This publication which was edited by Lee Hock Guan grew out of the workshop Civil Society in Southeast Asia, organized by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and held in Singapore in November 2001. Financial support for the workshop came from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The workshop focused on the question: what is the relevance of civil society to people empowerment, effective governance, and deepening democracy int the Region? This book addresses this question by examining the activities and public participation of NGOs in the areas of religion, ethnicity, gender and the environment.