Affect and Meaning: A Cultural Sociological Perspective on Polarization

This article develops a model of political polarization as a discursive and performative struggle over meaning. Drawing on Alexander’s civil sphere theory, Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory, and Lamont’s symbolic boundaries approach, we reconceptualize ideological and affective polarization through the lens of cultural sociology. Rather than treating polarization as mere attitudinal divergence, we frame it as the symbolic organization of political antagonism. Our model identifies three interrelated symbolic dimensions: (1) the divergence on contested issues conceptualized as signifiers; (2) their consistency, enabling chains of signification held together by “empty signifiers” that mark group identity; and (3) the mutual constitution of opposing semiotic chains and identities. We add a fourth, social dimension by distinguishing symbolic from social boundaries—capturing how cultural antagonisms may translate into structural disconnection and rupture. This framework offers a sociological theory of polarization attentive to meaning-making, boundary formation, and the conditional relationship between cultural and social differentiation.