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Civil society refers to the space for collective action around shared interests, purposes and values, generally distinct from government and commercial for-profit actors. 

The meaning and implications of the concept of civil society have been widely debated. As an analytical framework for interpreting the social world, the idea that civil society should be understood as, by definition, separated from and opposed to the operations of the state and official public institutions has various disadvantages, not the least of which is that it inhibits appreciation of the complex interrelationships between state and society. Equally, the notion that the hugely diverse group life of Western capitalist societies promotes social values that are separable from, and possibly opposed to, the market is hard to defend. The forms of combination and association that typify civil societies in the West are typically affected and shaped by the ideas, traditions, and values that also obtain in the economic sphere. 

The present book will increase the interest in such research. This is the background to this book, which brings together papers that investigate the effect of social change on the lives of individuals.