The Civil SphereWhat binds societies together and how can these social orders be structured in a fair way? Jeffrey C. Alexander's masterful work, The Civil Sphere, addresses this central paradox of modern life. Feelings for others--the solidarity that is ignored or underplayed by theories of power or self-interest--are at the heart of this novel inquiry into the meeting place between normative theories of what we think we should do and empirical studies of who we actually are. Solidarity, Alexander demonstrates, creates inclusive and exclusive social structures and shows how they can be repaired. It is not perfect, it is not absolute, and the horrors which occur in its lapses have been seen all too frequently in the forms of discrimination, genocide, and war. Despite its worldly flaws and contradictions, however, solidarity and the project of civil society remain our best hope: the antidote to every divisive institution, every unfair distribution, every abusive and dominating hierarchy. This grand, sweeping statement and rigorous empirical investigation is a major contribution to our thinking about the real but ideal world in which we all reside. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOCIAL THEORY | 11 |
STRUCTURES AND DYNAMICS OF THE CIVIL SPHERE | 51 |
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE CIVIL SPHERE | 211 |
MODES OF INCORPORATION INTO THE CIVIL SPHERE | 393 |
Notes | 555 |
| 723 | |
| 787 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action activists African American allowed American civil society American Jews anti-Semitism anticivil argued assimilation autonomy become binary Birmingham century chapter Christian citizens civic civil repair Civil Rights movement civil society civil solidarity civil sphere communicative institutions concept conflict Constitution contemporary core group created critical cultural democracy democratic demonstrated discourse of civil discussion economic efforts elite emerged emphasis empirical ethnic fact Freedom Rides Freedom Summer Habermas historical hyphenated Ibid ideals identification identity immigrants incorporation Jewish Jews Judaism justice Kennedy King King’s leaders Martin Luther King modern moral multicultural narrative Nazism normative organization out-group participation particular party Philip Roth political polluted President primordial protest public opinion public sphere qualities quoted radical reform regulatory institutions relations religious representations represented response role Selma sense sit-in social movements sociological southern structure struggle suggested symbolic theory Thrasymachus tion tradition U.S. Supreme Court voting women