What is and is not civil society? What kind of components does civil society encompass? Are civil society organizations distinctive new phenomena, or do they merely reflect a repackaged form of more familiar organizations? To what extent is the boundary of civil society demarcated within the democratic political system? What kind of role can or should civil society organizations play within the democratic system? Are there any particular political principles-community, citizenship, social structure, the rulers and the ruled, authority, justice, and change, among others-for which civil society organizations can specifically exert influences? Should such entities as transnational advocacy networks be understood to be part of any conventional democratic system at all? If not, do we need a whole new array of political imagination beyond the current understanding of democratic politics and the state? What kind of interests do civil society organizations represent? What interactions or modes of action should civil society organizations adopt in order to optimize their stated objective? What kinds of institutions are necessary in order for civil society organizations to function in a way that promotes the good of the whole society?

No social scientific concept seems to be more complicated and controversial than civil society, and no other political concept has undergone more reformulations and reconfigurations. This was as true in ancient times when civil society was conceptualized as societas civi/is or politike koinonia as it is now in the contemporary world. The resurgence of a civil society discourse in the last decades in general, and the acceleration of civil society's visibility after the transformation of the Eastern European system in particular, have made the scientific investigation of the questions enumerated above a task as urgent and topical as ever. This conference is convened with this background in mind. Following the inaugurating conference in 2009, this year's second gathering aims to deepen the debate where it left off last year and, at the same time, to break new ground by considering civil society within the democratic system and, above all, mapping out the "politicity" of civil society from a new theoretical perspective.