Against Symbolic Liberalism

A Plea for Dialogical Sociology

Inbunden, Engelska, 2025

AvSari Hanafi

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In an era of deepening polarization, Sari Hanafi examines how social scientists often reproduce the very injustices they seek to challenge, taking entrenched positions while dismissing alternative perspectives.He introduces the concept of symbolic liberalism - a contradiction in which individuals espouse classical liberal principles, yet act in politically illiberal ways. This, he argues, has exacerbated the pathologies of late modernity: authoritarianism, economic precarity, and environmental destruction, now all unfolding in a climate where reasonable debate seems increasingly impossible.Examining key flashpoints of contemporary polarization, Hanafi critiques how symbolic liberalism inflates the universality of rights while simultaneously narrowing the space for dialogue. Rather than this rigid ideological stance, he calls for a dialogical turn, a renewed public sphere where diverse conceptions of the ‘common good’ engage in genuine conversation.Blending political and moral philosophy with sociological critique, Hanafi offers a path forward in an age when intellectual exchange is more necessary, yet also more imperilled, than ever. Against Symbolic Liberalism is not just a critique of polarization but a critical and impassioned call to reclaim meaningful intellectual discourse.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2025-09-05
Mått163 x 239 x undefined mm
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor264
FörlagLiverpool University Press
ISBN9781836244660

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Sari Hanafi is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut. He served as President of the International Sociological Association (2018–23) and Vice President of the Arab Council for Social Sciences (2015–16). An International Fellow of the British Academy, he was also the Editor of Idafat: The Arab Journal of Sociology (2007–22). His contributions to the field have been recognized with some of the Arab world’s most prestigious academic awards, including the Abdelhamid Shouman Award (2014) and the Kuwait Award for Social Science (2015). In 2019, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of San Marcos, Peru.

Sari Hanafi’s book offers an original analysis and critique of Western sociology, as well as a diagnosis and therapy for polarised societies. The book resembles its author. It is both powerful and generous, global and local, critical and dialogical. The analysis comes straight from Beirut, but will appeal to a larger audience interested in the prospects of sociological theory, post-colonialism, political liberalism and democratic alternatives. - Frédéric Vandenberghe, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro