Volunteers build egalitarian togetherness by suppressing distinctive principled talking

Evidence

Talking about politics would especially threaten volunteers’ egalitarian method of building a sense of togetherness. It would require taking stands on issues, distinguishing oneself, making a scene, while volunteers preferred equality to distinction. So, again, opposing abstract, political, or principled talk was, paradoxically, volunteers’ way of looking out for the common good. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 334

Categorization

• XREF: Core tension for reader’s project: solidarity built here by negating one’s own distinction rather than by a shared positive project — connects to her interest in whether positive-project solidarity avoids this. — connects to: The public sphere is a third, egalitarian conversational arena beyond work and family — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 121; Volunteers suppress public criticism to secure piecemeal institutional alliances — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 313; Solidarity forms through talk structured as mutual learning, not just task completion — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1224 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Talk itself generates communities and power independent of fixed interests #expands (0.80)
• Solidarity forms through talk structured as mutual learning, not just task completion #complicates (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1224