Dinâmicas da desmobilização: a criação de entraves aos processos de formação e movimentação de públicos

Abstract

Anchored in a Deweyian understanding of the public, and in line with research that explore the processes of formation and movement of publics in contemporary society, the article addresses a logic that still underdeveloped in the literature on the theme: the demobilization. I propose that demobilization is a communicative dynamic intended to create obstacles capable of hindering and weakening the creation or action of publics. To exemplify the reasoning about the "conditions of demobilization," the article explores discourses contrary to the 2018 truck drivers’ strike, revealing new undertones on those speeches. From the analysis of social media postings, it highlights appeals that try to demonstrate the lack of concreteness and public character in the cause of the truck drivers; argue for the impossibility of solutions for their problem; and suggest the moral misalignment of the strike with the ethical horizons of Brazilian society.