Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal, Vol.4, No.1, 2012 i 
ISSN: 1837-5391;  http://utsescholarship.lib.uts.edu.au/epress/journals/index.php/mcs 
CCS Journal is published under the auspices of UTSePress, Sydney, Australia 

The Third Sector and Issues in Civil Society 
 

 
The papers in this issue of the Cosmopolitan Civil societies Journal explore the theme of third 

sector and community organisations and their engagement with notions of civil society. These 

organisations are at the heart of civil society, creating spaces for individuals to come together 

with others to work towards a shared vision for their community. The papers in this issue show 

the increased diversity and complexity of relationships between individuals, organisations and 

the wider community. Each provides cases of the pressures, negotiations, resistance, and 

partnering that characterise volunteer, state, and, corporate interactions in contemporary civil 

societies. The very different configurations of public action, civil society and community 

involvement highlight how no single model offers an optimum relationship among civil societies’ 

and the polity other various actors. They also are part of the growing recognition of the 

importance of 'civil society' both at the domestic and international level for its role not only to 

promoting civic organisations to become policy participants but also in fostering innovative 

approaches to improving the well-being and better outcomes for the most vulnerable. 

 

The first paper is by Debal Singharoy, who was a visiting scholar at the Cosmopolitan Civil 

Society Research Centre in 2010. It reports on a study he conducted into grassroots indigenous 

organisations and their involvement in environmental issues. Through a series of case studies, he 

examines the process of articulation and rejuvenation of indigenous identities that negotiate the 

contending pressures of development and the environment across culture and the needs of the 

community.  
 

In the second paper, Jonathon Main examines partnerships between organisations within the 

community services sector. He argues that drivers of collaboration can only be understood in the 

context of previous interactions between agencies. Whether these were seen as strong, weak or 

ambiguous was related to whether previous relationships were considered to be disengaged or 

cooperative in nature.   

 



 

ii   Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Journal, Vol.4, No.1, 2012 

In the third paper, Naomi Berman and Emily Mellon focus on individuals, showing how creating 

space for young social change-makers to develop participatory practices that lead to civic 

engagement can enhance their sense of self as well as strengthening the community. 

 

Questions of identity are also central to the fourth paper by Ilaria Buscaglia and Shirley Randell. 

They show how a colonial program intended to empower women in what is now Rwanda 

undermined the traditional power and authority of women in the society at the expense of 

creating a Westernised elite. They argue that post-genocide reconstruction of society in Rwanda 

has established a social and legislative space where the identity of women in society can be 

reframed. 

 

These four papers continue existing debates and open new perspectives on longstanding 

questions about how members of democratic societies that value civic engagement interact 

collectively. These articles show that civil sector organisations do not simply exist in a condition 

of conflict or partnership with other civil society actors, government and private sectors, but is 

these relationships are in a state of continual negotiation to create pragmatic solutions to produce 

and maintain a space for civic inclusion in the polity. We hope that they will spark debate and 

lead to further scholarly contributions in this important area.  

 

Bronwen Dalton 

Sydney 

February 2012 


	The Third Sector and Issues in Civil Society