'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
Introduction Jeffrey C. Alexander and Trevor Stack; 1. Wedging open established civil spheres: a comparative approach to their emancipatory potential Trevor Stack; 2. Radical protest in a university campus: performances of civil transition in Colombia Carlo Tognato; 3. Antiracism movements and the US civil sphere: the case of Black Lives Matter Stephen F. Ostertag; 4. The civil sphere and its variants in light of the Arab revolutions and jihadism in Europe Farhad Khosrokhavar; 5. Restaging a vital center within radicalized civil societies: the media, performativity, and the Charlie Hebdo attack María Luengo and Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk; 6. Anti-immigrant movements and the self-poisoning of the civil sphere: the case of Germany Volker M. Heins and Christine Unrau; 7. The civil sphere and the Irish Republican movement, 1970–1998 Anne Kane; 8. 'We all came together that day': the 2011 English riots as an enactment of solidarity Yasushi Tanaka-Gutiez; 9. Disobedience in civil regeneration: radical transformations in the civil sphere Maeve Cooke; Commentary Liv Egholm; Conclusion Peter Kivisto and Giuseppe Sciortino.