Citizen activists were driven by democratic principle, not mere self-defense against a toxic dump
Evidence
In fact, activists were not simply ”defending themselves,” as reporters and officials assumed; many believed that citizen participation was important, and found this issue to be a good one for illustrating a general principle to the rest of the community: that grassroots political participation is a better way of running the government than behind-the-scenes corporate control. Of course, they may also have been worried about their families or property values, but in casual conversations amongst themselves, these were not salient. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 79
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Eliasoph’s core claim in this book that citizens do hold broad concerns they suppress publicly; also relates to ‘close to home’ avoidance of politics if these same activists later narrow their talk. — connects to: Officials defending democratic processes can enact democracy even from self-interested motives — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 361; Democratic legitimacy depends on citizens’ internalized commitment that imposed systems cannot replace — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 74; Front groups masquerade as grassroots citizens to weaken environmental protections — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2717 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Officials defending democratic processes can enact democracy even from self-interested motives
#corroborates(0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 361 - Democratic legitimacy depends on citizens’ internalized commitment that imposed systems cannot replace
#corroborates(0.80) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 74 - Front groups masquerade as grassroots citizens to weaken environmental protections
#contradicts(0.80) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2717 - Democratic institutions presuppose the civic spirit they are meant to create.
#corroborates(0.80) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 702