This impressive UK-Australian collaboration between four eminent academics begins by noting the rising policy and research interest, over some 30 years, in the role of the third sector and civil society, in a context of what they refer to as ‘neo-liberal globalisation’, the loss of faith in the state and political upheaval in authoritarian regimes. With this in mind, the book addresses the relationship between the third sector, broadly comprising the vast range of self-governing, not-for-profit or voluntary organisations, and active citizenship, embracing the activities of both volunteers and activists. In particular, it aims to bring conceptual argument and empirical evidence together to assess the extent to which the third sector acts as a vehicle to promote and nurture active citizenship.

The authors conclude with a qualified ‘yes’ to this question, arguing that the relationship between thethird sector and active citizenship is complex, dynamic and context-specific. They plot a measured route between over-generalised claims that the third sector is a progressive magic bullet for resolving societal problems and reordering society, or conversely that it has become a fatally compromised adjunct to neo-liberalism. It can promote active citizenship by, for example, mobilising people to provide better social support or tocampaign for wider social change, or by holding existing power-holders to account; but it can also be paternalistic, occupied by self-defeating insular rivalries, and does not hold a monopoly on the pursuit of positive or progressive values. As such the third sector becomes, in this account, an important but insufficient vehicle for active citizenship. Importantly, the book calls for a revitalisation of the democratic state and public sphere, arguing that ’just as a healthy democracy requires a vibrant third sector, a vibrant third sector needs to operate within an effectively democratic state’ (p. 208).

The book follows a multi-faceted journey to reach this conclusion. Part 1, ‘Exploringconcepts and contexts’ involves chapters covering an ambitious mix of theoretical and conceptual approaches to active citizenship, civil society and the third sector. Here readers are guided through debates on citizenship, associationalism, social capital, cosmopolitansim, institutional theory, governmentality and complexity theory. Although the authors are expert guides, it's a sometimes dizzying journey, with some repetition across chapters and where some concepts are discussed only in passing. But ground-clearing discussions of the contested nature of the third sector and different models of its relationship with the state are particularly insightful. These chapters helpfully cover many of the dilemmas and contradictions involved in the third sector and civil society, such as managerialism, inclusivity, representation and the question of independence or co-option by the state.

Parts 2 and 3 of the book primarily synthesise and discuss empirical evidence from a range of projects the authors have previously undertaken, alongside others. The global reach of the book becomes more apparent here, with examples drawn from the UK, Australia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Russia, US, Latin America and Indonesia. The authors are rightly sensitive to the danger of assuming that concepts and terminology developed in the West apply or translate well in other cultural and political contexts. The chapters in Part 2, ‘Forms of active citizenship’ assess empirical material on volunteering, activism and social movements. The evidence the authors discuss indicates how volunteers may be informed and concerned about social injustice, but are involved primarily in acts of amelioration and ‘social maintenance’ of existing structures, rather than oppositional political action. Third sector organisations can, however, act as mobilising and organising ‘schools for democracy’, linking citizens to formal political structures and amplifying marginalised voices. A very helpful account of social movements notes how alliances between insider groups and outsider networks can work together to effect change, despite their evident strategic and tactical tensions. Finally, in Part 3, ‘New forms of active citizenship’, grassroots community action to promote sustainable community development is analysed in terms of networks and complexity, and the implications of new approaches such as social enterprise and digitally enabled citizen action beyond formal organisations are considered.

The book occasionally loses its thread in the effort to say what each of its authors feels needs to be said as background for each chapter. It isn't always evident how each chapter contributes to the core theme of the book, although the introductory and concluding chapters do a good job of framing the core question and keeping the argument in sight. Overall, however, the book's value lies in the fact that it provides a critical, up to date, theoretically informed and globally oriented assessment of the relationship between the third sector and active citizenship, when otherwise conversations in these fields tend to talk past each other.