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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Series | Book | Chapter

212885

Hegel, civil society, and globalization

Peter G. Stillman

pp. 111-129

Abstract

This chapter approaches Hegel's views of globalization and global justice through Hegel's treatment of civil society and state, which provides an alternative to Hobbes's international state of war and Kant's cosmopolitanism. Civil society is the locus of rights; as civil society spreads beyond Europe through commerce and law, so too do the rights of human beings. But, for Hegel, civil society on its own is unstable unless ordered and guided by the state; so the expansion of civil society needs to be matched by the expansion of political institutions that counter civil society's shortcomings and make its globalization justifiable. Hegel also sees a growth of inter-state relations. As states recognize, interact with, and develop norms of common behavior with other states, they move beyond the (Hobbesian) sovereign's arbitrary will and (sometimes haltingly, and without attaining Kant's cosmopolitan ideals) towards international co-operation.

Publication details

Published in:

Buchwalter Andrew (2012) Hegel and global justice. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 111-129

DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-8996-0_6

Full citation:

Stillman Peter G. (2012) „Hegel, civil society, and globalization“, In: A. Buchwalter (ed.), Hegel and global justice, Dordrecht, Springer, 111–129.