DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL CYBER MOVEMENTS

There is a strong historical link between social movements and democratization processes, between contemporary movements and the use of digital technologies and, finally, between the media system and communication technologies and forms of deliberative democracy. I believe that this triadic link - social movements, deliberative democracy and ICTs - is a privileged place to approach the current discussion on democracy. From deliberative, communication and collective action theories, and based on previous qualitative research, I analyze how deliberative forms of democracy are articulated on the Internet and in movements. I conclude by pointing out how - despite its risks and without falling into cyberutopian approaches- the properties of the Internet are consistent with some of the requirements of a communication system suitable for the deliberative model of democracy, which invites us to reconsider the democratizing role of these technopolitical spaces.