Conflict Society and Human Rights.

The paper examines the interrelationship between civil society, conflicts and human rights. In the literature, civil society has been normally discussed and analysed in Western, peaceful, democratic and developed contexts. Yet civil society conflict cases is arguably an even more crucial actor. As such in a first section, we begin by analysing the implications of context on civil society, and more precisely on the implications of statehood, democracy, nationalism, development and international presence on the nature of civil society. In section two we introduce more specifically the role of civil society in ethno-political conflicts, or as we rename it ‘conflict society’. We then turn to different factors determining impact of civil society on conflicts. In particular we analyse the impact of their political identities, frameworks of action and political opportunity structures in which they operate. In a final section we apply this analytical framework to the impact on human rights in conflicts, concluding with three broad hypotheses on the relationship between civil society, conflicts and human rights. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]