The Civil Sphere in East Asia

Examines a range of contemporary social and cultural conflicts in East Asia and the echoes they have throughout the world.

Jeffrey C. Alexander (Edited by), David A. Palmer (Edited by), Sunwoong Park (Edited by), Agnes Shuk-mei Ku (Edited by)

9781108448208, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 February 2020

322 pages, 2 b/w illus. 5 tables
22.8 x 14.9 x 2 cm, 0.45 kg

'Combining innovative case studies, comparative leverage, and theoretical strength, this landmark volume provides a new benchmark for comparative studies of political culture. Greater than the sum of its excellent parts, it demonstrates a robust development of civil sphere theory beyond the West and offers a new view of East Asian political cultures.' Lyn Spillman, University of Notre Dame, Indiana

Leading sociologists who live and work in East Asia examine their region's most dangerous and explosive social problems, and some of their most stunning success stories, from the viewpoint of Civil Sphere Theory. This new and increasingly influential sociological understanding of democracy aims to describe and explain the moral codes and institutional foundations of democratic solidarity, as it manifests itself within a distinct social sphere. Part of a multi-volume project, this collection includes cases from Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, bringing together efforts by sociologists based in East Asian academic institutions. Through an extraordinary blend of sophisticated social theory and path-breaking empirical research, The Civil Sphere in East Asia aims to advance civil sphere theory by globalizing and regionalizing it at the same time.

Introduction. The civil sphere in the cultural and political transformations of modern East Asia David A. Palmer and Jeffrey C. Alexander
1. South Korea's presidential scandal and civil repair Jongryul Choi
2. System crisis and the civil sphere: media discourse on the crisis of education in South Korea Sunwoong Park
3. Boundary tension and reconstruction: credit information crises and the civil sphere in Korea Hee-Jeong Lee
4. Performing civil disobedience in Hong Kong Agnes Shuk-mei Ku
5. Fault line in the civil sphere: explaining new divisions in Hong Kong's opposition movement Andrew Junker and Cheris Chan
6. Three moral codes and microcivil spheres in China David A. Palmer
7. Attempting civil repair in China: SACOM's campaigns and the challenge to digital capitalism Pun Ngai and Kenneth Tsz Fung Ng
8. Fantasy is more believable: the shadow civil sphere in Chinese online fiction Xiaoli Tian
9. Institutions and civil instantiation: the case of modern Japanese police Mayumi Shimizu
10. What constitutes 'autonomy' in the Japanese civil sphere? The struggle over surrogacy Yoshie Yanagihara
11. Developing communicative institutions in local communities: the practice of participatory budgeting in Taiwan Kuo-ming Lin
12. Reconciliation through the transnational civil sphere? Historical dialogue and the tri-national joint history project in East Asia Horng-luen Wang
Commentary. Opening up civil sphere theory: from the United States through Latin America to East Asia Carlo Tognato
Conclusion. Theoretical issues in comparative perspective Peter Kivisto and Giuseppe Sciortino.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Social theory [JHBA], Sociology & anthropology [JH]