The Return of Civil Society: Emergence of Democratic Spain Book

Victor Perez-Diaz examines in detail the return of civil society in Spain. He covers the transition of Spain from a pre-industrial economy, an authoritarian government, and a Roman Catholic-dominated culture to a modern state based on the interaction of economic and class interests, on a market society, on voluntary associations such as trade unions and political parties, and on a culture of moral autonomy and rationality. Perez-Diaz manoeuvres between broad, speculative reflection on the relations between the state and civil society and empirically-based analyses of specific sectors in Spanish society, including the church, the economy, the workers and the unions. In a multidiscipinary approach, the author borrows ideas and methods from history, sociology, and economics and uses them to illuminate the more general problem of modernization in the western world. This book aims to be especially relevant to understanding the ongoing efforts to create civil societies in eastern Europe, and its general argument has implications for social science research. "The Return of Civil Society" should be of interest to sociologists and political scientists and to students of Spanish society, politics, culture, and religion.Read More