Jeffrey C. Alexander

The influential authors significantly update their popular introductory text that invites students to reflect on their lives in the context of the combustible leap from modern to postmodern life. The authors show how culture is central to understanding many world problems as they challenge readers to confront the problems and possibilities of an era in which the futures of the physical and social environments seem uncertain. As culture rapidly changes in the 21st century, the authors have successfully incorporated these nuances with many important updates on race and racism, Black Lives Matter, the rise of populist politics, ISIS, new social media, feminist perspectives on sex work, trans and non-gender conforming identities, and more.New to this edition:New data, text box examples, photos, exercises, study questions, and glossary terms appear throughout.New discussions added of arts-based and participatory approaches to research, historical changes in the perception of deviance, legalization of marijuana; Islam vs. secularism in France, new forms of socialization, heteronormative and essentialist language related to sex and gender, intersections of social class and other identities, the prison industrial complex, informal sharing economies, atheism, and more.New text boxes include: Young Saudis Find Freedom in their PhonesHow One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s LifeSchool-to-Prison PipelineIndia’s Reproductive Assembly LineWorkers Feel Pain of LayoffsLike Prohibition, the fight over guns is about something elseMicro-aggression and Changing Moral CulturesPraise for A Contemporary Introduction to Sociology"Treats sociology as a living, vibrant discipline. The book is a masterful synthesis written in a style that is at once sophisticated, engaging, and accessible."—Peter Kivisto, Augustana College "Alexander and Thompson have produced the modern textbook we have all been waiting for—comprehensive and coherent, but above all intelligent. Designed to make teaching sociology unproblematic, the book is the ideal combination of theory, evidence, and accessibility."—Bryan S. Turner, editor of The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology"Sets new standards in speaking directly to students of the most significant recent developments in sociology and social changes they are living. It shows how inspiring the sociological imagination can be in areas like media, sexuality, gender relations, inequality, and globalization.—Lyn Spillman, University of Notre Dame"A truly contemporary sociology, one that mines the classics of sociology for insights into a profoundly changed, postmodern world. Most important, the book reminds us of sociology’s capacity to surprise."—Francesca Polletta, University of California–Irvine"An extraordinary textbook that synthesizes a wealth of sociological studies. The book is engaging and readable, key concepts are clearly defined, and important theories are succinctly explicated. I highly recommend it to students and faculty alike."—William Julius Wilson, Harvard University

