4 - Publics in Civil Society and Online

Summary

Chapter 4 compares the street parliaments explored in Chapter 3 with gatherings convened in civil society and on Facebook. It first interrogates a youth parliament that was registered as a civil society organisation, and, second, examines a youth parliament that was convened on Facebook. The Facebook group was formed as a reaction to some participants’ dissatisfaction with the civil society group’s hierarchical structure. With Chapter 3, it argues that, while limited, the conditions for open and plural discussion were evident across diverse gatherings, whether in the streets or on Facebook. This chapter also identifies an important exception to this: an overly fabricated gathering in civil society, which, in using hierarchy and protocol to create a disciplined and non-partisan public discussion, ended up compromising its creativity and dynamism.