Description: This book re-engages with Jeffrey C. Alexander's work on civil society. The editors, Peter Kivisto and Giuseppe Sciortino, locate Alexander's civil sphere thesis in terms of his larger theoretical project in the introduction and what follows are contributions from six internationally recognized scholars offering their insights into the impact of this work. Finally, Alexander responds by clarifying and elaborating upon the concept of the civil sphere.
Review Quotes: "Jeffrey Alexander's The Civil Sphere was an original and powerful book, exploring the cultural dimension of civil society, making explicit the normative grounding of his sociology and offering a distinctively American, non-statist understanding of multiculturalism. This book brings together some international leading theorists to explore as well as challenge Alexander's ideas in ways which illuminate the nature of social solidarity and what sociology can offer our fragmented societies." -Tariq Modood, Director, University of Bristol Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship
"Jeffrey Alexander's The Civil Sphere brought a career of theoretical reflection to bear on some of the biggest challenges of our era. The book's scope and ambition made it challenging, but also offered an invitation to join Alexander in trying to advance both the theory and the reality of civic solidarity. In this new book, six of sociology's leading theorists take up the challenge, Alexander responds, and the debate about civil society and social solidarity is enriched." -Craig C. Calhoun, Director and President, London School of Economics and Political Science"This superb new volume of essays reminds us that social solidarities and popular participation are aspirational goals, not settled accomplishments, and have the potential for moral inclusiveness only in a third autonomous sphere of civil society. A consequential set of reflections on an enormously consequential work of original social theory that will serve as a touchstone of critical theory for the foreseeable future." -Margaret R. Somers, Professor of Sociology and History, University of Michigan