Towards incubators of society: researching the emergent new societal ties and networks with the methodology of the Listening Post

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research carried out in four Italian cities through the Listening Post (LP) methodology. The aim of the research was to study the phenomenon of strained social ties, identify experiences of counter-movement, and explore the overt and covert dynamics. Results highlight that: (1) sociality is not traceable and understandable in the traditional frames and actions; (2) sociality needs mobilising actions that can be fed by local individual and collective resources; (3) fragmentation is not answered through the organisation of a militant action with traditional forms of social struggles; and (4) action is oriented to simple daily practice (for example, conviviality) and to the care for the spaces where one lives. From a methodological point of view, it is important to underline the usefulness of LP as a tool for inquiry in the social research at least from two perspectives. The first relates to the possibility for the researcher, to study and understand (psycho)social dynamics at a deeper level. The second perspective of usefulness of LP is that, unlike other instruments of qualitative research, it focuses on the subjectivity of participants' experience and therefore creates a space for a collective co-creation of knowledge.