Public forums shrink citizens’ circles of concern toward personal interests.

Evidence

The puzzle in both of these cases is that citizens’ circles of concern shrank when they spoke in public contexts. In both cases, broad political concerns surfaced and then mysteriously vanished behind very personal-sounding concerns: ”my house,” ”my children,” ”close to home.” People implicitly know that some face-to-face contexts invite public-spirited debate and conversation, and others do not; in contemporary US society, most do not. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 93

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Goffman’s frontstage/backstage framing that Eliasoph deploys later in this chapter; also resonates with the reader’s finding that voluntary group etiquette suppresses political talk. — connects to: The public-versus-private debate reduces citizens to investors and consumers — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 358; Civic membership declines even as public agitation intensifies in America. — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 22; Personal and political framing both shrink problems but operate in opposite directions. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1266 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Personal and political framing both shrink problems but operate in opposite directions. #qualifies (0.82) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1266
• Civic membership declines even as public agitation intensifies in America. #complicates (0.80) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 22
• Accepting self-interest as public speech’s only form can be fatal for communities #expands (0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 160
• The public-versus-private debate reduces citizens to investors and consumers #expands (0.78) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 358