Much has been said about the opening up of Malaysia’s civil space and the creation of a civil society. But what does it all mean and how does it impact on people and the state? Beginning today, we introduce a fortnightly limited series on its origins, history and current developments.

THIS is a season for change – or so the recent developments in Malaysia tell us. Malaysians have opted for new members of parliament as well as four state governments. Other than the ballot box, many Malaysians advocate change through the Internet. Long-established social groups are finding themselves equally flushed with enthusiasm. New members bring with them the belief that meaningful change is possible.

Many of these individuals and groups consider themselves as part of “Malaysian civil society”. They often find themselves spontaneously united by a particular cause. Some of these groups are made up of a handful of committed members whilst others have evolved into mass social movements.

The Penang Heritage Trust, which began with a handful of members, have recently found themselves the toast of the town with the Listing of George Town as a world heritage site. In Petaling Jaya, an “All-PJ Residents Coalition” have been formed to improve living conditions. More recently, sprouting up throughout the country, is a spontaneous call for Malaysia to be “plastic free”.

Not all of these civil society movements will be successful but today, rightly or wrongly, politicians and newspaper editors credit civil society for playing a part in changing our political landscape. There is new respect for the social activist. Bloggers are now members of parliament and trouble-making “demonstrators” now make laws.

Yet it is difficult to define civil society. Some social scientists call it the “third space”, the first being the government and the second, the commercial sector.

The fabric that holds civil society together is the view that personal needs and private considerations may best be served by some form of collective action as demonstrated by Kajang residents calling for the opening of an access road to their housing estates.

Michael Walzer, the prominent political theorist, views “civil society” as a “dense network of civil associations”. These associations, he says, make the democratic body stable and effective. They do this indirectly through the “habits of the heart” where citizens mobilise on behalf of public causes. Democracies depend on such private voluntary association to remain healthy.

Civil society therefore operates separately though not exclusively from the state and the market place. Members are not compelled by law to partake in civil society affairs. Instead, civil society is based upon common causes often galvanised by moral, political, and social issues.

Similarly, material profit and economic imperatives do not necessarily drive civil society movements. Lest we forget, civil society comprise of anything from social and environmental movements such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund to community organisations such as your local Rukun Tetangga, PTA or even the Lawn Bowling Club. What provides impetus for all these organisations are a shared interest or a shared cause. Political and social activism, which gets much more publicity, is in reality only a small proportion of civil activism.

Datuk Nazir Ariff may be a lone voice in calling for a ‘plastic bag free Penang’ now but history has shown that advocating an unpopular cause can change public opinion over time.

However, as developments in Malaysia and other parts of the world have shown, civil society movements can, and does have an influential role to play in larger society. But this is nothing new – civil society movements in Malaysia have long had a significant socio-political role to play. The thrust of the remonstration against the Malayan Union, for example, was due to a large part by the activism of various local Malay associations such as the Malay Nationalist Party and many of the earliest welfare organisations, such as the late 19th century Penang Po Leung Kuk were civil organisations.

Another important feature of civil society is that it is often associated with the idea of the “public sphere”. Loosely structured, these organisations are public entities because they bring together individuals who share a common cause. The development of such social networks are critical ingredients of the emergence of civil society organisations.

The fabric that holds civil society together is the view that personal needs and private considerations may best be served by some form of collective action. A sense of necessity and a coalition of interests places our collective welfare over and above personal needs.

Other than empathy, the urge to complain and disagree is equally important. Our collective grouses form the basis for civil debate. The right to challenge and test established norms improves our quality of life. Anyone can participate in a civil debate and the number of causes they take up are endless.

Nothing is too strange or trivial. In a globalised world, these causes transcend national boundaries. Recently, Datuk Nazir Ariff, the northern region chairman of the Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce, advocated a “plastic bag free Penang”. He was pledging his allegiance to the larger global environmental movement.

Today, Nazir’s lone voice may be in the minority but history has shown that advocating an unpopular cause, can over time, change public opinion. Malaysian civil society movements have their origins in once unimaginable causes. Two examples being the prevention of cruelty to animals and equal rights for women. Both causes have only recently gained acceptance in the last century.

Today, making Penang “plastic bag free” will be inconvenient and would probably generate a lot of hostility from commercial interests. But open debate may attract wider public attention and concern – a key feature in developing solutions to such long standing problems.

Whether it is an international environment movement like Greenpeace or a community organisation like the neighbourhood Rukun Tetangga (below), such bodies contribute to civil activism.

If civil society is made up of various organisations advocating very different causes, they all share in a common aspiration – to make their cause more popular and to advocate change consistent with their views; which may or may not be acceptable to the public at large. This is a critical component of any democratic society, where various forms of public interests and grievances are debated and discussed openly.

This is a broad concept of civil society – where the whole gamut of possible civic action independent of formal political institutions such as service associations, philanthropic groups, cultural entities, religious associations, labour unions, etc – play a role in maintaining and protecting a healthy democracy.

Civil society movements, such as the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) achieve a mass following because it advocates an accepted right, in this case the rights of consumers – an issue familiar to most Malaysians.

As most Malaysians are consumers of one product or another, the views offered by organisations such as CAP help Malaysians to develop a more informed view of the products they consume. Thus we tend to think highly of the dedicated members of the CAP although they may not be always correct.

But some civil society movements have narrower and more specific aims. Sisters-in-Islam (SIS), which advocates equality for Muslim women, courts a lot of controversy and gets a lot of publicity but does not have a massive following.

On the other hand, an organisation such as the Malaysian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (MACLALS) is little known except amongst its own members.

Civil society movements are popular today for a number of reasons. Better education means more exposure. Malaysians have become exposed to a broader range of opinions and views.

Technological changes leading to the creation of a more open political climate have combined to widen the opportunity for individuals to participate in civil society debates.

Just as it is now possible for everyone to fly, nowadays anyone with access to the World Wide Web can create a blog and be “heard”. Facebook, an interactive social networking website, for example, hosts thousands of civil society causes.

Whilst it may be easier to network and meet people who believe in a similar cause, civil society movements have been with us a very long time. If in the past, change came about gradually, society is now more impatient.We are part of a global consumerist culture. We want instant gratification. More reason, therefore, to take 10 minutes each week to understand our fast-evolving civil society. A social tsunami might be round the corner.

Neil Khor read English at Cambridge University and Khaldun Malek read Philosophy at Oxford University. They both believe that social reform begins in opposing views discussed with civility.