Description
Book SynopsisExamines the problem of social change in a modern, mediated democracy. Argues that civility is not simply a virtue but a functional set of tools that must be adapted to specific situations.
Trade Review“In a much needed and thought-provoking study, William Keith and Robert Danisch examine the concepts of civility and incivility, offering both critique and justification for civility as a norm of political discourse. They reconceive civility as a kind of discourse that can help us solve political problems in a way that is more equal, less conditioned by economic, political, or social power, and more respectful of mutual humanity. This study offers a timely assessment of our broken public sphere.”
—Jennifer Mercieca,coeditor of The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency
“One consequence of the current challenges to democracy is reconsideration of democratic institutions, norms, and habits. Beyond Civility is a model for how that can be done. While engaging strong critiques of the concept, Keith and Danisch demonstrate why [civility] remains an important commitment for both political sustainability and progressive change. By focusing on its paradoxical character, they show how civility and incivility negotiate deep problems of relationality. This is a thoughtful study of public communication for this turbulent time.”
—Robert Hariman,author of Political Style: The Artistry of Power
“William Keith and Robert Danisch offer a provocative and interesting take on democracy as a ‘wicked problem.’”
—Mary E. Stuckey,author of Voting Deliberatively: FDR and the 1936 Presidential Campaign
“Beyond Civility is a defense of civility and an argument for its centrality to democratic culture. It engages in topics that will be of great interest to rhetorical scholars. The authors’ breakdown of civility into weak/strong/pseudo and the argument stances in the ‘theater’ of public discourse are novel and important.”
—Jeremy Engels,author of The Politics of Resentment: A Genealogy
“Challenging the regular hand-wringing over a decline of civility in public discourse, William Keith and Robert Danisch take political divisiveness as a given in Beyond Civility: The Competing Obligations of Citizenship.”
—Scott McLemee Inside Higher Ed
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Why Civility Matters
1. Civility as a Moral Quandary and a Political Necessity
2. Imagining the Politics of Civility
3. Civility in the Discursive Public Sphere
4. The Structure, Uses, and Limitations of Incivility
5. Strong Civility for Social Justice
Notes
References
Index
