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The Civil Sphere

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.

Civil War and Uncivil Development: Economic Globalisation and Political Violence in Colombia and Beyond (Rethinking Political Violence)

This book challenges the conventional wisdom that civil war inevitably stymies economic development and that ‘civil war represents development in reverse’. While some civil wars may have adverse economic effects, Civil War and Uncivil Development posits that not all conflicts have negative economic consequences and, under certain conditions, civil war violence can bolster processes of economic development. Using Colombia as a case study, this book provides evidence that violence perpetrated by key actors of the conflict – the public armed forces and paramilitaries – has facilitated economic growth and processes of economic globalisation in Colombia (namely, international trade and foreign direct investment), with profoundly negative consequences for large swathes of civilians. The analysis also discusses the ‘development in reverse’ logic in the context of other conflicts across the globe. This book will be an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and students in the fields of security and development, civil war studies, peace studies, the political economy of conflict and international relations.

Civil War and Uncivil Development: Economic Globalisation and Political Violence in Colombia and Beyond (Rethinking Political Violence)

This book challenges the conventional wisdom that civil war inevitably stymies economic development and that ‘civil war represents development in reverse’. While some civil wars may have adverse economic effects, Civil War and Uncivil Development posits that not all conflicts have negative economic consequences and, under certain conditions, civil war violence can bolster processes of economic development. Using Colombia as a case study, this book provides evidence that violence perpetrated by key actors of the conflict – the public armed forces and paramilitaries – has facilitated economic growth and processes of economic globalisation in Colombia (namely, international trade and foreign direct investment), with profoundly negative consequences for large swathes of civilians. The analysis also discusses the ‘development in reverse’ logic in the context of other conflicts across the globe. This book will be an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and students in the fields of security and development, civil war studies, peace studies, the political economy of conflict and international relations.

Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East

This book examines the role of nonviolent civil resistance in challenging tyranny and promoting democratic-self rule in the greater Middle East using case studies and analyses of how religion, youth, women, technology and external actors have influenced the outcome of civil resistance in the region.

The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans [2 volumes]: Issues and Identities [2 volumes]

In this book, 50 experts study the lives of U.S. veterans at work, at home, and in American society as they navigate issues regarding health, gender, public service, substance abuse, and homelessness.The aftermath of modern war includes a population of veterans whose needs last for many decades—far longer than the war itself. This in-depth study looks at life after the military, considering the dual conundrum of a population benefiting from the perks of their duty, yet continuing to deal with trauma resulting from their service, and of former servicemen and servicewomen trying to fit into civilian life—in a system designed to keep them separate. Through two comprehensive volumes, essays shed light on more than 30 topics involving or affecting former servicemen and servicewomen, offering a blueprint for the formal study of U.S. veterans in the future. Contributions from dozens of experts in the field of military science cover such issues as unemployment, homelessness, disability, access to higher education, health, media portrayal, criminal justice, substance abuse, guns, suicide, and politics. Through information gleaned from surveys, interviews, participant observations, secondary analyses, and content analyses, the chapters reveal how veterans are able to successfully contribute to civilian life and show how the American workforce can benefit from their unique set of skills.

The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans [2 volumes]: Issues and Identities [2 volumes]

In this book, 50 experts study the lives of U.S. veterans at work, at home, and in American society as they navigate issues regarding health, gender, public service, substance abuse, and homelessness.The aftermath of modern war includes a population of veterans whose needs last for many decades—far longer than the war itself. This in-depth study looks at life after the military, considering the dual conundrum of a population benefiting from the perks of their duty, yet continuing to deal with trauma resulting from their service, and of former servicemen and servicewomen trying to fit into civilian life—in a system designed to keep them separate. Through two comprehensive volumes, essays shed light on more than 30 topics involving or affecting former servicemen and servicewomen, offering a blueprint for the formal study of U.S. veterans in the future. Contributions from dozens of experts in the field of military science cover such issues as unemployment, homelessness, disability, access to higher education, health, media portrayal, criminal justice, substance abuse, guns, suicide, and politics. Through information gleaned from surveys, interviews, participant observations, secondary analyses, and content analyses, the chapters reveal how veterans are able to successfully contribute to civilian life and show how the American workforce can benefit from their unique set of skills.

Civilian Strategy in Civil War: Insights from Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines (Politics, Economics, and Inclusive Development)

While typically the victims of war, civilians are not necessarily passive recipients of violence. What options are available to civilians in times of war? This book suggests three broad strategies - flight, support, and voice. It focuses on three conflicts: Aceh, Indonesia; Patani, southern Thailand; and Mindanao, southern Philippines.

