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The Civil Sphere Paperback – September 8, 2008

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Jeffrey C. Alexander (Author)
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5 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 814 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1 edition (September 8, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0195369300
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195369304
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 1.9 x 6.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #943,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 starsA Triumph of Interpretive Sociology
By Herbert Gintis on October 17, 2008
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The strength of an individual's social loyalties diminishes progressively as the target of loyalty moves from family, to community, to nation, and beyond. The social distances involved are also lessened by cultural, ethnic, and religious similarities. Family and community ties have existed since H. sapiens emerged as a hunter-gather species, but other loyalties are of more recent vintage. The rise of states in the early-modern period, for instance, did little to instill in citizens a sense of national moral identity. Such a sense arose only after the more recent nation-building period in modern Europe. Historian Eric Hobsbawm's The Invention of Tradition (1992) provides a thoroughly researched analysis of the historical process of the creation of social loyalties in the service of a variety of social groups and movements. Once created, and consolidated by the extension of mass democratic participation, of course, national loyalties have become keys to personal identification and motivation in the 21st century.

But, what exactly is it that people have in common when they identify with others in protecting and defending home and hearth? Who is the "we" when we say "we and they?" We certainly do not mean the state or the economy, which we treat as instrumental toward meeting our needs and of which we are generally otherwise wary. Nor is it simply the citizenry. Indeed, through long periods of American history, blacks, Jews, Catholics, and even women were "them" and not "us" when the basic political identifications of powerful "insiders" were involved.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsAdvance Praise for The Civil Sphere
By Publisher on July 28, 2006
Format: Hardcover
"Arguably the most probing and insightful examination of civil society in America since Tocqueville's Democracy in America. He offers a penetrating and original causal interpretation of the success of the Civil Rights Movement, and addresses with understanding and fresh perspective the question of Jewish assimilation in post-civil rights America. Alexander's long awaited book establishes a new benchmark for cultural sociology and social theory with its rigorous theoretical and historical analysis of transformative societal change." -- Victor Nee, Goldwin Smith Professor of Sociology, Cornell University

"Jeffrey Alexander's The Civil Sphere is the most important, effective, and readable book in his distinguished career. A powerful and provocative account of civil society, this brilliant piece of theorizing is fueled by an expansive moral vision. Alexander punctures the overblown claims of other thinkers both left and right, and stunningly combines theoretical vigor with a subtle, becoming humility in the face of the best achievements and most compelling aspirations of the civil sphere." -- Michael Schudson, Professor of Communication, University of California at San Diego

"An original portrait of civil society which addresses issues which must be addressed if we are to live in peace with those unlike ourselves. The Civil Sphere is remarkable for its clarity and depth of exposition. All readers will benefit from Alexander's ideas: he does not try to batter the reader into submission; instead, he embodies the very ideal of civil society, by inviting the reader to argue with him. In sum, an extraordinary and necessary book.Read more ›
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