Lessons about nation-building and civil society.

The concepts “nation-building” and “civil society” have extensive roots in positive social theory, but both have been reborn as important prescriptive concepts in the context of foreign aid. Even as a normative concept, the term “civil society” means quite different things, as at least four models can be distinguished in the foreign aid context. More to the point, today's normative notions of nation-building also vary, seemingly by the model of civil society that is being used. However it is construed, nation-building faces serious problems that are both external and internal to those efforts. Externally, there is a problem of scale, as globalisation tends to outflank nation-building; internally, the result of civil interactions do not always facilitate nation-building efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]