The Civil Sphere

How do real individuals live together in real societies in the real world? Jeffrey 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. A grand and sweeping statement, ""The Civil Sphere"" is a major contribution to our thinking about the real, but ideal world in which we all reside Possibilities Of Justice -- Real Civil Societies : Dilemmas Of Institutionalization -- Bringing Democracy Back In : Realism, Morality, Solidarity -- Discourses : Liberty And Repression -- Communicative Institutions : Public Opinion, Mass Media, Polls, Associations -- Regulative Institutions (1) : Voting, Parties, Office -- Regulative Institutions (2) : The Civil Force Of Law -- Contradictions : Uncivilizing Pressures And Civil Repair -- Social Movements As Civil Translations -- Gender And Civil Repair : The Long And Winding Road Through M/otherhood -- Race And Civil Repair (1) : Duality And The Creation Of A Black Civil Society -- Race And Civil Repair (2) : The Civil Rights Movement And Communicative Solidarity -- Race And Civil Repair (3) : Civil Trauma And The Tightening Spiral Of Communication And Regulation -- Race And Civil Repair (4) : Regulatory Reform And Ritualization -- Integration Between Difference And Solidarity -- Encounters With The Other -- The Three Pathways To Incorporation -- The Jewish Question : Anti-semitism And The Failure Of Assimilation -- Answering The Jewish Question In America : Before And After The Holocaust -- Conclusion : Civil Society As A Project. Jeffrey C. Alexander. Originally Published: 2006. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 723-785) And Index. Mary Douglas Prize, Co-winner, 2008. Association Of American Publishers Psp Award For Excellence In Professional And Scholarly Publishing, 2006. What 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. Possibilities of justice Real civil societies : dilemmas of institutionalization Bringing democracy back in : realism, morality, solidarity Discourses : liberty and repression Communicative institutions : public opinion, mass media, polls, associations Regulative institutions (1) : voting, parties, office Regulative institutions (2) : the civil force of law Contradictions : uncivilizing pressures and civil repair Translations : rethinking social movements Gender and civil repair : the long and winding road through m/otherhood Race and civil repair (1) : duality and the creation of a black civil society Race and civil repair (2) : the civil rights movement and communicative solidarity Race and civil repair (3) : civil trauma and the tightening spiral of communication and regulation Race and civil repair (4) : regulatory reform and ritualization Integration between difference and solidarity Encounters with the other Assimilation, hyphenation, and multiculturalism The Jewish question and the failure of assimilation Answering the Jewish question in America : before and after the Holocaust. Societies are not governed only by power and self-interest. What then does make societies function? How do real individuals live together in real societies in the real world? Jeffrey 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 ofwhat we think we should do and empirical studies of who we actually are Societies are not governed only by power and self-interest. What then does make societies function? How do real individuals live together in real societies in the real world? This work addresses this central paradox of modern life