The Civil Sphere in Latin America

280 Pages·2018·4.007 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Alexander, Carlo Tognato

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TheCivilSphereinLatinAmerica
Social thinkershave criticizedLatin Americandevelopment as incom-
plete, backward, and antimodern. This volume demonstrates that,
whileoftendeeplycompromisedandfragmented,LatinAmericancivil
sphereshaveremainedresilient,institutionallyandculturally,generat-
ing new oppositional movements, independent journalism, rebellious
intellectuals, electoral power, and critical political parties. In widely
differentarenas,dissidentshaveemployedthecoruscatinglanguageof
thecivilspheretopollutetheiroppressorsinthenameofjustice.Inthe
1970sand1980s,politicalthinkersheraldedtheresurrection ofLatin
Americancivilsociety,envisioninganewworldoffreedomandstabi-
lity.Corruption,inequality,racism,andexclusionbecomepressingand
urgent“socialproblems,”notdespitethepromisesofdemocracy,but
becauseofthem.ThepremiseofthisvolumeisthatLatinAmericancivil
spheresarepowerful,evenastheyarecompromised,creatingchallenges
to anticivil culture and institutions that trigger social reform. It is the
firstofthreevolumesthatplacecivilspheretheoryinaglobalcontext.
JeffreyC.Alexander,LillianChavensonSadenProfessorofSociologyat
Yale,istheauthoroftwentybooksandeditoroftwenty-fivemore.Heis
one of the creators of contemporary cultural sociology, founder and
director of the Yale Center for Cultural Sociology, and coeditor of
TheAmericanJournalofCulturalSociology.
Carlo Tognato is Associate Professor of Sociology at the National
University of Colombia, Bogota. He is the author of Central Bank
Independence:CulturalCodesandSymbolicPerformances(2012)and
editor of Cultural Agents Reloaded: The Legacy of Antanas Mockus
(2017).

The Civil Sphere in Latin America
Edited by
JEFFREY C. ALEXANDER
YaleUniversity
CARLO TOGNATO
NationalUniversityofColombia,Bogota
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108426831
doi:10.1017/9781108685245
©CambridgeUniversityPress2018
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Firstpublished2018
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabySheridanBooks,Inc.
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
names:Alexander,JeffreyC.,1947–editor.|Tognato,Carlo,editor.
title:ThecivilsphereinLatinAmerica/editedbyJeffreyAlexander,CarloTognato.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,ny:CambridgeUniversityPress,
2018.|Includesbibliographicalreferences.
identifiers:lccn2017053773|isbn9781108426831(hardback)
subjects: lcsh:Civilsociety–LatinAmerica.|Democracy–LatinAmerica.|Latin
America–Socialconditions–1945–1982.|LatinAmerica–Socialconditions–1982–
classification:lccjl966.c5882018|ddc306.2098–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017053773
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Toourchildren,theirchildren,andourstudents
Letuscontinuetostrive togetherforamoreinclusive,democratic,and
peacefulfutureforusall.
FernandoHenriqueCardoso
Contents
ListofFigureandTables pageix
NotesontheContributors x
PrefaceandAcknowledgments xv
Introduction:ForDemocracyinLatinAmerica 1
JeffreyC.AlexanderandCarloTognato
part i scandals and civil indignation 17
1 TheCivilSphereinMexico:BetweenDemocracy
andAuthoritarianism 19
NelsonArteagaBotelloandJavierArzuagaMagnoni
2 ShapingSolidarityinArgentina:ThePoweroftheCivil
SphereinRepairingViolenceagainstWomen 39
MaríaLuengo
3 CivilIndignationinChile:RecentCollusionScandalsinthe
RetailIndustry 66
MaríaAngélicaThumalaOlave
part ii militancy, civility, and polarization 93
4 LaJovenCuba:Confrontation,Conciliation,andtheQuest
fortheCivilthroughBlogging 95
LilianaMartínezPérez
5 ¿LaClaseMediaenPositivo?:TheCivilandUncivilUsesof
“theMiddleClass”inVenezuela,1958–2016 118
CelsoM.Villegas
6 TheCivilLifeoftheUniversity:EnactingDissentand
ResistanceonaColombianCampus 149
CarloTognato
vii
viii Contents
part iii law, order, and solidarity 177
7 PoliceOfficersinContradiction:CivilityandAnticivilityinthe
SãoPauloStateMilitaryPolice 179
MayumiShimizu
8 CitizenshipandtheEstablishedCivilSphereinProvincialMexico 206
TrevorStack
part iv commentary and conclusion 229
9 Commentary:IsCivilSocietyDangerousforDemocracy?
NewDirectionsforCivilSphereTheoryinLatinAmerica 231
IsabelJijón
Conclusion:DemocracyandtheCivilSphereinLatinAmerica 240
PeterKivistoandGiuseppeSciortino
Index 255