Volunteers suppress public criticism to secure piecemeal institutional alliances

Evidence

Alliances came piecemeal, one precisely defined issue at a time, not as a whole movement working on a range of interconnected issues.’* Powerful institutions like the police were crucial allies. No matter how many drunken brawls local police officers had, their seal of approval was important — more important than the volunteers’. Publicly minded critique evaporated in the process of making alliances like this one. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 313

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to why shared projects avoid out-group framing — alliance-building works against honest critique, relevant to reader’s core question about solidarity mechanisms. — connects to: Volunteer groups lack respect for open-ended discussion of unresolved issues — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 221; Justice-framed speech is taboo in volunteer groups while piecemeal framing is acceptable. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 269; Volunteer groups suppress political talk even though members privately care — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 192 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Volunteer groups suppress political talk even though members privately care #corroborates (0.92) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 192
• Volunteer groups suppress politically troubling topics to protect group cheer #expands (0.85) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 96
• Volunteers collectively redirected each other’s political criticisms into private moods rather than public problems. #corroborates (0.85) — Nina Eliasoph, “Close to home”, 63
• Reform agencies muted criticism once their friends held power and shared patronage #corroborates (0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 362
• Volunteers build egalitarian togetherness by suppressing distinctive principled talking #qualifies (0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 334
• Volunteers suppress political talk because it would sink their feeling of empowerment #complicates (0.78)
• Activists suppress their systemic political analyses when speaking publicly. #exemplifies (0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 88