Contemporary observers of politics in America often reduce democracy to demography, and presidential elections are no exception. But do differences in class, gender, race, and religion really determine the vote? The Performance of Politics develops a new way of looking at democratic struggles for big-time power and it explains what happened, and why, during the 2008 Presidential campaign in the United States. Through a series of simple but telling concepts about meaning and performance in public life, illustrated with vivid examples drawn from a range of media coverage, participant observation at a Camp Obama, and interviews with leading political journalists, Jeffrey Alexander argues that images, emotion, and performance are the central features of the battle for power. While these features have been largely overlooked by pundits, they are, in fact, the primary foci of political actors. Winning depends on creating images so that candidates can become heroes. Obama and McCain carefully constructed heroic self-images for their campaigns and the successful performance of those representations characterized not only each candidate's actual rallies, and not only their media messages but also the ground game. Money and organization facilitate the ground game, but they do not determine it. Emotion, images, and performance do. In other words, demography isn't destiny and political parties can't always delivery the vote. Though an untested Senator and the underdog in his own party, Obama, through his moving performances, succeeded in casting himself as the hero and McCain the anti-hero, as the only candidate fit to lead in challenging times. Drawing on these themes, Alexander then reveals several periods of shifting public opinion and isolates the drama of Obama's celebrity, the effect of Sarah Palin on the race, and the emerging financial crisis through an engaging narrative that conveys the immediacy and excitement of the final months of the historic 2008 presidential campaign. "Jeffrey C. Alexander's intriguing argument in The Performance of Politics, a meticulous review of the 2008 campaign, is that his fellow sociologists have overemphasized impersonal social forces at the expense of the theater of public life - the way politicians perform 'symbolically.' It's a prosaic call for a more poetic (or at least aesthetic) understanding of politics. Ideology must connect viscerally, or it doesn't connect at all." -The New York Times Book Review "The Performance of Politics is replete with sociological insights. ... Alexander presents original theoretical arguments on the democratic struggle for power in America, and in the process provides a new explanation for Obama's historic victory. ... Alexander's argument that the democratic struggle for power is about becoming a collective representation is persuasive, so too is the way he uses this argument to examine the successful and failed performances of candidates on both the primary and general elections. ... The most compelling part of this engaging book is Alexander's brilliant chapter on the 'Celebrity Metaphor.' Rarely have I read an analysis of a social event by a sociologist that had me so enthralled. ... This is a brilliant book.'" -William Julius Wilson, Contemporary Sociology 'That politics is about drama and unpredictable, surprising moments is one of the central arguments in Jeffrey Alexander's remarkable analysis of Barack Obama's presidential campaign ... By employing the tools of cultural sociology, Alexander writes about the most recent US presidential campaign as if it were a modern form of the Iliad.... Sometimes the best sociology is that which reveals itself through brilliant analysis and storytelling.'--Times Higher Education Supplement 'In an extraordinary analysis of real breadth and depth, Jeffrey Alexander challenges us to re-think Barack Obama's election as president. Reflect on the performance that takes place on a grand stage, Alexander advises, and we'll see the big picture.'-Larry J. Sabato, author of The Year of Obama 'This is a work of dazzling brilliance and imagination. It sparkles with new insights that go well beyond standard interpretations of electoral politics. Especially to be treasured is its keen understanding of civil society and the importance of moral meaning and symbolism in public life.'-Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University 'Revealing himself to be de Tocqueville's true heir, Jeffrey Alexander draws a sweeping and daring portrait of the heroes, villains, fools, and mavericks who peopled the 2008 American presidential campaign. The Performance of Politics is riveting. '-Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Swarthmore College

Jeffrey Alexander, a preeminent figure in social theory, offers here a new way of looking at democratic struggles for political power, discussing what happened, and why, during Barack Obama's remarkable run for president. Illustrated with vivid examples drawn from a range of media coverage, participant observation at a Camp Obama, and interviews with leading political journalists, Alexander argues that images, emotion, and performance are the central features of the battle for power. Winning depends on creating images so that candidates can become heroes. Demography, strategy, money, and issues matter, but power goes to the candidate with the most persuasive performances---the one whose carefully constructed heroic image resonates best with the audience of citizens. Though an untested Senator, Obama's moving performances succeeded in casting him as the hero and as the only candidate fit to lead in challenging times. As he sheds new light on modern politics, Alexander also conveys the immediacy and excitement of the final months of the historic 2008 presidential campaign.

Remembering the Holocaust explains why the Holocaust has come to be considered the central event of the 20th century, and what this means. Presenting Jeffrey Alexander's controversial essay that, in the words of Geoffrey Hartman, has already become a classic in the Holocaust literature, and following up with challenging and equally provocative responses to it, this book offers a sweeping historical reconstruction of the Jewish mass murder as it evolved in the popular imagination of Western peoples, as well as an examination of its consequences. Alexander's inquiry points to a broad cultural transition that took place in Western societies after World War II: from confidence in moving past the most terrible of Nazi wartime atrocities to pessimism about the possibility for overcoming violence, ethnic conflict, and war. The Holocaust has become the central tragedy of modern times, an event which can no longer be overcome, but one that offers possibilities to extend its moral lessons beyond Jews to victims of other types of secular and religious strife. Following Alexander's controversial thesis is a series of responses by distinguished scholars in the humanities and social sciences--Martin Jay, Bernhard Giesen, Michael Rothberg, Robert Manne, Nathan Glazer, and Elihu & Ruth Katz--considering the implications of the universal moral relevance of the Holocaust. A final response from Alexander in a postscript focusing on the repercussions of the Holocaust in Israel concludes this forthright and engaging discussion. Remembering the Holocaust is an all-too-rare debate on our conception of the Holocaust, how it has evolved over the years, and the profound effects it will have on the way we envision the future.

