Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Civility Unbound: Contesting a Democratic Value

Civility Unbound: Contesting a Democratic Value

Diniscia, Michael
Toscano, Ellyn M.

Paperback

PhilosophyLetters & Essays

ISBN10: 1479842168
ISBN13: 9781479842162
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: Feb 17 2026
Pages: 232
Weight: 0.57
Height: 0.90 Width: 5.00 Depth: 7.90
Language: English

An urgent interrogation of an eroding norm

Amidst unprecedented turmoil in American Democracy--as norms of conduct in our institutions erode and polarizing, combative behavior is increasingly rewarded--an acclaimed group of thought leaders, policymakers, artists, activists, and scholars interrogate a cornerstone of American politics and society: civility.

In Civility Unbound, these luminaries examine civility and address the question of whether being civil is a fundamental good. Tackling the concept's core paradoxes, they consider how those in power have defined civility to regulate the norms of acceptable behavior in politics. The collection features powerful contributions: Norm Ornstein discusses how tribalization has pushed political institutions to the breaking point; Jonathan Haidt describes how social media supercharges moralistic anger while dissolving trust and cooperation; Lynn Mie Itagaki unearths the ways in which civility is deployed as a means to delay or defer the pursuit of justice; Karen Jackson-Weaver recounts the history of African American women deploying civility in the fight for universal suffrage; Ricardo Maldonado uses his own life as a Puerto Rican poet as a case study to think about issues of belonging and identity; and Anthony Appiah points to how civility can be a positive means for negotiating our differences.

Together, these essays present readers with a sweeping understanding of the values that set the political environment, addressing how these conventions evolve or deteriorate over time. Ultimately, Civility Unbound offers a potential path forward for redeeming this democratic value, in the pursuit of accepting differences, facilitating dialogue, and encouraging compromise.

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