Public talk itself, not just outcome interest, creates selves and communities.
Evidence
The point is not that once we figure out our real interests, and act on them, then we can stop talking and go home. The point is that being able to talk can be a good in itself, and a source of power in itself; people are always creating selves and communities and interests and power, one way or another, actively or inadvertently, in interaction. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 163
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader mutual-aid/solidarity literature theme — Eliasoph is theorizing that shared engagement itself, not common enemy or interest, constitutes community. — connects to: Speaking is what gives private concern socially usable meaning — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 95; The public sphere is a third, egalitarian conversational arena beyond work and family — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 121; Civic understanding grows in face-to-face talk rather than inside individuals. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 123 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Talk itself generates communities and power independent of fixed interests
#corroborates(0.95) - Civic engagement is a mode of talk, not a subject matter
#corroborates(0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 147 - Valuing their own talk lets citizen groups grow political knowledge and broaden concern
#expands(0.78) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1498 - Civic strangers may converse once familiarity legitimates the approach
#exemplifies(0.72) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1015