'In this timely, well-informed and rigorously-researched collection, editors Fahimul Quadir and Yutaka Tsujinaka have brought together seven new contributions by new and established scholars from inside and outside Bangladesh. The chapters throw important new light on the complex relationship between civil society and democracy in Bangladesh, and readers will find the book's conclusions to be highly original, enlightening and at times challenging. Academics, policy makers and practitioners will benefit enormously from the perceptive insights that are on offer here: insights that will also have implications well beyond Bangladesh itself.'David Lewis, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK 'This book provides an exciting, path-breaking exploration of the problematic relationship between civil society, democracy and development in Bangladesh. Presenting the work of senior and junior scholars from Bangladesh, Japan, North America and the United Kingdom, the collection debunks the argument that civil society is necessarily a force for democracy, good governance and human development, let alone human security. Working with both qualitative and quantitative data, the book illuminates the analytical potential of a more comparative, case-based, in-depth approach to the varieties of civil society and the dangers of assuming its transformational capacity for advancing the post-2015 development agenda.'Jane Parpart, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA.