HIBAPRESS
A new book by Dr. Elias Al-Hani has been recently published by Dar Alam Al-Kotob Al-Hadith in Jordan, titled "Transformations of Contemporary Civil Society and Civilizational Stakes: An Intellectual Vision on Issues of Human Urbanism." The book addresses the evolution of civil society and its roles in light of the political, social, economic, and technological transformations the world is witnessing, and its relationship with issues of humanity, development, and civilizational building.
The book reviews the historical and social contexts of the emergence of civil society and the development of its functions, focusing on the roles its institutions play in promoting participation, social responsibility, and working for the public good, in addition to the potential that civil action offers to contribute to facing contemporary challenges.
The author examines the ability of civil society to adapt to digital, geopolitical, and social transformations, and the implications for reviewing its working methods, tools, and relationship with the state and society. It also addresses the requirements for developing civil institutions by enhancing their capabilities and benefiting from knowledge and modern technologies, thereby increasing their ability to respond to societal needs and interact with its developments.
Al-Hani dedicates a section of the book to the role of knowledge in renewing civil action, considering it an entry point for understanding societal problems, formulating solutions, launching initiatives, and directing collective action. He also focuses on the position of youth in this path, and the roles they can play in producing initiatives, expanding civil participation, and contributing to shaping the future.
The book draws on the Moroccan experience in civil action and knowledge production, linking the transformations in this field nationally to the questions posed to civil society in the global context, while addressing opportunities for developing its performance and the challenges associated with renewing its visions, working methods, and institutional building.
The author connects the roles of civil society with the concept of human urbanism, moving beyond viewing it as merely an organizational framework for associations and activities, to considering it a field for human formation, consciousness development, and the consolidation of values of responsibility and cooperation, transforming knowledge into practice and initiatives into contributions to building society.
This perspective proposes renewing civil action by combining institutional development, openness to knowledge, and investment in youth potential, and linking civil initiatives to issues of humanity, development, and social cohesion, in a context where there is an increasing need for roles capable of keeping pace with rapid transformations and responding to their challenges.
The book comes within the intellectual discussion concerning the future of civil society and the conditions for enhancing its contribution to societal building, through an approach that combines cognitive, value-based, and institutional dimensions, and explores the potential for civil action to move from an organizational practice to a broader contribution to the issues of development and human urbanism.
