The course will examine classical and competing modern conceptions of civil society and social capital, and will employ comparative perspectives from western and non-western societies to explore critical issues and policy debates. Ideas about social capital and civil society have influenced academic discussions across social science disciplines and policy discussions in governments across the world, as well as in key international institutions such as the OECD and World Bank. Promoting social capital and community participation was a cross-cutting policy priority in the New Labour government, and the ?Big Society? is one of the most prominent, if ill-defined, policy initiatives of the current Coalition. The course will examine the British case, along with cases from pre and post-unification Germany, post-conflict Rwanda, and Maori communities in New Zealand, as well as comparative empirical research, to evaluate the appropriateness and effects of policies and to explore critical issues such as inequality, the role of the state, the nature and function of bonding, bridging and linking ties, differing understandings of the political role of civil society, cultural vs. institutional explanations, and the ?dark side? of social capital.