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Inequality, Inclusion, and Protest. Jeffrey Alexander’s Theory of the Civil Sphere

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Social Theory and Social Movements

Abstract

While traditional system theory regarded social movements as a problem for the functioning of society, Jeffrey Alexander understands functional differentiation as a contentious process and shifts social movements to the center of attention. Focusing on the relationship between social differentiation and integration, Alexander analyzes the public sphere as a central arena for integration. The forces shaping the public sphere are politics, law, and mass media, which establish cultural codes and enable as well as restrict mobilization. Social movements play a crucial role in balancing the tension between productive input and destructive intrusions. Alexander thus highlights the importance and potentials of social movements.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Concerning the distinction between the “European” and “American” paradigms of protest research, see Edelman (2001) and Cohen (1985).

  2. 2.

    At first glance, this approach closely resembles Habermas’ distinction between system and lifeworld (Habermas 1987, 1996; Cohen and Arato 1992). However, Alexander strongly objects to the notion that “civil society is a world of rationality and consensus.” He demands the recognition of “the unconscious and nonrational elements […] that structure civil societies to be placed within the meaning-making process of civil discourse itself rather than forcing them into residual categories that are projected onto the noninterpretative domains outside it” (Alexander 1993, p. 801).

  3. 3.

    The neo-functionalists underscored that structural differentiation is the result of a complex negotiation process between individual and collective actors. Consequently, structural differentiation must be linked to cultural ideas and distributions of interests and resources (Alexander 1990a; Eisenstadt 1990; Colomy 1985, 1990; Smelser 1985; Rüschemeyer 1977; Alexander and Colomy 1985).

  4. 4.

    The concept of “terminal community” refers “to those feelings that, extending beyond family and friends, create the boundaries of acknowledged society” (Alexander 1990b, p. 269). Accordingly, the concept of the “terminal community” largely corresponds with the collective identity of a society.

  5. 5.

    In non-Western societies, the moral codes of civil discourse are sometimes mapped by other cultural patterns (Kern 2009; Baiocchi 2007).

  6. 6.

    Over recent decades, Goffman’s (1974) interactionist concept of “frame analysis” has become a central paradigm of social movement research (Snow and Benford 2000; Snow et al. 1986). Although Alexander highly sympathizes with the interactionist tradition of social theory, he criticizes the framing concept for “treating the interpretative strategies of social movement actors as if they were generated in an entirely situational, practical, here-and-now way” (Alexander 1996, p. 212). In other words, the framing concept neglects the institutional frameworks that exercise control over the situation and, therefore, relies on the macro-sociological perspective provided by the (utilitarian) resource mobilization model. Instead of treating the creative dimension of social movements as a means to an end, Alexander stresses that social movements “are meaningful in themselves” (Alexander 1996, p. 212).

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  1. Universität Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany

    Thomas Kern

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    Jochen Roose

  2. Institut für Soziologie, Georg-August University of Göttingen Institut für Soziologie, Göttingen, Niedersachsen, Germany

    Hella Dietz

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Kern, T. (2016). Inequality, Inclusion, and Protest. Jeffrey Alexander’s Theory of the Civil Sphere. In: Roose, J., Dietz, H. (eds) Social Theory and Social Movements. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-13381-8_6

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