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.

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.

In The Meanings of Social Life , Jeffrey Alexander presents a new approach to how culture works in contemporary societies. Exposing our everyday myths and narratives in a series of empirical studies that range from Watergate to the Holocaust, he shows how these unseen yet potent cultural structures translate into concrete actions and institutions. Only when these deep patterns of meaning are revealed, Alexander argues, can we understand the stubborn staying power of violence and degradation, but also the steady persistence of hope. By understanding the darker structures that restrict our imagination, we can seek to transform them. By recognizing the culture structures that sustain hope, we can allow our idealistic imaginations to gain more traction in the world. A work that will transform the way that sociologists think about culture and the social world, this book confirms Jeffrey Alexander's reputation as one of the major social theorists of our day.

Rethinking Progress provides a challenging reevaluation of one of the crucial ideas of Western civilization; the notion of progress. Progress often seems to have become self-defeating, producing ecological deserts, overpopulated cities, exhausted resources, decaying cultures, and widespread feelings of alienation. The contributors, from all over the world, present their diversified perspectives on the fate of progress.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, many societies seemed firmly set on a pathway to cultural re-integration, progressive reform, and democratic government. This didn’t happen. Instead, they have become increasingly polarized, and far-right antidemocratic forces are gaining power. In his new work, Jeffrey Alexander explains why, developing an approach to social change that challenges the faith in progress that underpins much contemporary thinking.Far from being a smooth movement forward, progressive social change is like a car crash where cars pile up. The greater the movement forward, the greater the reaction to it. Reform movements – like antiracism, feminism, and open immigration – should be understood as frontlash movements creating extraordinary tensions. They challenge not only material interests but ideal ones – the taken-for-granted meanings that have made life worth living for those on the traditional side. Angry backlash movements slam on the brakes. They aim, not only to halt forward progress, but to move backward, to how things were in the good old days.The tensions between frontlash and backlash are explosive and destabilizing, challenging the broadly civil solidarity upon which democracy depends. Today we are witnessing a surge of powerful backlash movements in many parts of the world – in the US, in Europe, in India and elsewhere. Against these onslaughts, the universalizing culture and institutions of democratic civil spheres have so far managed to retain their resilience, but how long can they continue to hold?

In the aftermath of the Cold War, many societies seemed firmly set on a pathway to cultural re-integration, progressive reform, and democratic government. This didn’t happen. Instead, they have become increasingly polarized, and far-right antidemocratic forces are gaining power. In his new work, Jeffrey Alexander explains why, developing an approach to social change that challenges the faith in progress that underpins much contemporary thinking.Far from being a smooth movement forward, progressive social change is like a car crash where cars pile up. The greater the movement forward, the greater the reaction to it. Reform movements – like antiracism, feminism, and open immigration – should be understood as frontlash movements creating extraordinary tensions. They challenge not only material interests but ideal ones – the taken-for-granted meanings that have made life worth living for those on the traditional side. Angry backlash movements slam on the brakes. They aim, not only to halt forward progress, but to move backward, to how things were in the good old days.The tensions between frontlash and backlash are explosive and destabilizing, challenging the broadly civil solidarity upon which democracy depends. Today we are witnessing a surge of powerful backlash movements in many parts of the world – in the US, in Europe, in India and elsewhere. Against these onslaughts, the universalizing culture and institutions of democratic civil spheres have so far managed to retain their resilience, but how long can they continue to hold?

This book challenges the pessimism that has so marked, and impoverished, social theorizing about modern life. Modernity has often been dark and debilitating, but it has also generated hope for a better life and extraordinary reforms and liberations, from the creation of hopeful democracies in the face of dangerous dictatorships to feminist transformations of patriarchy, struggles against imperialism and racial domination, and the stubborn but persistent reconstruction of pivotal institutions. Jeffrey Alexander theorizes these radical reforms as "civil repairs" – as efforts to make real the utopian promises of the civil sphere. Ideal civil spheres make stirring commitments to social solidarity, equality, and individual autonomy. Real civil spheres are rent by anti-civil hierarchies of class, gender, race, and religion. Contradictions between real and ideal civil spheres generate social movements for justice, which are not only about challenging power but making new and more solidarizing meanings. Civil repair is at once symbolic and institutional. It offers a new way to conceptualize progressive social change.

