Dubrovin V.L. Solidarity and the Civil Sphere in Jeffrey Alexander’s Concept. Social and Humanitarian Knowledge. 2026. No. 7. Pp. 266-269.

Текст статьи/выпуска на сайте журнала URL: https://socgum-journal.ru/archive/?ELEMENT_ID=69133 (дата обращения 13.09.2026)

Abstract

This article analyses the concept of civil society and solidarity proposed by Jeffrey Alexander, one of the leading contemporary social theorists. He regards social solidarity as the key dimension of social order, permeating all spheres of society. Unlike many contemporary theorists, he argues that social life is not sustained by rational self-interest or coercion, but by cultural factors: values, symbols, myths and moral obligations. Alexander demonstrates that solidarity is a fluid phenomenon that is constantly being constructed and reconstructed, allowing new groups to be included within the collective ‘we’. He also emphasises that solidarity does not preclude the ‘us-them’ division. J. Alexander’s concept offers a powerful tool for analysing the processes of maintaining solidarity in contemporary complex societies, social movements, the media and identity, and the resolution of social conflicts.