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Civil society and the nature of urbanism: Britain, 1750–1850

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2009

R.J. Morris
R.J. Morris
Affiliation:
Dept of Economic and Social History, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, EH8 9JY
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Abstract

The concept of civil society provides a useful means of evaluating the social and political relationships of British towns. Civil society refers to the non-prescriptive relationships that lie between the state and kin. Such relationships are associated with the existence of the free market, the rule of law and a strong voluntary associational culture. Both theoretical analysis and historical evidence link civil society with the nature of urban places, their complexity, their function as a central place and their operation as a focus for flows of information. Between 1780 and 1820 the agencies of civil society in Britain provided an arena for making choices, for reasoned informed debate and for the collective provision and consumption of services in an open and pluralist manner.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History , Volume 25 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Civil Society in Britain , December 1998 , pp. 289 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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