Communication and Civil Society: Interfaces and Agendas

This paper aims to map different dimensions of the interface between communication and civil society. Firstly, it discusses different definitions of the concept of civil society. Then, it presents four thematic non-excluding axis that have gathered inquiries in this area: 1) visibility and social movements; 2) collective identities and social mobilization; 3) democratization of communication; and 4) democratic deliberation and civil society. Lastly, the paper suggests that studies about this interface have been neglecting two aspects of recent discussions on the concept of civil society: its fluid frontiers and its anticivil dimensions.