Reflective Inclusion: Learning from Activists What Taking a Deliberative Stance Means

Researchers are increasingly recognizing that social movements are crucial for realizing deliberative democratic values. However, this raises two important questions: (1) what actions should count as deliberation and (2) whether we should demand more from activists than merely provoking or encouraging deliberation in a society. Building on current research on activists’ actual engagement with deliberation, we argue that the standard of taking a “deliberative stance” (being respectful, sincere, and public-minded) is a good starting point for addressing both questions. By taking a deliberative stance, movements benefit from deliberation themselves and contribute to deliberative systems. However, we should also acknowledge that forms of deliberation change, and discovering new forms is a crucial part of what movements do for democracy. We propose to adopt a principle we call “reflective inclusion,” which allows us to engage abductively with new actions that might expand and deepen our understanding of what deliberation may look like.