Civil Society as an Agent of Change /
Rupert Graf Strachwitz
The covid-19 crisis is the tip of an iceberg. In actual fact, the crisis goes much deeper. It comprises a crisis of democracy, of the nation state, and of capitalism. We are in the middle of an iconic turn and face challenges of an unprecedented scale. It seems inconceivable to tackle any of these challenges without involving societal actors wherever they are. Civil society has proven to be an important agent of change, and has a lot to bring to the table. Yet, knowledge of civil society is underdeveloped, and the state and the private sector hesitate to introduce a level playing field that would enable civil society to act in the sense that Habermas (and others) describe as deliberative democracy to mean the participative process needed to move an agenda by debate prior to taking decisions.