(with Dilip Gaonkar and Charles Taylor), (2022) Harvard University Press.

From the publisher -  Three leading thinkers analyze the erosion of democracy’s social foundations and call for a movement to reduce inequality, strengthen inclusive solidarity, empower citizens, and reclaim pursuit of the public good.

Democracy is in trouble. Populism is a common scapegoat but not the root cause. More basic are social and economic transformations eroding the foundations of democracy, ruling elites trying to lock in their own privilege, and cultural perversions like making individualistic freedom the enemy of democracy’s other crucial ideals of equality and solidarity. In Degenerations of Democracy three of our most prominent intellectuals investigate democracy gone awry, locate our points of fracture, and suggest paths to democratic renewal. (more)

Reviews

• Crawford, B. (2023). Democracy for the Few. Global Perspectives, 4(1), 70346. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.70346
• Hechter, M. (2023). Review of Degenerations of Democracy. In Global Perspectives 4(1). University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.72771
• Kloppenberg, J.T. (2023. Is American Democracy Coming Apart? Redeeming the promise of self-rule. Commonweal Magazine. https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/democracy-race-polarization-america-working-class-trump-kloppenberg
• Zielonka, J. (2023). Degenerations of Democracy. Global Perspectives, 4(1), 70092. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.70092
• Zipperstein, S.E. (2023). Technology and Democracy. Global Perspectives, 4(1), 68114. https://doi.org/10.1525/gp.2023.68114
• Fong, B. Y. (2022). The Material and the Participatory in the Green New Deal: Two Questions about the Vision of Democratic Renewal in Degenerations of Democracy. In Critical Sociology 49(2), 327–329). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205221134299

(with Immanuel Wallerstein, Randall Collins, Michael Mann, and Georgi Derluguian), (2013) Oxford University Press.

In Does Capitalism Have a Future?, a global quintet of distinguished scholars cut their way through to the question of whether our capitalist system can survive in the medium run. Despite the current gloom, conventional wisdom still assumes that there is no real alternative to capitalism. The authors argue that this generalization is a mistaken outgrowth of the optimistic nineteenth-century claim that human history ascends through stages to an enlightened equilibrium of liberal capitalism.

All major historical systems have broken down in the end, and in the modern epoch several cataclysmic events-notably the French revolution, World War I, and the collapse of the Soviet bloc-came to pass when contemporary political elites failed to calculate the consequences of the processes they presumed to govern. At present, none of our governing elites and very few intellectuals can fathom a systemic collapse in the coming decades. While the book's contributors arrive at different conclusions, they are in constant dialogue with one another, and they construct a relatively seamless-if open-ended-whole.

(2012) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

“This collection of Craig Calhoun's essays brings us back to essentials: what do we mean by the terms “class” and “radicalism,” and how do these concepts help us to understand the social movements and conflicts of early industrial society? … Among his other accomplishments, Calhoun illustrates how difficult it is to draw a line between the “traditional” protests of the early nineteenth century and the “modern” class protests envisioned by most social historians.” — James R. Barrett, American Historical Review.

(2007) Routledge.

From the publisher — Craig Calhoun, one of the most respected social scientists in the world, re-examines nationalism in light of post-1989 enthusiasm for globalization and the new anxieties of the twenty-first century. Nations Matter argues that pursuing a purely postnational politics is premature at best and possibly dangerous. Calhoun argues that, rather than wishing nationalism away, it is important to transform it. One key is to distinguish the ideology of nationalism as fixed and inherited identity from the development of public projects that continually remake the terms of national integration. Standard concepts like "civic" vs. "ethnic" nationalism can get in the way unless they are critically re-examined — as an important chapter in this book does.

(1997) Open University Press and University of Minnesota Press.

From the publisher: Nationalism is one of the most pressing of global problems, exacerbating ethnic conflicts and increasing the likelihood of war. It is also basic to defining the rights of democratic citizenship, and can be a source of inspiration and social solidarity. In this fascinating overview, Craig Calhoun considers nationalism's diverse manifestations, its history, and its relationship to imperialism and colonialism

(1995) Basil Blackwell.

From the publisher: In this outstanding reinterpretation — and extension — of the Critical Theory tradition, Craig Calhoun surveys the origins, fortunes and prospects of this most influential of theoretical approaches. Moving with ease from the early Frankfurt School to Habermas, to contemporary debates over postmodernism, feminism and nationalism, Calhoun breathes new life into Critical Social Theory, showing how it can learn from the past and contribute to the future.

(1994) University of California Press.

Within six weeks, these students would experience peaks of exhilaration as their movement grew beyond their short-term expectations, troughts of depression as it seemd to falter from ineffective leadership and lack of direction, and rage as soldiers following government orders killed hundrers or even thousands of protesters.

From Colina MacDougall, Times Literary Supplement: "Calhoun's analysis of the whos and the whys of the Tiananmen protest is excellent."

From the publisher: Prize for Best Recent Book in Political Sociology, The American Sociological Association.

Calhoun, C. (1997). Neither Gods nor Emperors: Students and the Struggle for Democracy in China. University of California Press.

(1989; 7th ed., 1996) McGraw-Hill Companies.

The seventh edition of this research-based survey presents sociological principles using five key concepts: function, structure, action, culture, and power. These concepts allow the text to provide a more comprehensive coverage of structural sociology and culture than any other book. The balanced presentation is combined with student-oriented examples that bring the content to life.

Calhoun, C., Light, D., & Keller, S. (1996). Sociology. McGraw-Hill College. (Subsequent edition). ISBN-10: 0070380694, ISBN-13: 978-0070380691.

(1982) University of Chicago Press and Basil Blackwell.

Calhoun, C. J. (1982). The Question of Class Struggle: Social Foundations of Popular Radicalism During the Industrial Revolution. University of Chicago Press. ISBN: 0226090906.