Civilisation: And Other Essays (Routledge Revivals: The Collected Works of Edward Carpenter)

This volume, originally published in 1889 with this edition published in 1912, contains Carpenter's famous essays on civilisation and his theory that it is a disease of mankind that must be cured. Papers included in this collection discuss the rampant ill-health suffered by society as well as criticisms of modern science to support this theory whilst also analysing what the future holds for science, ideas of morality and traditions and customs. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

Civilisation: And Other Essays (Routledge Revivals: The Collected Works of Edward Carpenter)

This volume, originally published in 1889 with this edition published in 1912, contains Carpenter's famous essays on civilisation and his theory that it is a disease of mankind that must be cured. Papers included in this collection discuss the rampant ill-health suffered by society as well as criticisms of modern science to support this theory whilst also analysing what the future holds for science, ideas of morality and traditions and customs. This title will be of interest to students of sociology.

Civilisation and Informalisation: Connecting Long-Term Social and Psychic Processes

Over the last century and a half, manners and formalities in the West have become less status-ridden, stiff and rigid. Debates around Norbert Elias’ theory of civilising processes gave rise to questions of a change in direction of these patterns. The concept of informalisation, which describes these transformations, was first used to analyse the tumultuous changes of the 1960s and 1970s. This increasing informality, leniency and flexibility, comes hand-in-hand with a growing demand on individuals to self-regulate their emotions. This book will stimulate debate around the changes in the standards of manners and emotion regulation, and will generate new avenues of enquiry that focus on issues involving informalisation. The chapters shed light on a variety of such moral and political issues over the last 150 years, offering a new and broader scope on the present social condition of humanity. Civilisation and Informalisation will be an important addition for students and scholars of figurational process sociology, and of broader interest to academics across sociology, social psychology and social history.

Civilisations and Social Theory: Volume 1 of Social Dialectics (pdf)

Civilisations, Civilising Processes and Modernity – A Debate: Documents from the Conference at Bielefeld, 1984 (Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias)

In 1984, the celebrated sociologist and historian Norbert Elias convened a major conference on ‘Civilisations and civilising processes’ at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (University of Bielefeld). Participants included the most distinguished and influential scholars in historical sociology and world history. This book will make available, for the first time in one place, the papers presented by the speakers and, even more interestingly, the transcripts of discussions at the symposium. This conference brought together eminent and internationally reputed scholars of macro-history and historical sociology including Johann P. Arnason, Elias, Hans-Dieter Evers, Johan Goudsblom, Keith Hopkins, William H. McNeill, and Immanuel Wallerstein. This highly informative encounter between various leading scholars of humanity’s global social history has never before been published, although it was completely recorded on paper and in tape recordings. Its publication in one volume should be an important event for all students of the long-term structural transformations of humanity.

Civility and Democratic Education (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book explores how and why civility contributes to a vibrant democratic society, and how it can be fostered and cultivated as a key part of democratic education. It suggests that civility only makes sense as a civic virtue if it is conceived in relation to civic friendship, concord and fellow-feeling. This book offers a timely snapshot of civility as a pressing, yet enduring, concern in democratic life and education. It elucidates a virtue-based conceptualization of civility and its place within democratic education, and makes use of real-life examples and cases to illustrate its arguments and to engage a range of readers. In short, this book is interested in what civility is and how schools can and do cultivate civility.

Civility, Religious Pluralism and Education (Routledge Research in Religion and Education)

This book focuses on the problem of religious diversity, civil dialogue, and religion education in public schools, exploring the ways in which atheists, secularists, fundamentalists, and mainstream religionists come together in the public sphere, examining how civil discourse about religion fit swithin the ideals of the American political and pedagogical systems and how religious studies education can help to foster civility and toleration.

Civility, Religious Pluralism and Education (Routledge Research in Religion and Education)

This book focuses on the problem of religious diversity, civil dialogue, and religion education in public schools, exploring the ways in which atheists, secularists, fundamentalists, and mainstream religionists come together in the public sphere, examining how civil discourse about religion fit swithin the ideals of the American political and pedagogical systems and how religious studies education can help to foster civility and toleration.

Civilization and Science: In Conflict or Collaboration? (Novartis Foundation Symposia #1)

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

Civilization at the Crossroads (International Arts and Sciences Press): Social and Human Implications of the Scientific and Technological Revolution

This title was first published in 1968. The dynamic advance of scientific discovery in recent decades, together with the rapid development of the material base of human life, is assuming the magnitude of revolutionary changes that promise in the long run to transform the nature of civilization and open up boundless prospects for a new form of society. These considerations underscore the urgency of probing the substance of the scientific and technological revolution of our day — its social and human roots and implications. In 1965, a systematic examination of these problems was undertaken in Czechoslovakia by a research team made up of workers in various branches of science. The group was attached to the Institute of Philosophy, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and headed by Dr. R. Richta, who has been working in this field for some time. The original purpose was to make a brief report on urgent ideological and theoretical matters arising from the new advances in science and technology. However, a fuller analysis led to a more ambitious and long-term project. Its aim was to draw, insofar as this was possible, a synthetic picture of the scientific and technological revolution against the background of the two social systems — socialism and capitalism — while also attempting to suggest ways of handling the inevitable social and human issues involved.

