The Role of Social Movement Organizations and NGOs in the articulation of the European Public Sphere

Abstract

The aim of our report is to examine the role of the organized civic actors within civil society in the articulation of a European public sphere (EPS). The report primarily contributes to the state-of-the-art with its empirical results that challenge the traditional theories of (European) public spheres by bringing the role of ‘uncivil society’ in public deliberation. We commence from the initial premise of public spheres, which is the translation of public deliberation into laws and policies. However, we concentrate on the far right anti-immigrant civic organizations, and compare them with the anti-racist organizations. This focus contradicts with the claim that public concerns (in this case mobilized through organized actors of civil society) foster democratic public deliberation, and in turn contribute to the nourishing of democratic citizens. To outline, the report firstly draws a review on the previous studies which concentrated on the relations between civic action and European public spheres. Secondly, it elaborates the three theoretical sources: normative studies on the pertinence between public deliberation and public sphere; the studies on the notion of uncivil society; and far right. Thirdly, it interrogates the views of the anti-diversity and anti-racist groups about diversity, European polity and existing communication channels in Europe. Further, it elaborates on the relation between the views about a diverse society, Europeanization, (willingness to) interact beyond the territories and addressing European institutions and using transnational communication channels.