Social movements and civil society debates in 2000's

Civil society, as a concept that has influenced the history of political thoughts, is considered to be an ideal to realize or a process to excel. Having the ability to direct current political debates, the concept has the potential to influence political field. This potential that the civil society has contributes to the theoretical foundations of new social movements that gained acceleration in 2000s. New social movements that live on protests and actions of civil disobedience is seen in different parts of the world. When the common features of these movements are considered, the definition of a civil society that can become dominant in the political process reaches significance. Consequently, the thesis is based on the argument that it is the current social movements that transforms the societies' potential to influence poiltics into practice. An other basis of this thesis is the argument that current social movements, which bring the debates to a new level, also contribute to the objective of democratization. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to put forward that new social movements, which are within the definition of civil society, can be organized around similar demands, actors and objectives through its examples from different parts of the world.