Civil society refers to the sphere of social life that exists between the state, the market, and the private realm of the family. It includes voluntary associations, non-governmental organizations, community groups, trade unions, professional bodies, social movements, religious organizations, and other forms of collective action through which citizens express interests, values, and identities. In political theory, civil society is seen as a crucial space where individuals come together freely to pursue common goals and engage in public life without direct control by the state. The idea of civil society has roots in classical political thought. For Aristotle, the political community itself embodied civil society, as social and political life were inseparable. In early modern thought, thinkers like Hobbes and Locke distinguished civil society from the state, viewing it