Civil Society

&
Social Movements
Civil Society
comprised of groups or organizations working
in the interest of the citizens but operating
outside of the governmental and for-profit
sectors.
Organizations and institutions that
make up civil society include labor
unions, non-profit organizations,
churches, and other service agencies
Philippine Red Cross has truly become
the premier humanitarian organization
in the country, committed to provide
quality life-saving services that protect
the life and dignity especially of indigent
Filipinos in vulnerable situations.
These groups are considered Non-
Governmental Aid Organizations
(NGOs), which provide assistance to
people for little or no fee. NGOs fall into
the category of civil society because they
are not operated by the government, are
very often reliant on donations, and tend
to be comprised of volunteers.
Another example of civil society at work is
civic groups, such as the Rotary Club or
Kiwanis. In the Philippines, these are groups
that are made up of people from the
community who volunteer their time in order
to raise money for community projects or
needs.
Social Movements
According to Colas (2002), social
movements are defined as a sustained
and purposeful collective mobilized by an
identifiable, self-organized group in
confrontation with specific power
structures and in the pursuit of
socioeconomic and political change.
Social movements are groups meant
to bring social change (Banga 2014)
According to Blumer, social movements are
collective enterprises to establish a new order
of life. Social movements are a collectivity
which acts with some continuity to promote
or resist a change in the society or group of
which it is a part.
Social movements are called “social” because
they intend to bring about change in the
society and “movement” because they have
the capacity to mobilize or organize people
with common interest and goals. (Banga
2014)
According to Phatharathananunt (2012)
Social movements were decisive forces in
democratic breakthrough in the Philippines.

-Marcos Regime
- Estrada’s dethronement