Public concern about inequitable economic globalization has revealed the demand for citizen participation in global decision making. Civil society organizations have taken up the challenge, holding governments and corporations accountable for their decisions and actions, and developing collaborative solutions to the dominant problems of our time. Critical Mass: The Emergence of Global Civil Society offers a unique mixture of experience and analysis by the leaders of some of the most influential global civil society organizations and respected academics who specialize in this field of study.
"If the ideals of worldwide justice and equity are ever to be realized, if our planet and its people are ever to be rescued from shortsightedness and greed, it will only be through the workings of a vibrant international civil society. This groundbreaking book neither exaggerates the promise of such a society nor underestimates its problems. Instead, by combining the insights of academics and activists and drawing upon both theory and cases, it illuminates a field of study only beginning to be mined. Both those of us who toil in civil society organizations and those who are affected by them have reason to be grateful."
- William F. Schulz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress and former Executive Director, Amnesty International USA