The nature of critical global civil society scholarship: Reviewing the state of the art 1972-2021

This chapter examines global civil society scholarship published in three key field journals-Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, and Voluntas-with particular attention to the most critical work originating from or focusing on countries outside the more commonly studied ("Western," white) Anglosphere and European context. The 65 articles identified converge around two major areas: problematizing meanings of civil society concepts and practices, and problematizing assumptions about relationships. Within these themes, scholars emphasize the importance of context and political economy; societal transformation and development, democratization, and emancipation; and debates about what is the best way to study civil society in ways that uphold epistemic justice -a global South-informed unified approach, or a more contextualized country or region approach. Finally, it is noted that articles still seemed limited in their use of epistemologies and theories from parts of the world outside of the Anglosphere and Europe.