Can Civil Society Save us ?

1. Can Civil Society Save us ? Peter Evans, UC Berkeley & Watson Institute INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: RETHINKING THE STATE IN GLOBALIZED CAPITALISM INCT-PPED Rio de Janeiro March 23 2018

2. Big Question: How might civil society contribute to the construction of a political project that would enable the realization of essential but unfulfilled societal goals?

3. 3 Modes of civil society as Actor: • The Mobilized Multitude against The System • Organized Workers vs Capital & the State • Networking & Embedding a Movement in the State

4. Insert photo here 1. The Mobilized Multitude in Brazil

5. Insert photo here The Mobilized Multitude in Europe

6. Insert photo here The Mobilized Multitude Tahrir Square

7. Take Away: The mobilized multitude is often the only way for the anger and frustration of society to find expression. The results are often admirable (e.g. Tahrir Square), often confused (e.g. Jornadas de Junho), but rarely socially transformative beyond the collective effervescence of the mobilization itself.

8. Insert photo here 2. Organized Workers vs Capital & the State: Brazil, Korea, South Africa, 1968-1994

9. Take Away 1: Organized workers were able to confront capital and the state and shift trajectories of capitalism in these contexts, e.g. Brazil, South Africa and Korea 1968-1994. Even able to take over the state (South Africa). But, capitalism was only partially and temporarily deflected from its inegalitarian, socially destructive agenda

10. Take Away 2: For organized workers to be politically effective, they need to have other groups in civil society as allies. Therefore they must be able to present themselves as agents of the broad interests of society, in these cases, the democratization of repressive authoritarian political regimes.

11. 3. Networking & Embedding a Movement in the State :The Sanitaristas A focused movement/network with the goal of improving key parameters of the healthcare system, by combining civil society mobilization with occupying positions in the state apparatus and reinventing the way these positions deliver services.

12. The Sanitarista Model[ Gibson, 2012, 2017, forthcoming] • Shared identity as doctors dedicated to public health, with public health defined as requiring political and institutional change. This provides basis of solidarity. • Construction of networks and movement organizations and “public interest groups” with nationwide reach, such as the Brazilian Center for Health Studies (CEBES) and the Brazilian Public Health Association (ABRASCO). • Connections to political parties who could be convinced to share a public health agenda – PCB (Brazilian Communist Party), PT (Workers Party), plus unions and other civil society groups.

13. The Sanitarista Model (cont.) A long term Struggle. • Decades-long roots in the hostile authoritarian environment of Brazil of the late 60’s and 70’s created the foundations for success in the democratic political context that followed .

14. Graduation from University of São Paulo 1966 Demonstration in the 1980s

15. Sanitaristainstitutional engagement Using these organizations and extra-institutional tactics to successfully infuse key tenets of “Sanitary Reform” – a core movement ideology that frames universal access to basic health care and sanitation as a democratic right of all citizens – into Brazil’s 1988 constitution and into the subsequent creation of the nationwide Integrated Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS)“ [Gibson, forthcoming pg. 8] “Sanitaristas were self-consciously Gramscian in strategically seeking to occupy state offices in what many describe as a perpetual war of position to embed core ideological tenets within the practice of the democratic state” [Gibson forthcoming pg. 11]

16. Results: • The programmatic configurations that the Sanitaristas assembled in Brazil’s largest capitals have generally been a sufficient condition for maximizing improvement over time in three outcomes: infant mortality reduction, municipal spending on health and sanitation, and municipal delivery of primary public health care. (Gibson forthcoming)

17. THE SANITARISTA SEQUENCE (A case of civil society success and expanded state capacity) SANITARISTAS Progressive public health professionals Grassroots health constituencies Health outcomes (e.g., lower infant mortality) Policies & state action in support of health access Legal, institutional strategies Office holding EXPANDED STATE CAPACITY

18. Take Away: The Sanitaristas leveraged their professional solidarities and expertise, but also depended on strong shared ideological convictions. They had the advantage of not having to confront capital directly and sharing interests with progressive state officials and politicians. An impressive model for transforming focused arenas. But can it be replicated and generalized across arenas?

19. Take Away 2: An impressive model for transforming focused arenas. But can it be replicated and generalized across arenas?

20. In Summary: Each of these three modes civil society is insufficient and incomplete. BUT, together they offer elements to help us think about future possibilities.

21. 1. The Mobilized Multitude vs. The System: Irrepressible explosions won’t save us, but they are inevitable given the impossibility of achieving social ends via electoral politics. If it were possible to use the massive collective energy that bursts forth when the multitude mobilizes as foundations for long term activation of civil society, it would be a great resource. Is it possible to build a durably progressive civil society actor out of the mobilized multitude’s eruptions ??

22. 2. Organized Workers vs Capital & the State Because organized workers confront capital, their movements have had the greatest potential to achieve societal transformation. BUT, has the changing socio-economic context undermined the potential of organized workers as a political force? Can equally potent work-based solidarities be generated in economies where service sector workers must be the foundation of work-based political organization??

23. 3. Networking & Embedding a Movement in the State: The Sanitarista model demonstrates the possibility for constructive state-society synergy, provided civil movements are sufficiently coherent to be able to defend their autonomy and pursue their goals. Can this be replicated this across other arenas?? Can networks in different arenas be connected?? Finally, “What happens when this kind of state-society synergy infringes on the interests of capital?”

24. Civil Society: Essential to any strategy of combatting the currently destructive trajectories of capitalist development.BUT, still a work in progressin need of analytical attentionand active involvement.