Composing a civic arena: Publics, projects, and social settings

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the sociocultural mechanisms by which diverse and contending actors construct a ‘civic’ arena in a fractured, contentious, and multi-sectoral political field. We do this through a case study of the convergence of the 1992 Brazilian impeachment movement, which led to the impeachment on corruption charges of President Fernando Collor de Melo. First, we propose a conceptual reformulation of the notion of a ‘civic arena’, based upon the proposition that relationships within political fields are structured by discursive as well as organizational ties, as these are activated over time within particular social settings. Second, we introduce a formal methodology for analyzing the sociocultural structuring of this arena, building upon the algebraic technique of ‘Galois’ or ‘concept’ lattices. We apply the simpler form of lattice analysis — bipartite lattices — to analyze the duality of relations among organizations and their projects. We then incorporate temporality into the analysis by using a new extension of lattice analysis — tripartite lattices — to show the three-way interpenetration among organizations, projects, and events. We argue that this analysis reveals three distinct stages involved in civic coalition formation, as organizations move from sectoral segmentation to cross-sectoral intermingling and finally, civic convergence. These stages, in turn, involve two interrelated sociocultural mechanisms, which we describe as the interanimation and suppression of projects at public events.