VIEWS

Civil society in Macedonia: state and perspectives
 
The present state in the civil society, as well as its position in the modern Macedonian society in general is a result of the influences, as well as adjustments, by the present civil society structures and subjects in relation to the historically shaped structures and subjects in other areas of social living, especially the country and the politics. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that the interactions between the civil society and other levels of socializing in our country have not been established in a vacuum. They have been and they still are under great influence of the Western (Western European and American) global, political, economic, civil, military and other interests, strategies, structures and subjects. It can also be said about the civil society perspectives.

The modern civil society in our country arises from two sources. The first was consisted of structures and subjects that associated and organized themselves on voluntary basis, which existed before Macedonia had become an independent country. The second source is the civil society and organizing which appeared as a result of the efforts to cover issues and areas of social and individual living which the new democratic and liberal country could not and should not cover.

The latter activities, that is, their actors have been helped by Western governmental and non-governmental organizations. This is where the source of a number of controversial determinations of civil society's position in the social and political life of the country should be looked for. Such are, for example, the frequently used names: "non-governmental", that is anti-governmental; "non-political", that is anti-political; independent or alternative, that is "fifth column".

The above mentioned and other attributes do not exhaust the whole discussion on civil society position and its role in the modern Macedonian society. It is a fact that this sector has been constantly developing since Macedonia's independence in relation to all significant dimensions.

The number of civic associations and organizations is approaching the level of countries with medium developed civil sphere (1 association to about 330 citizens). In this respect, the weaker point is members' structure and motivation. In that respect, the social capital of civil society (meaning how much the population trusts them and how much they trust each other) is one of the weakest points.

The structure according to the field of operation and the type of activities is gradually adjusting to the new needs and requests of the citizens. However, the main factor here is the source of financing (mainly foreign finances). For many local/national problems and needs there are no assets available (for example, for dealing with the criminal and public security, corruption, unemployment, etc. The situation is similar when it comes to financing the organizational and personnel development of this sector).

The democracy of this sector (internally, meaning its function as a school of democracy, and externally, referring to its democratic influence on the state and political organizations) is often confirmed. The fear of dealing with political issues (for example, the civic organizations' activities before the parliamentary elections this year) slowly disappears.

The civil society perspectives, as well as its appearance and development, are determined by the perspectives and the events on state. political and economic level. In that respect, besides the accomplishments regarding the already standard worries (social and economic issues, environment, public health and interethnic relations), the future of the civic sector in Macedonia will depend to a great extent on its contribution to the Euro-Atlantic integration of the country, the reconstruction, trust building in interethnic relations. The civil society anti-corruption file will also be highly important, including here the transparency and publicity in its work.

Besides these macro-dimensions of the civil society future development, the cooperation with the local self-government bodies appears to be very important as well. Through them, civic organizations, which for the time being are mainly "cut off" the society, will be able to join it seriously and systematically.

 

Dr. Ilo Trajkovski is a professor at the Sociology Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje