Abstract:
Given the importance of religion for the vast majority of humankind, it is critical that
conceptualizations of global civil society facilitate a positive engagement of religious
perspectives. However, some understandings of religion are incompatible with the underlying
rationale and purpose of global civil society. This research explores ways of promoting
possibilities of consistency between the two. This outcome depends on how each side of this
relationship is understood and practiced in each context rather than on any preconceived notion
of what these ideas mean. Therefore a synergistic and interdependent model of the relationship
between religion and global civil society is needed whereby each is understood in a way that
supports the other. This research is conducted to support the mutually supportive understandings
of religion and conceptualizations of civil society.
This thesis explore global implications of religion by clarifying some contrasting views on civil
society in general with a view to relating these to a more inclusive range of definitions of global
civil society. Some of the difficulties of the process of such broader conceptualizations of global
civil society and fundamentalist perspectives are discussed in order to highlight possibilities and
challenges of the proposed approach.
The contextual dynamics of global civil society, and the scope of religion in global perspective
specifically, Islamic norms are main focus of this research.
