Dialogue, Activism, and Democratic Social Change

This article provides a systematic description of various positions on dialogue and their implications for understanding activism and social change. It describes three orientations toward dialoguecollaboration, co-optation, and agonismwhich are differentiated by assumptions regarding the pervasiveness of dialogue, the role of difference, and conceptions of power. We argue for a multivocal, agonistic perspective on dialogue that centers issues of power and conflict in activism. Such a perspective illuminates a broad range of activist tactics for social change instead of privileging consensus-oriented methods. These approaches are illustrated with two ethnographic case studies that highlight the importance of lay theories of activism and dialogue.