Breaching the Civil Order
Radicalism and the Civil Sphere
Jeffrey C Alexander editor Farhad Khosrokhavar editor Trevor Stack editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Published:12th Dec '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A global approach to developing a theory of radicalism, drawing on a series of striking case studies by leading scholars.
Breaching the Civil Order produces a broad and coherent theory of radicalism and vivifies this new approach via an extraordinarily wide range of case studies written by leading social scientists, covering movements including Black Lives Matter, the IRA, Mexican Zapatistas, the Arab Spring and Islamic terrorism.It is not only a paradox but something of an intellectual scandal that, in an era so shaken by radical actions and ideologies, social science has had nothing theoretically new to say about radicalism since the middle of the last century. Breaching the Civil Order fills this void. It argues that, rather than seeing radicalism in substantive terms - as violent or militant, communist or fascist - radicalism should be seen more broadly as any organized effort to breach the civil order. The theory is brilliantly made flesh in a series of case studies by leading European and American social scientists, from the destruction of property in the London race riots to the public militancy of Black Lives Matter in the US, the performative violence of the Irish IRA and the Mexican Zapatistas to the democratic upheavals of the Arab Spring, and from Islamic terrorism in France to Germany's right-wing populist Pegida.
'This book brings together a fascinating range of contemporary case studies around a central provocative theme: what makes collective actors breach the civil order? And what happens when they do? I particularly appreciate the attention to the nature of the 'civil sphere' and its translation into real world 'flesh and blood' examples of radical action. The intelligent analytical framing of the case studies by the editors makes this a valuable and stimulating contribution to scholarship on contemporary politics and society.' Cristina Flesher Fominaya, Loughborough University
'Civil sphere theory (CST) is one of the most important and exciting advances to reshape the study of politics and society in the last fifteen years. Decisively refuting the notion that radical politics have no place in the framework of CST, this groundbreaking volume by more than a dozen leading theorists places radicalism front and center. Pushing us to rethink what we thought we already understood, it offers fresh insights into political radicalism and its complex and varying relationship to civil solidarity. At the same time, its creative reexamination of radicalism serves to revise, develop, and expand CST in promising new directions. Breaching the Civil Order is required reading for everyone who wishes to grasp social solidarity by the root. Chad Alan Goldberg, University of Wisconsin, Madison
ISBN: 9781108427234
Dimensions: 235mm x 155mm x 20mm
Weight: 540g
678 pages