an already acLe person's capacLy and laLenL poLenLal Lo
enae more polLcally and more sLraLecally be sLrenLhened?
- ow can we adopL a more expans|ve understand|ng of c|v|| soc|ety n
pracLce?
arLcpaLon and acLsm as
a specLrum
- romoLe part|c|pat|on vo|unteer|sm and act|v|sm as a
spectrum
- romoLe cl soceLy as a mulLsLranded arena wLh
CSCs playn a conLnun cenLral role as Lhe oransed
accounLable face of cl soceLy 8u1 wLh reaLer
emphass on reachn ouL Lo laLenL acLsLs and offern
Lhem easer paLhways for parLcpaLon
8esources
- Io|unteer|sm and Soc|a| Act|v|sm athways to part|c|pat|on |n human
deve|opment" unv/lAvL/ClvlCuS 2008
- Cl SoceLy lndex summary reporL 20082011 8r|dg|ng the gaps
C|t|zens organ|sat|ons and d|ssoc|at|on (AuusL 2011)
- Why Ice|and Shou|d 8e |n the News 8ut Is Not ueena SLryker AuusL
2011 sacssor
- upcomn publcaLon Lo furLher explore and defne how |nforma|
vo|untary act|on can |ead to c|t|zen part|c|pat|on |n governance and Lo
prode a resource Lo CSCs Lo explore Lhs poLenLal enaemenL
opporLunLy (unv/ClvlCuS)
Merc ous !
enr| Ia|ot
ClvlCuS
henraloL[ccusor