Abstract:
The article proposes to look at civil society from the standpoint
of Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems analysis. Of course, Wallerstein
can hardly be considered a theoretician of civil society. Still, his works
can o er theoretical provisions that concern this topic as well. The ar-
ticle suggests the study of civil society as possibly the third structural
element of the modern world-system, which, along with two other structu-
ral elements | the axial division of labor and the state and the system of
interstate relations, | regulates social relations in it. It is shown that civil
society consists of two dimensions: institutional and discursive. In gene-
ral, features of creation and arrangement of each of these dimensions are
characterized. The functions performed by civil society in the European
capitalist world economy are highlighted.
