Civil Society in Azerbaijan: Testing Alternative Theories

Abstract

This article provides a new framework for analyzing the concept of civil society and applies it to the case of Azerbaijan. For almost three decades, academics and practitioners have discussed civil society using a very particular framework based on a specific paradigm: the Tocquevillean notion of civil society, a liberal-democratic vision of civil society in which civil society is an autonomous, independent political actor to check the state's power. I believe it is time now to shift perspective and try to look at things from a different angle. This article offers a Gramscian view of the concept of civil society and tests it on Azerbaijan. I believe it is important for theoreticians and practitioners to think outside of the box that was built for the last two and a half decades of post-communist life and see various opportunities to interpret reality in a new way, particularly when the previous frames seem to be insufficient.