Civilization at the Crossroads (International Arts and Sciences Press): Social and Human Implications of the Scientific and Technological Revolution

This title was first published in 1968. The dynamic advance of scientific discovery in recent decades, together with the rapid development of the material base of human life, is assuming the magnitude of revolutionary changes that promise in the long run to transform the nature of civilization and open up boundless prospects for a new form of society. These considerations underscore the urgency of probing the substance of the scientific and technological revolution of our day — its social and human roots and implications. In 1965, a systematic examination of these problems was undertaken in Czechoslovakia by a research team made up of workers in various branches of science. The group was attached to the Institute of Philosophy, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, and headed by Dr. R. Richta, who has been working in this field for some time. The original purpose was to make a brief report on urgent ideological and theoretical matters arising from the new advances in science and technology. However, a fuller analysis led to a more ambitious and long-term project. Its aim was to draw, insofar as this was possible, a synthetic picture of the scientific and technological revolution against the background of the two social systems — socialism and capitalism — while also attempting to suggest ways of handling the inevitable social and human issues involved.

Civilization, Modernity, and Critique: Engaging Jóhann P. Árnason’s Macro-Social Theory (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)

Civilization, Modernity, and Critique provides the first comprehensive, cutting-edge engagement with the work of one of the most foundational figures in civilizational analysis: Jóhann P. Árnason. In order to do justice to Árnason’s seminal and wide-ranging contributions to sociology, social theory and history, it brings together distinguished scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and geographical contexts. Through a critical, interdisciplinary dialogue, it offers an enrichment and expansion of the methodological, theoretical, and applicative scope of civilizational analysis, by addressing some of the most complex and pressing problems of contemporary global society. A unique and timely contribution to the ongoing task of advancing the project of a critical theory of society, this volume will appeal to scholars of sociology and social theory with interests in historical sociology, critical theory and civilizational analysis.

Civilization, Modernity, and Critique: Engaging Jóhann P. Árnason’s Macro-Social Theory (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought)

Civilization, Modernity, and Critique provides the first comprehensive, cutting-edge engagement with the work of one of the most foundational figures in civilizational analysis: Jóhann P. Árnason. In order to do justice to Árnason’s seminal and wide-ranging contributions to sociology, social theory and history, it brings together distinguished scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and geographical contexts. Through a critical, interdisciplinary dialogue, it offers an enrichment and expansion of the methodological, theoretical, and applicative scope of civilizational analysis, by addressing some of the most complex and pressing problems of contemporary global society. A unique and timely contribution to the ongoing task of advancing the project of a critical theory of society, this volume will appeal to scholars of sociology and social theory with interests in historical sociology, critical theory and civilizational analysis.

The Civilization of Illiteracy

Civilizational Dialogue and World Order: The Other Politics of Cultures, Religions, and Civilizations in International Relations (Culture and Religion in International Relations)

The book comes at a very critical moment in the debate on civilization and responds to the lack of scholarly attention by international relations and political theorists as to how the discourse of dialogue of cultures, religions, and civilizations can contribute to the future of world order.

Civilizational Identity: The Production and Reproduction of 'Civilizations' in International Relations (Culture and Religion in International Relations)

This volume focuses on the constitutive politics of civilizational identity, examining the practices through which notions of civilizational identity are produced and reproduced in different contexts, including the global credit regime, modernity debates, and the "war on terrorism".

Civilizations Beyond Earth: Extraterrestrial Life and Society

Astronomers around the world are pointing their telescopes toward the heavens, searching for signs of intelligent life. If they make contact with an advanced alien civilization, how will humankind respond? In thinking about first contact, the contributors to this volume present new empirical and theoretical research on the societal dimensions of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Archaeologists and astronomers explore the likelihood that extraterrestrial intelligence exists, using scientific insights to estimate such elusive factors as the longevity of technological societies. Sociologists present the latest findings of novel surveys, tapping into the public’s attitudes about life beyond Earth to show how religion and education influence beliefs about extraterrestrials. Scholars from such diverse disciplines as mathematics, chemistry, journalism, and religious studies offer innovative solutions for bridging the cultural gap between human and extraterrestrial civilizations, while recognizing the tremendous challenges of communicating at interstellar distances. At a time when new planets are being discovered around other stars at an unprecedented rate, this collection provides a much needed guide to the human impact of discovering we are not alone in the universe.

Civilized Oppression and Moral Relations: Victims, Fallibility, and the Moral Community

This book discusses how civilized oppression (the oppression that involves neither violence nor the law) can be overcome by re-examining our participation in it. Moral community, solidarity and education are offered as vibrant strategies to overcome the hurt and marginalization that stem from civilized oppression.