This two-volume set features original contributions by leading cultural sociologists and social theorists on the core dimensions of Jeffrey Alexander's sociological thought and its development over time and across the world. Together, these scholars consider how Alexander's work and his humanity have inspired deep reflections on the nature of cultural analysis and comparison, on the classical founders of the discipline, on the state of theory as a global project, and why cultural sociology continues to be a fertile site for developing the future of sociological theory in the twenty-first century. Readers will gain new insights into the ideas and networks that have formed through the nearly five decades of engagement with Alexander's work.

Introduces readers to core dimensions of Jeffrey Alexander's sociological thought Features original contributions by leading cultural sociologists and social theorists Critically assesses Alexander's legacy in the 21st century

Autorentext

Dr. Celso M. Villegas is NEH Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of Sociology at Kenyon College. He works on the relationship between social class and the civil sphere, with emphasis on the middle class in the Philippines, Venezuela, and Ecuador; and on political performances in the United States. Among his recently published articles are The Civil Sphere and Social Class in in the journal Cultural Sociology (2023) and The Drama Surrounding Intellectuals in Dramatic Intellectuals (2025).

Dr. Galen Watts is Assistant Professor in the department of sociology and legal studies at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on cultural and institutional change in liberal democracies since the 1960swith a focus on the spheres of religion, morality, work, and politics. His first book, The Spiritual Turn: The Religion of the Heart and the Making of Romantic Liberal Modernity , published in 2022 by Oxford University Press, won the 2023 Society for the Scientific Study of Religion's Distinguished Book Award.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Reading Jeffrey (Jeff) C. Alexander.- Part I: Jeffrey C. Alexander as a Classical Theorist.- 2. The First Fifty Years: Grand Theory in the Old Style.- 3. The New Theoretical Movement and Neofunctionalism: The Early Period in Jeffrey C. Alexander's Sociology.- 4. 'Action and its Environments': Jeffrey C. Alexander's Mise en Abyme.- 5. From 'Alexander' to 'Jeff': On the Translation of the Theorist as a Fact-Sign.- 6. Cultural trauma: theorizing from conversation to actuality.- 7. Riding with the King, by Peter Beilharz.- Part II: Intellectual and Institutional Histories of the Strong Program in Cultural Sociology.- 8. Precarious Evolution and Survival: The Emergence of the Strong Program as a Paradigm.- 8. We Were Not a Cult: Finding Meaning, Structure and Autonomy in Cultural Analysis with Jeffrey Alexander.- 10. On The Hermeneutics of Constructive Mentorship: Some Reflections on the Alexander Style.- 11. The Strong Program's politics and performance paradigm, manifest and latent.- 12. From Virtuoso to Icon: Jeffrey Alexander and the Power of Intellectual Performance at the Center for Cultural Sociology.- 13. Globalizing Civil Sphere Theory and the Strong Program: An East Asian Perspective.- 14. Epilogue.