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Commentary
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- By Liv Egholm
- Edited by Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University, Connecticut, Trevor Stack, University of Aberdeen, Farhad Khosrokhavar, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
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- Book:
- Breaching the Civil Order
- Published online:
- 25 November 2019
- Print publication:
- 12 December 2019, pp 261-267
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
This volume provides us with fascinating cases of radical acts and explains how some move from being defined as uncivil to entering the civil sphere. These cases serve as examples of how the translation process can endorse generalizing qualities for particularistic attributes in territorially, temporally, and socially bounded contexts (Strand 2015:253). Civil Sphere Theory (CST) draws attention to the idea of universalism as a metaphysical and potentially representative (almost ontological) category, unaffected by historical change as a mere construct. By taking as its point of departure (paraphrasing Hegel) that universalities are always concrete, historical, empirical manifestations (Alexander 2006:259), CST provides a robust route into critical scrutiny of how particularities become embedded in the current mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion. Combining stable binary categorizations (uncivil and civil) with the established arbitrary empirical content (which is more processual) amplifies how groups, interests, and movements legitimize and justify their particularities as generalized universals through the cultural codes penetrating contemporary discursive and legal institutions. However, more emphasis should be devoted to how translation processes make this happen. The examples in this volume help us in this respect.