Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Fueled by social media, a wave of civic activism around the world is seeking to change societies. How do these new movements differ from the marches and protests of the past?
Pockets of energetic local Ukrainian activists are improving people’s lives and holding officials accountable, but foreign donors tend to overlook the important work they are doing.
To defend against attack, civil society organizations can promote internal ethical leadership, strong downward accountability to their constituencies, be politically independent, and build coalitions across social and political divides.
One of the signal events in global politics in the last decade has been the transformation of political and civic activism. Not only is the new activism qualitatively different in character from what it was in 2000; its intensity and frequency have dramatically increased.
Around the world, conservative groups have been gaining influence, bolstering the power of right-wing leaders. It is a trend driven not only by older generations but also by the young.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a Civic Research Network workshop on conservative civil society.
What conservative civic activism portends for global civil society.
Taiwan’s 2014 Sunflower Movement unleashed a wave of youthful activism that has profoundly reshaped the island’s political landscape, showing how activists can effect change through elections.
Burkina Faso’s citizens stepped in to stop former president Blaise Compaoré from tightening his hold on power, even as several other African countries are discarding constitutional safeguards.
Civil society organizations can take certain steps to shore up their own legitimacy despite growing hostility to their work.