This book challenges the pessimism that has so marked, and impoverished, social theorizing about modern life. Modernity has often been dark and debilitating, but it has also generated hope for a better life and extraordinary reforms and liberations, from the creation of hopeful democracies in the face of dangerous dictatorships to feminist transformations of patriarchy, struggles against imperialism and racial domination, and the stubborn but persistent reconstruction of pivotal institutions. Jeffrey Alexander theorizes these radical reforms as "civil repairs" – as efforts to make real the utopian promises of the civil sphere. Ideal civil spheres make stirring commitments to social solidarity, equality, and individual autonomy. Real civil spheres are rent by anti-civil hierarchies of class, gender, race, and religion. Contradictions between real and ideal civil spheres generate social movements for justice, which are not only about challenging power but making new and more solidarizing meanings. Civil repair is at once symbolic and institutional. It offers a new way to conceptualize progressive social change.

In this book Jeffrey Alexander develops a new sociological theory of social crisis and applies it to a wide range of cases, from the church paedophilia crisis to the #MeToo movement. He argues that crises are triggered not by objective social strains but by the discourse and institutions of the civil sphere. When strains become subject to the utopian aspirations of the civil sphere, there emerges widespread anguish about social justice and the future of democratic life. Once admired institutional elites come to be represented as perpetrators and the civil sphere becomes legally and organizationally intrusive, demanding repairs in the name of civil purification. Resisting such repair, institutional elites foment backlash, and a war of the spheres ensues. This major new work by one of the world’s leading social theorists will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology, politics, and the social sciences generally.

In this book Jeffrey Alexander develops a new sociological theory of social crisis and applies it to a wide range of cases, from the church paedophilia crisis to the #MeToo movement. He argues that crises are triggered not by objective social strains but by the discourse and institutions of the civil sphere. When strains become subject to the utopian aspirations of the civil sphere, there emerges widespread anguish about social justice and the future of democratic life. Once admired institutional elites come to be represented as perpetrators and the civil sphere becomes legally and organizationally intrusive, demanding repairs in the name of civil purification. Resisting such repair, institutional elites foment backlash, and a war of the spheres ensues. This major new work by one of the world’s leading social theorists will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology, politics, and the social sciences generally.

The influential authors significantly update their popular introductory text that invites students to reflect on their lives in the context of the combustible leap from modern to postmodern life. The authors show how culture is central to understanding many world problems as they challenge readers to confront the problems and possibilities of an era in which the futures of the physical and social environments seem uncertain. As culture rapidly changes in the 21st century, the authors have successfully incorporated these nuances with many important updates on race and racism, Black Lives Matter, the rise of populist politics, ISIS, new social media, feminist perspectives on sex work, trans and non-gender conforming identities, and more.New to this edition:New data, text box examples, photos, exercises, study questions, and glossary terms appear throughout.New discussions added of arts-based and participatory approaches to research, historical changes in the perception of deviance, legalization of marijuana; Islam vs. secularism in France, new forms of socialization, heteronormative and essentialist language related to sex and gender, intersections of social class and other identities, the prison industrial complex, informal sharing economies, atheism, and more.New text boxes include: Young Saudis Find Freedom in their PhonesHow One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s LifeSchool-to-Prison PipelineIndia’s Reproductive Assembly LineWorkers Feel Pain of LayoffsLike Prohibition, the fight over guns is about something elseMicro-aggression and Changing Moral CulturesPraise for A Contemporary Introduction to Sociology"Treats sociology as a living, vibrant discipline. The book is a masterful synthesis written in a style that is at once sophisticated, engaging, and accessible."—Peter Kivisto, Augustana College "Alexander and Thompson have produced the modern textbook we have all been waiting for—comprehensive and coherent, but above all intelligent. Designed to make teaching sociology unproblematic, the book is the ideal combination of theory, evidence, and accessibility."—Bryan S. Turner, editor of The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology"Sets new standards in speaking directly to students of the most significant recent developments in sociology and social changes they are living. It shows how inspiring the sociological imagination can be in areas like media, sexuality, gender relations, inequality, and globalization.—Lyn Spillman, University of Notre Dame"A truly contemporary sociology, one that mines the classics of sociology for insights into a profoundly changed, postmodern world. Most important, the book reminds us of sociology’s capacity to surprise."—Francesca Polletta, University of California–Irvine"An extraordinary textbook that synthesizes a wealth of sociological studies. The book is engaging and readable, key concepts are clearly defined, and important theories are succinctly explicated. I highly recommend it to students and faculty alike."—William Julius Wilson, Harvard University

