Mapping civil society: the ecology of actors in the Toronto region greenbelt

ABSTRACT

Civil society’s potential as a force for solving complex societal problems – particularly those that require a challenge to the status quo – has provoked practical and theoretical interest, with its potential largely reliant on the perception that it is a ready if variable source of social capital resources. However, there are no guarantees that civil society will use its social capital for the greater good. Civil society encompasses a range of groups, some more inward-looking and oriented to private interests, and others more outward-looking and oriented to public interests. This divergent character of civil society was evident in the three campaigns for greenspace protection that eventually led to the creation of the Toronto region greenbelt, where civil society organisations (CSOs) from both growth and conservation camps contended for influence, each succeeding at different times. But over time (a time when state actors were increasingly in need of non-state partners to help solve complex governance problems), coalitions of environmental CSOs in the three campaigns – to protect the Niagara Escarpment, Oak Ridges Moraine and surrounding countryside – became more effective at influencing government to protect greenspace. A comparison of the coalitions using a framework based on key attributes of CSOs – missions and memberships – suggests that the environmental coalitions were more effective when they recruited more members with a diverse set of resources arising from both bonding and bridging social capital. In general, the more inclusive and public-interested the CSOs, the more effective the challenge to the status quo.