The most frequently mentioned feature, highlighted by a diversity of voices, was the extraordinary conduct of the citizenry. Is it possible for traffic to function almost entirely without traffic lights, guards, or police, without subways or trains, while passengers are preoccupied with their young children, sick family members, and friends? Is it possible that, in queues to buy a flashlight or a radio, everyone waits patiently, and those who finish their purchase before others take the time to inform each person in line about which products are still available and which are not, so they can decide whether it is worth staying?
Spanish citizens have shown that not only is this possible—it actually happened from midday to the evening of April 28. With no internet connection, no media communication from the government, active citizens organized their lives and made collective decisions through effective dialogues that resolved the problems that hit them suddenly and unexpectedly. Some people spontaneously became natural leaders, regulating traffic at intersections where the lights had failed. In some buildings, a neighbor came down to the common area with a working radio, bringing together residents without access to any information into impromptu assemblies.
Some confused commentators claim that the dialogic society was suspended during those hours because dialogue today supposedly depends on the internet, and ceases to exist when the connection is lost. They are mistaken. Those who experienced community dialogue with their neighbors, family, and friends were the ones who best endured the crisis and understood it most clearly. Others argue that digital governance failed during this period because there was no internet. On the contrary, those citizens who had previously been involved in digital governance processes proved to be the most prepared to promote, organize, and lead those collective dialogue efforts.
Today, at work, in markets, and leisure spaces, much has been said about the challenges people faced. Yet the dominant theme has been how those challenges were overcome through dialogue with others. Few people have remained stuck in complaints. The citizenry has shown that in the dialogic society, digital governance also develops beyond the internet.
Emeritus Full-Professor at the University of Barcelona. Number 1 researcher in Google Scholar Scientific ranking in the categories of "Gender Violence" and "Social Impact". Director of REVERS-ED.