Abstract
Relational approaches lie at the heart of the contemporary debate on various forms of civic engagement. Whether in the agenda of studies on contentious politics or in the realm of participatory institutions, the advocacy for relational approaches that enable the comprehension of the intricate dynamics of political participation in its procedural nature has become commonplace. This article contributes to this agenda. Beginning with a contextualization of some of the foundational aspects of the relational turn throughout the 20th century, with a primary focus on the centrality of language for these approaches, the text advances by introducing the concept of interactional loci as a fruitful tool for empirical analyses. Despite the overlaps with the idea of arenas, the notion emphasizes linguistic elements of relationships by foregrounding the concept of communicative contracts.
Keywords:
Interactional Loci; Communicative Contracts; Relational Approaches; Social Movements