In this book Jeffrey Alexander develops the view that cultural sociology and “cultural pragmatics” are vital for understanding the structural turbulence and political possibilities of contemporary social life. Central to Alexander’s approach is a new model of social performance that combines elements from both the theatrical avant-garde and modern social theory. He uses this model to shed new light on a wide range of social actors, movements, and events, demonstrating through striking empirical examples the drama of social life. Producing successful dramas determines the outcome of social movements and provides the keys to political power. Modernity has neither eliminated aura nor suppressed authenticity; on the contrary, they are available to social actors who can perform them in compelling ways. This volume further consolidates Alexander’s reputation as one of the most original social thinkers of our time. It will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology and cultural studies as well as throughout the social sciences and humanities.

In this book Jeffrey Alexander develops the view that cultural sociology and “cultural pragmatics” are vital for understanding the structural turbulence and political possibilities of contemporary social life. Central to Alexander’s approach is a new model of social performance that combines elements from both the theatrical avant-garde and modern social theory. He uses this model to shed new light on a wide range of social actors, movements, and events, demonstrating through striking empirical examples the drama of social life. Producing successful dramas determines the outcome of social movements and provides the keys to political power. Modernity has neither eliminated aura nor suppressed authenticity; on the contrary, they are available to social actors who can perform them in compelling ways. This volume further consolidates Alexander’s reputation as one of the most original social thinkers of our time. It will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology and cultural studies as well as throughout the social sciences and humanities.

Rethinking Progress provides a challenging reevaluation of one of the crucial ideas of Western civilization; the notion of progress. Progress often seems to have become self-defeating, producing ecological deserts, overpopulated cities, exhausted resources, decaying cultures, and widespread feelings of alienation. The contributors, from all over the world, present their diversified perspectives on the fate of progress.

What is the source of Obama’s power? How is it that, after suffering a humiliating defeat in the 2010 mid-term elections, Obama was able to turn the situation around, deftly outmaneuvering his opponent and achieving a decisive victory in the November 2012 presidential election? In this short and brilliant book, Jeffrey Alexander and Bernadette Jaworsky argue that neither money nor demography can explain this dramatic turnaround. What made it possible, they show, was cultural reconstruction. Realizing he had failed to provide a compelling narrative of his power, the President began forging a new salvation story. It portrayed the Republican austerity budget as a sop to the wealthy, and Obama as a courageous hero fighting for plain folks against the rich. The reinvigorated cultural performance pushed the Tea Party off the political stage in 2011, and Mitt Romney became fodder for the script in 2012. Democrats painted their Republican opponent as a backward-looking elitist, a “Bain-capitalist” whose election would threaten the civil solidarity upon which democracy depends. Real world events can spoil even the most effective script. Obama faced monthly unemployment numbers, the daunting Bin Laden raid, three live debates, and Hurricane Sandy. The clumsiness of his opponent and his own good fortune helped the President, but it was the poise and felicity of his improvisations that allowed him to succeed a second time. Converting events into plot points, the President demonstrated the flair for the dramatic that has made him one of the most effective politicians of modern times.While persuasively explaining Obama’s success, this book also demonstrates a fundamental but rarely appreciated truth about political power in modern democratic societies namely, that winning power and holding on to it have as much to do with the ability to use symbols effectively and tell good stories as anything else.