The Return of Civil Society: The Emergence of Democratic Spain - Softcover

A humane, subtle, and splendidly informative study of recent Spanish history, with important observations about the critical role of civil society in the political triumphs and failures of other countries. A greatly rewarding and rare example of the complementarity of sociological and historical interpretations of political change. -- Fritz Stern Foreign Affairs The Return of Civil Society...is a book that can only be described as magisterial. It moves easily and successfully along the boundaries of history, political science, and sociology, presenting a carefully crafted argument about the democratization of Spain while reflecting intelligently and provocatively on many other subjects. -- Eusebio Mujal-Leon American Political Science Review A decade from now, when scholars evaluate whether the debate over civil society revised our conventional assumptions, I am confident that Perez-Diaz's book will be mentioned as having moved us closer to our goal. -- Carlos A. Forment Contemporary Sociology

The author examines the return of a civil society in Spain. He covers the transition of Spain from a preindustrial economy, an authoritarian government, and a Roman-Catholic-dominated culture to a modern state based on the interaction of economic and class interests, on a market society, on voluntary associations such as trade unions and political parties, and on a culture of moral autonomy and rationality.