Benjamin Barber: Functions of Political Talk
"[A]n excess of liberalism has undone democratic institutions," writes Benjamin Barber in 1984's Strong Democracy: Participatory Politics for a New Age.
The word "liberal" is used by Barber to refer to a system of "thin democracy," one that yields a "politics of bargaining and exchange, never a politics of invention and creation."
In contrast, "the aim of this book [is] to develop an alternative ... to associate democracy with a civic culture nearer to the themes of participation, citizenship, and political activity that are democracy's central virtues."
The distinction between thin and strong democracy is illustrated by the functions of political talk. Barber writes:
The functions of talk in the democratic process fall into at least nine major categories. The first two are familiar to liberals and encompass most of what they understand as the functions of talk. The next six are muted and undervalued in liberal theory, in part because they are not well served by representative institutions and by the adversary system. The last summarizes the overall function of talk. The nine functions are:
1. The articulation of interests: bargaining and exchange
2. Persuasion
3. Agenda-setting
4. Exploring mutuality
5. Affiliation and affection
6. Maintaining autonomy
7. Witness and self-expression
8. Reformulation and reconceptualization
9. Community-building as the creation of public interests, common goods, and active citizens.
I've been reflecting on Barber's ideas in relation to the use of technology for environmental conflict resolution and efforts to steward communities of practice and place.
(Hat tip to Rosa Zubizarreta, who initiated a discussion of Barber's "functions of political talk" on the NCDD discussion list.)
