Civic engagement is a mode of talk, not a subject matter

Evidence

My question is whether or not speakers ever draw out a topic’s public implications, whether speakers ever assume that what they say matters for someone other than themselves, ever assume that they are speaking in front of a wider backdrop. I am interested in a process of giving voice to a wide circle of concern — a public-spirited way of talking, not a topic (”politics”). — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 147

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘public-spirited talk’ as the study’s central unit.
• XREF: connects to: Citizens jointly create contexts for political conversation through civic practices — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 186; A political topic need not yield public-spirited talk, nor vice versa; Valuing their own talk lets citizen groups grow political knowledge and broaden concern — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1498 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Citizens jointly create contexts for political conversation through civic practices #expands (0.78) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 186
• Valuing their own talk lets citizen groups grow political knowledge and broaden concern #exemplifies (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1498
• A political topic need not yield public-spirited talk, nor vice versa #qualifies (0.72)