Bin Xu is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University

“A refreshingly beyond-Western viewpoint on civil society in its cultural contexts. [… A] key insight of the book is interwoven throughout and crystallizes in the conclusion. This is the point that cultural sociology is the ‘art of listening’.”Voluntas, journal of the International Society for Third-Sector Research“Bin Xu has written a fine work, subtle, clearly written, and analytically precise, and with great outreach to the wide scope of contemporary discussion. Xu demonstrates why cultural sociology is necessary if we are to understand not only democracy but its enemies.”Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University“Bin Xu has written the book I’ve been waiting for. Ranging across sociologies and their kin, using empirical cases of civil societies both within democracies and struggling against authoritarianisms, and invoking a theoretical sophistication that is respectful of variety but focused on driving culture’s significance home, he elaborates both the scholarly sense and public consequence of civil society’s mobilization. I know what my students will be reading next.”Michael D. Kennedy, Brown University

• Chapter 1 Introduction: The Culture of DemocracyChapter 2 Values, Codes, and Styles in the Public SphereChapter 3 Culture in Associational LifeChapter 4 Culture in Civic EngagementChapter 5 The Culture of Democracy Under Undemocratic StatesChapter 6 Global Civil SocietyChapter 7 Cultural Sociology as an Art of Listening

Bin Xu is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University

“A refreshingly beyond-Western viewpoint on civil society in its cultural contexts. [… A] key insight of the book is interwoven throughout and crystallizes in the conclusion. This is the point that cultural sociology is the ‘art of listening’.”Voluntas, journal of the International Society for Third-Sector Research“Bin Xu has written a fine work, subtle, clearly written, and analytically precise, and with great outreach to the wide scope of contemporary discussion. Xu demonstrates why cultural sociology is necessary if we are to understand not only democracy but its enemies.”Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University“Bin Xu has written the book I’ve been waiting for. Ranging across sociologies and their kin, using empirical cases of civil societies both within democracies and struggling against authoritarianisms, and invoking a theoretical sophistication that is respectful of variety but focused on driving culture’s significance home, he elaborates both the scholarly sense and public consequence of civil society’s mobilization. I know what my students will be reading next.”Michael D. Kennedy, Brown University

• Chapter 1 Introduction: The Culture of DemocracyChapter 2 Values, Codes, and Styles in the Public SphereChapter 3 Culture in Associational LifeChapter 4 Culture in Civic EngagementChapter 5 The Culture of Democracy Under Undemocratic StatesChapter 6 Global Civil SocietyChapter 7 Cultural Sociology as an Art of Listening

Bin Xu is Associate Professor of Sociology at Emory University

“A refreshingly beyond-Western viewpoint on civil society in its cultural contexts. [… A] key insight of the book is interwoven throughout and crystallizes in the conclusion. This is the point that cultural sociology is the ‘art of listening’.”Voluntas, journal of the International Society for Third-Sector Research“Bin Xu has written a fine work, subtle, clearly written, and analytically precise, and with great outreach to the wide scope of contemporary discussion. Xu demonstrates why cultural sociology is necessary if we are to understand not only democracy but its enemies.”Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University“Bin Xu has written the book I’ve been waiting for. Ranging across sociologies and their kin, using empirical cases of civil societies both within democracies and struggling against authoritarianisms, and invoking a theoretical sophistication that is respectful of variety but focused on driving culture’s significance home, he elaborates both the scholarly sense and public consequence of civil society’s mobilization. I know what my students will be reading next.”Michael D. Kennedy, Brown University

• Chapter 1 Introduction: The Culture of DemocracyChapter 2 Values, Codes, and Styles in the Public SphereChapter 3 Culture in Associational LifeChapter 4 Culture in Civic EngagementChapter 5 The Culture of Democracy Under Undemocratic StatesChapter 6 Global Civil SocietyChapter 7 Cultural Sociology as an Art of Listening