Ajay Gudavarthy* G. Vijay** Antinomies of Political Society: Implications of Uncivil Development THE INTER-RELATION BETWEEN THE STATE, civil society and more recently political society, notwithstanding the differences over what constitutes each of these domains, has emerged as the single most significant area of study for understanding the process of democratiza- tion. Civil society has long been projected and trusted, post-East Euro- pean debacle, as an all-encompassing panacea for most of the problems plaguing developing societies. It is a political imaginary that is carved out to stand for various values, actively pursued through varied insti- tutions. Civil society has become a kind of ‘aspirational shorthand’ for ideas and values of equity, increasing participation, public fairness, in- dividual rights, tolerance, trust, legality, cooperation and informed citi- zenry (C.M.Elliot, 2003). These ideals are fostered and protected by vo- luntary associative activity independent or “outside” of the state. These include wide ranging associations or institutions such as clubs, religio- us bodies, sabhas (councils or assemblies) and samajs (societies), unio- 1 Reprinted with permission from `Economic and Political Weekly`(July, 17, 2007) India. * gajay@rediffmail.com ** gudavarthyvijay@rediffmail.com 141