Deliberation and protest: strange bedfellows? Revealing the deliberative potential of 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil

Abstract

Deliberation and protest have usually been understood as two mutually exclusive ways of practicing democracy. It has been argued that protests, due to their adversarial nature, and orientation toward conflict would hinder, rather than enhance, the prospects for deliberation. The recent cycle of protests, including the Arab Spring, Indignados and Occupy Wall Street, has however shown that contentious politics do not necessarily stand in opposition to the idea of deliberative democracy. On the contrary, these protests feature important deliberative qualities. In this article, we seek to identify the deliberative dimension of the recent wave of protests. We do so through a close analysis of theoretical approaches in democratic theory and by drawing on the 2013 protests in Brazil and Turkey. We show that deliberative democracy is not antithetical to conflicts and agonism generated by protests. In fact, protests constitute an integral part of public deliberation, especially when the latter is understood in broader terms, in terms of public conversation that occurs in multiple sites of communication. We argue that the deliberative dimension of the aforementioned protests is manifested in: (i) how they were organized, (ii) how they were carried out and (iii) what they have achieved.

Mitigating systemic dangers: the role of connectivity inducers in a deliberative system

“…5. For a few examples see: della Porta (2005Porta ( , 2013; Dryzek et al (2003); Young (2003); Medearis (2005); Levine and Nierras (2007); Mendonça and Ercan (2014).…”

Decision networks and quasi-citizens: who deliberates, where?

“…But labor strikes, often relatively regulated, are such disruptions, and recent experience with demonstrations in the USA, Brazil and Turkey among others point to the democratic role of these sort of social movements in established democracies. Just when riots work, and when they are destructive of even the goals of the demonstrators is a question (Tarrow 2011;Mendonca and Ercan 2015).…”

“…Governors respond by appointing working groups and commissions that give a policy shaping Policy Studies 349 role to some representatives of the movement. The movement, if successful, turns into a decision network (Mendonca and Ercan 2015). 5 Many decision networks are built 'top down', initiated by officials needing to deal with a problem.…”

Protests as “Events”: The Symbolic Struggles in 2013 Demonstrations in Turkey and Brazil

“…Arguably, it brought together different groups which were traditionally antagonistic to each other. These groups created a deliberative space that contested the notion of "the other" historically constructed in Turkey, politically, economically, and socially (Mendonça & Ercan 2015). Protests included a variety of groups such as trade unions, environmentalist, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) groups, feminist groups and "anti-capitalist Muslims".…”