Activists switch to depoliticized language when speaking in public.

Evidence

For example, behind the scenes ^ and as the group developed, in meetings as well ^ members talked about government policies regarding toxic waste, but at demonstrations and other public arenas, they used the same close to home'' language that volunteers used. Someone who heard only their public speech might assume that activists simply lacked the language of solidarity,” but in fact, they spoke it quite £uently behind the scenes, and just lost some of their £uency in more public contexts. — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 118

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the code-switching and ‘hidden transcripts’ literature (James C. Scott) and Bourdieu’s linguistic markets, where speakers calibrate speech to the perceived legitimacy of the setting. — connects to: People voice political opinions privately but suppress them in group settings.; Activists sound less publicly minded in public than in private — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1205; Activists suppress their systemic political analyses when speaking publicly. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 88 (+11 more)
• corroborated: 5 independent passages support this claim — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”: The work of avoiding…, 118

Related

• Civic speech style varies with audience rather than with underlying beliefs (similarity 0.89)
• Activists suppress their systemic political analyses when speaking publicly. (similarity 0.88)
• Activists sound less publicly minded in public than in private (similarity 0.88)
• People hedge civic language where it feels dangerous or powerless (similarity 0.86)
• People voice political opinions privately but suppress them in group settings. (similarity 0.86)
• Public-spiritedness diminishes as expression moves from backstage to frontstage. (similarity 0.83)
• Political disengagement is socially produced in conversation, not just held in beliefs (similarity 0.83)
• Activists privately voice broad political concerns but publicly frame motives narrowly (similarity 0.82)
• Contempt for the public cannot be voiced politely even when activists privately feel it (similarity 0.82)
• Volunteers suppress political talk because it would sink their feeling of empowerment (similarity 0.82)
• Citizens express political ideas privately yet avoid public political engagement (similarity 0.81)
• Believing public talk is powerless makes volunteers feel powerless. (similarity 0.81)
• Treating talk as self-display makes audiences dismiss activists as attention-seekers (similarity 0.81)
• Public-spirited talk flourishes backstage, not in public spheres (similarity 0.79)
• Public speaking contexts actively shrink citizens’ circles of concern (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Activists sound less publicly minded in public than in private #corroborates (0.90) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1205
• Activists suppress their systemic political analyses when speaking publicly. #expands (0.88) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 88
• People hedge civic language where it feels dangerous or powerless #corroborates (0.82) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 147
• Contempt for the public cannot be voiced politely even when activists privately feel it #contradicts (0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1316
• Activists adopt stiff bureaucratic speech believing officials require it #qualifies (0.78) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1431
• Some suffering resists articulation when public dialogue is skewed #expands (0.75)
• A diversity of listeners enables speakers to voice public-spirited ideas they otherwise suppress #qualifies (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1472